Johanna Baare

I love learning! Born in Münster, Germany, known for its bicycles and historic charm, I ventured out early on, moving to the Dominican Republic and Spain to work and study. I decided to study psychology for its broad applicability, which led me to transition into a role as management consultant for business and strategy transformation at BICG in Madrid. Craving new learning opportunities after 7 years of consulting, I embarked on the Global MBA journey at ie business school, adding the academic backbone to my consulting expertise – just to jump ship right after, leaving the amazing team at BICG behind to become the COO of Panion, a social impact startup in Malmö, Sweden. Applying the experience of scaling my own team in Germany and the consultancy to 100 employees worldwide, I promoted the start up’s business design and readiness for seed capital funding in preparation for future scalability. And then I met Anne. No worries, this is not a love story – but the story of our contribution to solve global plastic pollution! In 2020 Dr. Anne Lamp and I co-founded the traceless materials GmbH, where we produce revolutionary biomaterials made from agricultural residues that offer a viable and holistically sustainable material alternative to conventional plastics. Our ambitious, now over 50 “tracies” strong team leads the charge in sustainable material innovation, producing a novel generation of plastic-free biomaterials that leave no trace. Leading our ambitious team, we secured €36.6 million in Series A funding last year to scale up our production and earned recognition such as the German Founders Award and Female Newcomer of the Year at the German Startup Awards. Today, our team has propelled traceless to the forefront of the circular bioeconomy advancing towards a future without pollution and waste with unwavering dedication to innovation, sustainability, and positive impact.

How did IE help you get to where you are today?

Studying the Global MBA at IE has been a transformative journey that has equipped me with the skills, mindset, and network essential to becoming the entrepreneur I am today. The diverse cohort and international exposure challenged my perspectives, fostered my creativity, solution-orientation and adaptability – all of which I deem crucial for entrepreneurial success. IE's emphasis on innovation and entrepreneurship empowered me to refine our business ideas and plans for traceless and effectively navigate the complexities of launching and scaling a hard tech venture. Moreover, the unique access to industry experts, mentors, and most importantly supportive friends I made at IE has been instrumental in shaping my entrepreneurial journey! Overall, IE Business School has not only equipped me with the knowledge and skills to excel but also instilled in me the confidence and resilience needed to survive the crazy ride founding your own company is!

How did you come up with the idea for your company?

My co-founder Anne, who invented the technology behind traceless, and I met at the "Act on Plastic Challenge" from ProjectTogether, an incubator program creating ecosystems for solving the most pressing challenges. When Anne presented her technology and the opportunity to found traceless to me, it was basically not a question anymore - it was clear, that we need to bring this novel material to market!

What is the key to the success of your company?

Our amazing team! "Individually we are one drop. Together, we are the ocean." Ryunosuke Satoro.