Serafin Lion Engel is a business executive.

He is the co-founder and CEO of DataWallet, a data marketplace that directly connects firms looking to buy data with internet users looking to sell their own data get paid for it in return.

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Serafin Engel was born and raised in Germany.

^[4]

At age 4, he had his first entrepreneurial experience by selling strawberries from the family garden in front of his house.

^[5]At first, no one bought anything from him.

However, he later found that no one could read his sign because he could not write properly at that age.

^[4]

He also worked at a restaurant when he was 13 years old, despite the fact that the legal minimum age requirement in Germany was 18.

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In high school, at age 17, he started his own website called Homeworker Helper.

The site allowed students to submit their homework to an A+ student in the respective subject who would help with research and provide suggestions on how to complete the assignment.

^[5]

He attended college for three years at Erasmus University's Rotterdam School of Management. He never completed his degree, as he dropped out to pursue an entrepreneurial career. ^[4]

In the fall of 2014, he earned the Petra Vorsteher Scholarship to attend an entrepreneurship program at Draper University. ^[8]

At 20, Serafin founded Shoutbox, with the aim to make voice the primary means of communication on the Internet.

For 2 1/2 years, he invested all his time and money working on building the company; he also took time off college.

^[5]

Engel admits that the company failed.

However, he applied to an entrepreneurship program at Draper University, a program that he says changed his life. ^[5]

Five days before starting his program Draper University on a scholarship, Engel conceived the idea of DataWallet.

His girlfriend at the time (and her friends) were interested in fashion and finding out what was trending among youth.

Since these kids did not have any money to spend on their own, he thought he could create a business that could help them make money by selling their own personal data.

^[4]

Because brands already buy data to find out how to better market their customers, Serafin made DataWallet to provide an C2B online marketplace that could benefit people from whom data is being collected. ^[4]

Today, DataWallet is essentially a "platform that allows you to be your own data broker."

^[4]It gives individuals control of the data they create online (i.e. social media, blogs, etc.) and allows one to anonymously solicit it to companies."

^[4]

Engel eventually pitched his idea to a panel of 40 venture capitalists in the Pitch Day competition and he won first place.

^[4]The idea received backing from Tim Draper, the founder of Draper University, and Marc Benioff. ^[4]

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