Shifting Boundaries Berlin: Peak Performance Across Sport, Capital and M&A
What does peak performance mean when sport, entrepreneurship and capital sit at the same table? On 11 June 2026, Avalon Advisory set out to answer that question. Together with BPTC Sports and Heal Capital, we hosted "Shifting Boundaries" at Soho House Berlin, a curated side event to SuperReturn International. Around 60 guests from investment, entrepreneurship and sport joined us for an evening built for substance rather than pitches: a deliberately intimate counterpoint to the main stage, designed to look at markets from a different angle.
Three Hosts, Three Perspectives
The evening opened with a panel that brought three sectors into one conversation. Jan Peters (BPTC Sports), Christian Lautner (Heal Capital) and our Managing Partner Nicki Lange each spoke from a different vantage point on the same theme: what peak performance means today, and how it looks from three very different worlds. The thread running through the discussion was deliberately concrete, covering market trends, valuations and multiples, and using performance as the bridge between sports business models, health and M&A.
That bridge is the point. Each host built their reputation on depth in a specific market rather than breadth, and the format was designed to reflect exactly that. For Avalon, M&A advisory is increasingly a commodity, and the real differentiation comes from sector knowledge and depth in the markets that matter to our clients. An evening like this is one expression of that conviction.
The Main Conversation: Nicki Lange and André Schürrle
The centrepiece was a dialogue between Nicki Lange and André Schürrle, the 2014 World Champion who provided the assist for the winning goal in the final, and today the founder of the performance brand DRYLL and an ultra-distance runner. The two share a particular bond: both have run the Marathon des Sables, one of the most demanding ultra races in the world.
The conversation centred on resilience, preparation and the mindset that founder-building, brand-building and investment have in common. André spoke from the perspective of an athlete who made a deliberate move into entrepreneurship and long-term performance. Nicki brought the view of an M&A advisor and ultra athlete who has run through the desert himself. That combination, an advisor who does not only guide these processes but has lived the discipline behind them, is the kind of depth Avalon aims to bring to its clients.
Why This Matters for the Brands and Deals We Advise
Performance brands like DRYLL are exactly the type of business Avalon works with in an M&A context. As wellness, performance and longevity move from lifestyle trends to genuine investment cases, the capital markets are taking a closer look at founders who come from high-performance sport and at the brands they build. Understanding what drives multiples in consumer, lifestyle and performance, and where transactions are actually happening, is what allows us to position these businesses with credibility. Bringing investors, founders and athletes into the same room, during SuperReturn week and away from the main stage, is how we stay close to where that value is forming.
Our Appreciation
Thank you to our co-hosts BPTC Sports and Heal Capital for building this format with us, to André Schürrle for an open and inspiring conversation, and to the guests who made the evening what it was. Shifting Boundaries did exactly what it set out to do: bring people from different worlds together.