Startup Genome is thrilled to announce that Stephan Kuester, formerly Head of Ecosystem Strategy at Startup Genome, will now lead the Policy Advisory Unit as Managing Partner.

“Stephan is now recognized as the world-leading startup policy expert through his work achieving breakthrough economic impact with dozens of leading nations and ecosystems,” shares JF Gauthier, Founder and CEO of Startup Genome. “As more nations have embraced our work as an economic development imperative, Stephan will now lead our expert team and partner with our clients to achieve a superior level of impact.”  

Stephan works with clients in governments and private industry consortia and global development organizations all around the world, advising on the creation and the acceleration of tech and innovation clusters to enhance the success of startup ecosystems.

Covering government policy, talent development, growth strategies, and funding policies, his particular focus is on fostering ecosystem-wide stakeholder collaboration, well-designed ecosystem and economic development strategies, and supportive public policy and regulatory frameworks. Recent projects have included providing policy advisory and technical assistance to governments and stakeholders in Abu Dhabi, Angola, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Oman, South Korea, Malaysia, Palestine, Ras al Khaimah, Serbia, Taiwan, the U.K., and the United States.

Prior to his role at Startup Genome, Stephan headed up the International Consulting practice at U.K. ecosystem agency Tech Nation (formerly Tech City UK) and served as Managing Director of digitalswitzerland. Previous to his work in the digital ecosystems space, Stephan worked as an executive director for professional services firms Arthur Andersen and Ernst & Young. Stephan holds an MSc in Economics and studied at the University of Bonn, Germany and the London School of Economics (LSE).

“Entrepreneurship is critical for economic development and positive societal change. The innovators and tech challengers today will prove essential if we are to master the climate crisis and in shaping a more sustainable future. Collectively, we ought to support entrepreneurship all across the world. Personally being able to contribute has proven the most rewarding role of my career,” shares Kuester.