Benedict Wolters

hi, i'm

Benedict Wolters

GTM Engineer at HUD (YC W25)

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About

I build go-to-market engines from zero. At HUD (YC W25) I run GTM for a data marketplace that supplies training and evaluation data to frontier AI labs. Before that I was the founding growth and GTM hire at Clera, an AI talent agent, where I built the growth stack end to end: agentic workflows, automated enrichment and multi-channel outreach. That took the platform to 100k users and 1k+ signups a day.

Before Clera I spent two years at START Global in St. Gallen. I started by building a network of 200+ investors, then ran the START Fellowship as Managing Director: 30 startups co-built with founders across Africa and Latin America, $650k invested directly, and a portfolio that has since raised $30M+.

My favourite problems are half system, half people. Wire up the pipeline, then get on the call.

Experience

HUD (YC W25)
GTM Engineer06/2026 – Present · San Francisco, CA

HUD builds RL environments and evaluation infrastructure for AI agents, and runs a data marketplace that supplies training and evaluation data to frontier AI labs. I build and run go-to-market on both sides of that marketplace.

  • Built the agentic outreach, lifecycle automation and CRM behind buyer and seller acquisition
  • Source and onboard the data vendors who sell on the marketplace
  • Research a brand-new market: who sells training data and environments, who buys them, and what they are worth
  • Agentic outreach
  • Lifecycle automation
  • CRM
  • Market research
  • Claude
  • Clay
Clera
Founding Growth & GTM09/2025 – 06/2026 · San Francisco, CA

Early hire at an AI talent agent startup ($3M pre-seed), building growth and GTM from 0 to 1. Think of a recruiter that never sleeps and actually reads your profile.

  • Built the AI-native growth stack end to end (agentic workflows, automated enrichment, multi-channel outreach) and scaled the platform to 100k users and 1k+ daily signups
  • Designed agentic outreach and sourcing infrastructure contacting 15k+ leads a day
  • Owned every growth system: SEO/GEO, distribution, A/B testing, analytics, performance marketing, sales and product-led growth
  • Supported the founders through the first VC round on strategy, pitch, deck and investor outreach
  • Co-led the Product Hunt launch to #1 Product of the Day (#2 of the Week) and 1M+ LinkedIn impressions
  • Growth engineering
  • Agentic workflows
  • SEO/GEO
  • PLG
  • Fundraising
  • Clay
  • n8n
  • Dify
START Global
Managing Director & Board Member, START Fellowship05/2024 – 07/2025 · St. Gallen, Switzerland

Ran the accelerator arm of Europe's largest student-run startup initiative (100+ FTE, 800+ members, 20+ locations).

  • Managed a 7-figure program budget and $650k in direct (non-dilutive) startup investments; led a team of 15+
  • Led selection from 1,000+ applications from founders across Africa and Latin America
  • Scouted across 3 African and 8 Latin American countries, organizing 40+ pitch competitions and hackathons; grew applications by 160% and reached 6M+ entrepreneurs
  • Supported 150+ portfolio founders in 15 countries on fundraising, sales, product and GTM. The portfolio has raised $30M+ and created 500+ jobs, with alumni at Y Combinator, Techstars and 776
  • Designed and scaled an incubator that took 200+ startups from idea to MVP
  • Accelerators
  • Venture
  • Leadership
  • Emerging markets
Fundraising & Investor Partnerships05/2023 – 05/2024 · St. Gallen, Switzerland
  • Built and managed a network of 200+ VCs, angels and accelerators across Latin America, Europe and Africa
  • Guided 38 founders from Africa and Latin America through fundraising
  • Investor relations
  • Fundraising

Notable alumni

Investments

Startups I backed through the START Fellowship, Batch 5 (2025). Non-dilutive.

Recognition

Press

Awards

Speaking

Judging

  • Selection lead, START FellowshipEvaluated 1,000+ applications from founders across Africa and Latin America and selected 30 startups.
  • Investment Committee, BerlinSTART Fellowship. Startups pitched for investment; invited VCs advised and I signed off the investments.
  • Investment Committee, START SummitOn stage on day two of START Summit, with invited VCs advising; I signed off the investments.
  • Investment Committee, MunichSTART Fellowship. Startups pitched for investment; invited VCs advised and I signed off the investments.
  • Pitch competitions & hackathonsOrganized 40+ across Africa and Latin America and judged 10–15, alongside university deans and investors.
  • Venture Scout, BoardyScreen and recommend startups for investment.
  • Venture Scout, LvlUp VenturesScreen and recommend startups for investment.

Memberships

Education

Notes

Living documents. Updated whenever I learn something new.

Log

Short thoughts and updates, as they happen.

  1. Rebuilt this site. There is now an AI near the top that answers questions about my work. It only knows what I have written down here, so if it gets something wrong, tell me.

Stack

Personal

  • Four languages

    German, English, French and Spanish, in roughly that order of confidence.

  • Tennis & football

    Played on both teams at Bridge House in South Africa.

  • Four cities, four chapters

    Stuttgart, Franschhoek, St. Gallen, San Francisco.

2026 goals

  • Play two DJ sets1/2
  • Start posting on socials