Find our rooftop events here: https://luma.com/the-delta-rooftop
Partnerships as a GTM Strategy
Founders often treat go-to-market as a choice between paid acquisition and organic growth. That overlooks a channel sitting in plain sight: partnerships.
Partnerships can be one of the strongest growth levers available to a startup, yet most companies either never build a real strategy around them or treat them as an afterthought once other channels start to plateau. If done well, partnerships can unlock distribution, credibility, and customers you couldn't reach on your own.
In this session, you'll hear how partnership leaders at some of Berlin's most exciting startups have used partnerships as an acquisition strategy, what's realistic to pursue at your stage, and how to actually start building a partnership motion that works.
About The Delta GTM Series
The Delta GTM Series brings together operators who've built real go-to-market engines to share how they've used a specific channel, from partnerships to events to community, to grow. Each session delivers hands-on insight founders and revenue leaders can immediately apply to their own go-to-market strategy.
This Session: Partnerships as a GTM Strategy
Facilitated by Elisabeth Sabeditsch, partner at The Delta, who advises early-stage founders and corporates on venture building and growth strategy.
Featuring a panel of partnership leaders from some of Berlin's most exciting startups (panelists to be confirmed), sharing firsthand how they've built partnerships into their growth strategy.
Panelists:
Susanna Schmidt — Principal Partner Development Manager & GTM Strategy, Parloa
Susanna joined Parloa early and helped build its partnership ecosystem as the company scaled from startup to a $3B-valued unicorn. She now focuses on global partnerships, including the company's BPO ecosystem with players like Concentrix, bringing AI-driven customer experience to enterprises. She's also an active voice in Berlin's tech community through the Berlin Women ERG network.
Idil Serifoglu — Strategic Partnerships, Impact Hub Berlin
Idil leads strategic partnerships at Impact Hub Berlin, working across stakeholder networks, startup accelerators, and ecosystem programs like the Climate Action Accelerator. She manages a network of 5,000+ collaborators, mentors, investors, and alumni across the impact ecosystem. She's shifted the org's investor and mentor engagement toward fewer, more intentional relationships built on trust and shared values. She also designs pilot partnership masterclasses and helps early-stage climate-focused startups connect with potential partners to scale. Outside her day job, she produces Creative Auslaender*, a podcast spotlighting immigrant creatives in Berlin creating impact.
Christine Dargert — Director Partnerships DACH, Base
At Base, Christine is responsible for leading DACH partnerships, where she is building the company’s partner ecosystem for e-commerce and marketplace integrations. She regularly represents Base at major industry events such as K5 Future Retail, DMEXCO, and the E-Commerce Expo. She recently gave her first conference presentation on multichannel strategy. As the point of contact for her partners, Christine is also closely involved in key initiatives within the e-commerce ecosystem, including the expansion of German marketplaces such as OTTO and OBI into Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which took place this summer.
Dorian G. Lohmann — Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager, Qonto
Dorian is a Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager at Qonto, the Berlin-based fintech scale-up, working on strategic partnerships that support the company's growth. He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, before moving into partnerships in European fintech and SaaS. He's based in Berlin and part of the city's broader GTM and partnerships network.
Annika Jostmeier — Head of Marketing, POMA AI
Annika is Head of Marketing at POMA AI, a startup building document-ingestion and context infrastructure for AI agents. She held Head of GTM, Growth, and Commercial Operations roles, giving her a cross-functional view of marketing, product, and revenue. She writes and speaks regularly on product-led growth, AI-native marketing, and the gap between AI hype and real usage.
Agenda
🕖 18:30 – 19:00 | Arrival and Check-Ins
🗣 19:00 – 19:05 | Welcome
🔥 19:05 – 20:00 | Panel
❓ 20:00 – 20:30 | Q&A
🥂 20:30 – 21:30 | Networking & Soft Drinks
What You'll Walk Away With
✅ A clearer view of how partnerships can fit into your go-to-market strategy
✅ Real examples from partnership leaders at fast-growing Berlin startups
✅ Direct answers to your partnership questions from people building these programs today
✅ A practical sense of when partnerships start to matter for your stage, and how to start building one
Who It's For
✅ Founders exploring partnerships as a new growth channel
✅ Partnership managers looking to sharpen their strategy and learn from peers
✅ Revenue leaders evaluating partnerships as part of their go-to-market mix
⚠️ This session is for founders, partnership managers, and revenue leaders building their own go-to-market strategy. It's not a pitching or networking opportunity for agencies or freelancers offering partnership, growth, or marketing services. We kindly ask agencies and freelancers not to apply.
Find our rooftop events here: https://luma.com/the-delta-rooftop