Advisory board September 23, 2025

Advisory board expanded: Dirk Middelhoff and Oliver Merches

SMARTCHILLI is strengthening its advisory board with two distinguished personalities: Dirk Middelhoff and Oliver Merches. With their many years of experience in the event, software, and gastronomy industries, they are expected to significantly advance product strategy, partnerships, and scaling.

Two New Voices for the Next Growth Phase

In recent years, SMARTCHILLI has grown from a clever time tracking solution into a digital ecosystem for event, gastronomy, and personnel service providers. To transform the product into a platform business, sparring partners are needed who are familiar with scaling, financing, and the industry from their own experience. We are now filling precisely these roles with Dirk Middelhoff and Oliver Merches.

Dirk Middelhoff – Strategy, Financing, and Software Scaling

Dirk Middelhoff has over 20 years of expertise in corporate finance, business development, and strategy. As a Managing Partner at Clairfield International, he supports tech and growth companies with transactions, investments, and strategic direction. As a former CEO of a software company, he knows the operational challenges of technology-driven companies firsthand – from product roadmap and pricing to international markets. This combination of financial expertise and software experience is precisely what will help us structure the next growth phase effectively.

Oliver Merches – 40 Years of Hospitality, Gastronomy, and Food-Tech

Oliver Merches is considered a proven expert in gastronomy and hospitality. With 40 years of industry experience, 25 of which in leadership positions, he has significantly shaped the scene – including as co-founder and managing partner of the burger chain "Hans im Glück". Today, he is active as a business angel and advisory board member in the food-tech scene, bringing precisely the perspective our customers in catering, system gastronomy, and the event sector experience daily. His network and operational gut feeling are a real accelerator for us.

What Changes for Customers and Partners

For our customers, nothing changes regarding the product, daily rates, or contracts for now – except that we will be entering the next few years with an even clearer roadmap, more industry resonance, and improved strategic positioning. For us, an advisory board means: tough questions, honest feedback, no buzzword bingo. Exactly the energy with which we made SMARTCHILLI great.

Statement from the Management

Thorsten Rensing, Managing Director of SMARTCHILLI, summarizes it as follows: "With Dirk Middelhoff and Oliver Merches, we gain two proven experts who will significantly strengthen our product strategy, partnerships, and scaling." We look forward to the collaboration – and to validating our plans with two very clear minds.