Honoree Details

Dirk Ahlborn is a German-American entrepreneur, futurist, and founder of Jumpstarter Inc.—a platform that leverages crowdsourcing from ideation to funding—and Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, created through JumpStartFund’s unique crowd-collaboration model. Ahlborn pioneered new ways of building breakthrough companies and infrastructure through global, decentralized innovation. Though no longer active in daily operations, he continues to advise ventures focused on exponential tech and systems change. A serial entrepreneur fluent in German and Italian, he previously contributed to multiple startups at the Girvan Institute of Technology, and speaks globally on future mobility, open innovation, and disruptive models.