Claus has advised Loop AI Group since 2015, guiding the company as it emerged from stealth to launch its first cognitive applications in Asia—where legacy natural language solutions struggled with Asian languages, unlike Loop AI’s deep learning technology. With nearly three decades of experience building and scaling tech businesses across Asia—including 14 years as Vice President at Nokia, where he grew Asia-Pacific infrastructure sales eightfold to $500 million annually—Claus opened the door to Loop’s first enterprise engagements in the region, including one of Asia’s largest telecommunications operators.

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Claus Karthe is a seasoned senior executive, seven-time serial entrepreneur, and CEO Asia at Start2 Group (formerly German Entrepreneurship Asia), with nearly 30 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and startup ecosystem. He has held leadership positions with Alcatel, Nokia, and numerous startup companies, and is widely recognized as a leading figure in cross-border startup acceleration between Europe and Asia.

As Co-founder and CEO of German Entrepreneurship Asia (GEA)—now part of Start2 Group—Claus built the organization from an initial concept paper into a thriving innovation service provider running cross-border startup accelerators. The organization is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and supported by Enterprise Singapore. GEA's flagship programs include the German Accelerator (a five-month growth acceleration program for German startups to scale into Southeast Asia, India, Japan, South Korea, and China) and Scaler8 (a market expansion program enabling Singapore startups and SMEs to enter the German and European markets). Claus has described his vision as building "a bi-directional bridge for cross border innovation between Asia and Germany." GEA has accelerated numerous successful startups, including Prime Vector Technologies (COVID-19 vaccine development) and Wingcopter (drone technology—named one of the World Economic Forum's Technology Pioneers of 2020).

During his 14-year tenure as Vice President at Nokia—including serving as Managing Director of Nokia Philippines—Claus played a pivotal role in building the company's Philippines operations from scratch and expanding the Asia-Pacific infrastructure sales eightfold within three years. Under his leadership, Nokia secured market leadership in the Philippines and generated a steady annual revenue stream of $500 million USD. He served as Chairman of the Board of Nokia Philippines Inc. until 2004 and as a member of the Business Board for Nokia Asia Pacific until 2002. In 2001, Claus announced the first GPRS data call in the Philippines in partnership with SMART Communications—a major stepping stone toward 3G mobile systems.

A highly respected entrepreneur, Claus has founded or co-founded seven companies in fields spanning mobile content, telecommunications networks, maritime communications, payment processing, machine learning, and AI. In 1999, he founded Wireless Services Asia (WSA) in the Philippines—a mobile VAS provider that later transformed into a carrier-grade services company and one of the leading resellers and systems integrators of technology and business solutions in the Philippines. The company remains in operation today with approximately 60-70 employees, and Claus continues to serve on its board. His other founded ventures include Sitenta Pte Ltd, Blue Ocean Wireless (where he served as Chief Operating Officer), Smart Connect Holdings Pte Ltd, Matrixs Ltd, Natural Intelligent Solutions Pte Ltd (where he served as Managing Director), and a maritime GSM communications company—which raised $50 million to bring GSM connectivity to seagoing vessels.

In 2011, Claus was part of the leadership team at Blue Ocean Wireless that partnered with Smart Communications Inc. to launch a global maritime GSM service network, enabling seafarers to use their mobile phones at sea at unprecedented rates.

Claus is an active angel investor and a prominent voice in the Asian startup community. He works closely with the Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN), the Philippines' largest and most active angel network, where he generously shares his expertise with early-stage investors. A colleague described him as "a leading light in the Asian angel investing world" who is "one of the most proactive and effective agents of change for the startup world in South East Asia." He currently serves on multiple corporate boards, including the Board of Directors at Innovis Telecom Services (P) Ltd—an intermediary for network services active in the MEA and Southeast Asia region—and a venture capital instrument investing in social enterprises.

An electrical engineer by training with early career stints in space communications (both in and out of the military), Claus's fascination with radio transmissions sparked a lifelong passion for sailing. In 2005, he joined the Uniquely Singapore campaign as navigator in the Round The World Clipper Race—an 18-month journey around the world on a 70-foot sailboat. This experience also inspired his next venture: bringing GSM communications to maritime vessels. As Claus has noted, "Sailing is very much a team sport—everyone present on the boat has a designated role and purpose... very much like in the start-up world!"

Born in Munich, Germany, Claus has lived in Finland, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and New York (where he attended high school at age 15 following his father's passing). He has lived in Asia since 1993 and considers both Singapore and the Philippines home—having built a house and a business in each location. He and his wife Carol (who runs a design firm) previously owned a shophouse on Tembeling Road in Singapore that was featured in Expat Living, and have recently completed their new home in the south of Manila.

Beyond business, Claus is a philanthropist committed to giving back. He co-founded the Munting Kawan ng Sagrado Corazon Foundation Inc. in the Philippines to support victims of domestic abuse. He is also actively involved in Asian charity projects such as Bridge-IT, a global program that leverages Nokia's resources to deliver digital education materials to schools using mobile technology.

Claus holds a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from a German university and an MBA from IMD Business School at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland (1997). He is also a registered architect.