Carolin Wais

Partner at Plug and Play Ventures

Speaker

Carolin Wais is a Partner at Plug and Play, where she focuses on early-stage investments across enterprise AI, deeptech and industrial technologies. She is a founding member of Plug and Play’s EMEA Investment Committee and plays a key role in shaping the firm’s investment strategy across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Carolin has been active in venture capital for over a decade and has led more than 80 investments while contributing to 350+ venture deals across the Plug and Play platform. Her investment focus centers on companies that deliver measurable business impact through AI, automation, operational efficiency, and revenue acceleration for enterprises.

In addition to her investment work, Carolin plays an important role in expanding Plug and Play’s global venture platform. She works closely with founders, corporate partners, and institutional investors across Plug and Play’s offices throughout Europe, Africa the Middle East, and the United States.

Originally from Germany, she is currently based in Abu Dhabi and travels extensively across the firm’s international hubs.

Prior to joining Plug and Play, Carolin spent three years at Next47, the $2bn global venture capital firm backed by Siemens, where she worked on both fund investments and direct venture deals. Earlier in her career she worked as an operator at Siemens, gaining hands-on experience across strategy, finance, sales, and operations through the company’s international leadership rotation program.

Carolin has been deeply involved in the startup ecosystem since her university years. She graduated as Valedictorian of the MiM class at ESCP Europe, where she specialized in entrepreneurship and venture capital. During her studies she mentored multiple startups and founded a student-led entrepreneurship conference focused on emerging technologies.

She continues to actively support founders across the Plug and Play ecosystem and regularly speaks at global conferences on venture capital, artificial intelligence, and startup ecosystems.