Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW
Areas of Expertise
- Financial Services Technology (FinTech)
- Crowdfunding and crowdsourcing
- Blockchain-based financing
- TransferFinanz – Financing the Transfer of Research Findings into Applications with a Social Impact
- Crowdfunding for municipal projects
- Future Living: New know-how for the serviced living sector
Professional Development
Since March 2016, Erik Ackermann has been a research fellow at the Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy IMW in the Innovation Financing Unit (since 10/2024: Crowd Innovation Unit). He spent the two years before already working at the IMW as a research assistant. During his studies, he focused on banking and financial management as well as innovation and technology management. He successfully defended his master's thesis “The Digitization of the Financial Sector: Status Quo and Perspectives in the FinTech Sector“. This topic remains central in his work. With the team of “crowdFANding“, a highly application-oriented project that he leads as a co-respondent, he developed an active participation instrument for the field of sports. In 2016, this project was awarded the audience prize of the Thuringian Innovation Prize. Further successful campaigns in the context of “crowdFANding“ have been replicated in 2017 with the fan project of the FSV Mainz 05, the Erlebniswelt Schlitten und Bob in Ilmenau (2018), and with the HFC Falke in Hamburg (2019). The latest project received the silver medal at the “Mitteldeutscher Fundraisingpreis“. Erik Ackermann studied business administration and is a member of the European Crowdfunding Network, the ECN's working group “Exploring Blockchain for Alternative Finance“, and the FGF working group for start-up and SME financing.