Rainer Sternfeld

Managing Partner, NordicNinja VC

Role: Associate

Site: CDL-Estonia

Stream: Digital Society

Rainer Sternfeld is a former founder and tech executive with 20 years of experience in building technology businesses and products across diverse cultures in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

Rainer has spent his career on building data platforms for a more sustainable planet and empowering communities. He gets excited when he meets founders who want to do the same, especially if they give developers and creators the tools to build the best expression of their ideas, and a platform to reach their audiences. Today, his investments include Varjo, Ready Player Me, Veriff, Mavenoid, Logmore, and Starship.

Trained as a robotics engineer in unmanned vehicles, Rainer specialized in developing modular architectures of how to bring the hardware, electronics, and software together in one integrated product.

Rainer was the founder and CEO of Planet OS (acquired by Intertrust), and after eight years in Silicon Valley, he moved to Estonia in 2019 to build NordicNinja and help mission-driven Nordic and Baltic founders scale their businesses globally. Prior to Planet OS, Rainer was in charge of new initiatives for ABB in the Baltics, including the world’s first nationwide fast-charging network for electric cars, opened in Estonia 10 years ago.

Rainer also likes to build communities. Together with a group of other founders and changemakers, he is the co-founder of Kood.tech, a free programming school for working professionals people seeking for a career in tech. He is also a host of one of the most popular podcasts among the Estonian diaspora, called “Global Estonians.”