When technology has to become a business.

Deep tech companies often know exactly why their technology is different. The harder part is turning that into a market, a commercial model and a reason for customers to change.

I work on commercialization, go-to-market and commercial leadership for complex B2B and MedTech businesses across Switzerland, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Where I get involved

Strong technology still has to make sense to the market.

Inside a deep tech company, the technical case is often clear. Outside it, customers, partners and investors see alternatives, switching costs, budgets, regulation and risk.

That gap is where commercialization happens.

Why should a customer change?

Technical superiority is not a value proposition. The question is what changes for the customer, what they compare the product with, and whether the improvement is large enough to justify switching.

Which market should we enter first?

Not every possible customer or geography is equally useful at the beginning. I work through where the problem is strongest, who pays, who influences adoption and which market can create momentum.

What needs to come together to turn a technology into a business?

Positioning, pricing, market access, partnerships, customer engagement and the company story cannot be treated as separate workstreams forever. As launch approaches, they need to reinforce one another.

What commercial leadership is needed now?

Sometimes the answer is a focused project. Sometimes it is an ongoing sparring partner, building commercial capability or taking ownership of part of the commercial agenda.

I prefer helping build the answer to handing over a report.

Marius Rummel with the Angiolutions clinical team after the first successful patient treatment with the A³-Shield system — With the Angiolutions clinical team after the first successful patient treatment with the A³-Shield system. © Angiolutions.Read about the first patient treatment →

Experience

Where my perspective comes from

I have built and led commercial teams across Asia-Pacific and Europe, from large industrial businesses to an early-stage MedTech company.

They have one thing in common: they are highly regulated, technology-driven businesses where getting the commercial strategy right can create enormous value.

Angiolutions

2022–present

Chief Business Officer

Building the commercial side of a clinical-stage cardiovascular MedTech company, including go-to-market strategy, pricing, market access, strategic partnerships, fundraising and investor engagement.

Working in an early-stage company makes commercial decisions unusually tangible: assumptions about customers, adoption, pricing or market access quickly become business decisions rather than presentation slides.

BASF

2008–2022

Asia-Pacific & Global leadership roles

Fourteen years across Singapore and Brussels in petrochemicals, specialty materials, crop protection and performance materials.

I built and led teams across Asia-Pacific and Europe, including regional brand leadership for a portfolio of more than 600 brands and later global responsibility for digital and customer engagement in BASF's Performance Materials business.

It was a practical education in how complex B2B products are positioned, commercialized and managed across very different markets.

Regional Head of Brand, Asia-Pacific → Global Communications Manager → Global Lead, Digital & Customer Engagement
Petrochemicals · Crop Protection · Performance Materials

Rhino & Forest Fund

2021–present

Board Director

Board-level involvement in biodiversity conservation in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

A very different environment from industrial technology or MedTech, but many of the questions around leadership, stakeholders, funding and turning ambition into action are surprisingly familiar.

Young orangutan in the rainforest in Borneo — Rhino & Forest Fund · Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

Beyond the day job

Ventures & investments

I also like being involved with businesses from perspectives outside my main operating role.

Caoba Hotels

2024–present

Investor & Partner

I invested in Caoba at the proof-of-concept stage and worked with the founding team to turn it into a profitable business with a strong position and recognizable brand in its market.

I continue to support the company on business model, finance and commercial strategy.

Northbound AI

2024–present

Angel investor

Early-stage investment in an AI company that I first encountered while screening startups for BAND VENTURE.Log.

It is another opportunity to look at commercialization from the investor side rather than only from inside the business.

Evaluation

Looking at innovation from the other side of the table

Alongside operating and investing, I work as an external reviewer and screening-panel member for startup and innovation programs.

The work involves assessing market potential, commercialization, business models, scalability and investment readiness across MedTech, health, environmental technology, energy and other technology-driven businesses.

AXOLOTL

German Med & Health
Businessplan Wettbewerb

External reviewer · 2023–2026

MedTech & health business plans

Repeated business-plan reviews across several competition years and phases, with a particular focus on markets, marketing, sales and commercialization.

KUER.NRW

Businessplan Wettbewerb

External reviewer · 2026

Green & technology-driven ventures

Assessment of startups across environmental technology, climate, energy and resource efficiency through both competition phases.

BAND VENTURE.Log

Business Angels Deutschland

Screening Committee · 2023

Startup screening for investors

Screening logistics-tech startups for the investor forum of Business Angels Deutschland. One of the companies I first encountered through the process, Northbound, later became an angel investment.

Also:VENTURE.Med 2024 ↗· Investor & Expert Panel·Women TechEU / EBAN · Go-to-market trainer·BayFOR / EIC Accelerator · Workshop speaker

About

Marius Rummel

I am German and spend a large part of my time in the Lausanne region. My career has taken me across Asia-Pacific and Europe over many years.

I spent many years in Singapore before moving into global roles from Brussels and later into the European startup ecosystem. Along the way I have built and led commercial teams across both regions.

I tend to work close to the business: challenging value propositions, shaping go-to-market and commercialization decisions, building commercial capabilities and taking broader leadership responsibility when useful.

What interests me most are complex B2B and deep-tech businesses where the technology is strong, the market is international and the commercial answer is not obvious.

Contact

Building something difficult?

I am always interested in conversations with founders, investors and leadership teams working on deep technologies where the commercial path is still being figured out.

That might mean go-to-market, market entry, commercialization, commercial leadership or simply working through a difficult commercial question.

Particular interests include opportunities connected with Switzerland, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

LinkedIn ↗