Hult MA Brochure 2019/20 19Hult_MA_Brochure_joomag | Page 61

CAREER IMPACT
Before coming to Hult, Johannes, Tobias, and
Niklas were all strangers to one another. Three years
later, they opened their first office in London and
have secured over a quarter of a million pounds in
investment. How did they do it?
Tell us about how Clustermarket came together.
Johannes Solzbach
German
CEO
Clustermarket
Masters in Finance
Class of 2015
London and Shanghai
campuses
Tobias, Niklas, and I all came to Hult with corporate experience under our belt. Individually
we were all very ambitious and looking to take our careers further. Together we all bring
very different backgrounds and skillsets to the table, which perfectly complement one
another. From finance to supply chain, our range of experiences also showed us how we
could leverage the sharing economy in a sector so critical to society.
The travel industry has Airbnb, the car industry has Uber but, in the science industry, we
identified sharing is a much bigger opportunity. Clustermarket is an online marketplace for
the sharing of scientific equipment. By democratizing the market, we aim to increase access,
innovation, and real progress in the life sciences industry.
How did your year at Hult help?
Our entire founding team is from Hult, and we wouldn’t have met otherwise. But through Hult,
we’ve also been connected to investors and customers, which really highlights the importance
of the school’s network. One of our very first investors was Giovanni Rizzo, a Hult Executive
MBA alum and angel investor, who now sits on the company board.
During my masters program, I also learned a lot about design thinking, which has been key
in developing our business strategy. No matter what your business is, Hult prepares you to
be innovative.
What has the journey been like?
Launching the business was no easy process. We’ve had moments when we strongly
considered returning to the corporate world. However, in 2016 our hard work started to pay
off. Clustermarket was a finalist in the 2016 MassChallenge U.K. Accelerator program and in
Germany, we collaborated with pharmaceutical giant Merck.
2017 was a key highlight. We secured £250,000 in an angel round and launched the business
within the U.K.’s elite Golden Triangle (London, Cambridge, Oxford). We also opened our first
head office in central London and are growing our team.
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