01
International growth & market entry
Taking businesses into new markets — strategy, localization, partnerships and go-to-market.
Growth · Entrepreneurship · Frontier markets
I look for opportunity
where others see
distance.
I'm Tobias Schlitzke — entrepreneur, international growth executive and frontier explorer. I build businesses, enter new markets and spend time on the ground understanding where the next opportunities are emerging.
130+ countries · 20+ years building & growing businesses · Europe, China, Brazil & frontier markets
Tobias Schlitzke
01 — About
Operator. Entrepreneur. Frontier explorer.
My career has moved from strategy and business building into entrepreneurship, international expansion and global growth. I've worked across corporations, startups and my own ventures — entering new markets, building go-to-market strategies and turning ideas into businesses.
What connects it all is curiosity about markets in transition — and the people shaping them. I believe the best opportunities often come from seeing change early and connecting the right people to make something happen.
130+ countries taught me that the most interesting opportunities rarely start where everyone is already looking.
“The best opportunities often start with seeing something early — and connecting the right people to make it happen.”
- 130+
- Countries explored
- 20+
- Years across business & entrepreneurship
- 3
- Continents with hands-on operating experience
- 100s
- Entrepreneurs mentored
→
Corporate growth → Entrepreneurship → Frontier markets
Global growth
Leading international growth, market-entry and localization initiatives across Europe, China and Brazil.
01
Entrepreneurship
Building, investing in and advising ventures — from consumer concepts to sports, health and technology.
02
Frontier markets
Exploring markets first-hand, from established innovation hubs to places rarely found on the standard business itinerary.
03
02What I do
02
Ventures & entrepreneurship
Building, investing in and supporting businesses from idea through commercial execution.
03
China & emerging markets
Understanding how new business models, technologies and consumer behaviours move between China, Europe and fast-growing markets.
04
Speaking & field intelligence
Turning observations from companies, founders and markets around the world into practical perspectives on growth, innovation and entrepreneurship.
03 — From the field
Business looks different on the ground.🇦🇫🇧🇷🇨🇳🇩🇪
🇦🇫Afghanistan
What does entrepreneurship look like in one of the world's least understood economies?
Field report — soon🇧🇷Brazil
Building and investing where consumer growth, sport and lifestyle collide.
Field report — soon🇨🇳China
What European executives can learn from the speed of China's consumer and technology ecosystem.
Field report — soon🇩🇪Germany
Why established markets increasingly need lessons from challengers elsewhere.
Field report — soonSelected chapters
- Global growth
International expansion, market entry and localization across Europe, China and Brazil.
Reference project — Bridge Brasil ↗ - Ventures
Built, invested in and advised entrepreneurial projects across consumer, sport, health and technology.
- UNDP & innovation programmes
Mentored entrepreneurs and supported national innovation initiatives with UNDP and the Royal Science & Technology Park.
Ignite Borders ↗ - Speaking & academia
Speaking and teaching on growth, entrepreneurship, China and emerging markets — from DMEXCO stages to university rooms.
- Roots
I didn't start with a master plan. I started working at 13, delivering newspapers, followed by various jobs, side projects and experiments long before international growth roles and entrepreneurship. That early start shaped how I still approach things today: stay curious, get involved and learn by doing.
04 — Ideas & Exchange
Ideas shaped by markets, people and places.
I share what I’ve learned about international growth, entrepreneurship, China and emerging markets — shaped less by theory and more by firsthand experience.
After a trip through Southern Africa, I founded Ignite Borders in 2016 with a simple idea: entrepreneurial knowledge, networks and opportunities should cross borders more easily. What started from conversations on the ground grew into an initiative supporting aspiring entrepreneurs across Africa through mentoring and knowledge exchange.
This work has taken me into universities, innovation programmes and international development initiatives, including mentoring entrepreneurs through organizations such as UNDP.
Ignite Borders ↗What connects these worlds for me is people. Because some of the most valuable insights don’t come from reports — they come from conversations on the ground.
05 — Off the clock, although the line is blurry
The best ideas rarely arrive at a desk.
I've travelled to more than 130 countries and still prefer wandering through a neighbourhood, local market or small business district to following a guidebook. Add padel, golf and a conversation with someone whose life looks completely different from mine, and I'm usually happy.
06 — Contact