Founder & CEO
Nicola Michels
As a Trade & FDI specialist she has over 20 years of experience in facilitating international business development between Germany, North America and Africa. With her track record of effective negotiation she continues to work with with a wide range of stakeholders as an experienced international relationship-builder, fundraiser and communicator, leveraging her high-level network in political, academic & corporate arenas.
Before moving back to Germany in 2016 and founding Transatlantico, she spent 19 years living abroad, first in South Africa and then in the United States. After working for Siemens in Johannesburg, Nicola later served as Deputy Executive of the Association of German Speaking Companies in Cape Town, a trade association representing 750 German, Austrian and Swiss companies. There she was appointed Leipzig Trade Fair Representative for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moving to New York City right after 9/11, she worked for the German American Chamber of Commerce New York for fifteen years. In her last role as Vice President, Nicola managed the overall representation of the organization toward the media as well as political and corporate stakeholders. The „STEP NYC“ startup program launched by her in 2014 successfully continues to introduce German tech ventures to the NYC ecosystem.
Nicola holds dual German and American citizenship.