we are looking for founders with massive passion and contrarian ideas to disrupt the industrialized world.

stories of our entrepreneurs and backers

Flixbus
- Jochen, Daniel and André built the world’s fastest-growing intercity bus operator.

On a ski trip in 2011, three close friends came up with an idea that has since grown into the world's largest intercity bus mobility provider. In 2022, Flix carried 60 million passengers between over 3,000 destinations in more than 40 countries in Europe, North America, and South America. A launch in India is coming next.

The trio embarked on a mission to make coach travel more affordable, greener — and, well, cool. They were helped when a clear opportunity emerged in 2013: Germany began deregulating the industry. This allowed intercity buses to compete with state-run subsidized railways, and to become the choice of a younger generation of cost-conscious travelers.

Flixbus
Jochen, Daniel and André built the world’s fastest-growing intercity bus operator.
We wanted to democratize intercity mobility for everyone.
Daniel Krauss, Jochen Engert and André Schwämmlein, Co-Founders of Flixbus
UiPath
- Daniel has built the fastest-growing and leading provider of Robotic Process Automation.

Daniel's journey from a small town in Romania to the CEO of UiPath, the juggernaut in Robotic Process Automation, is a tale of resilience and adaptability. Born in Onești, he aspired to be an author before discovering his calling in mathematics and computer science. After university, he supported himself in Romania's post-communist economy with currency arbitrage, and developed a passion for competitive bridge. He also taught himself to program, which led to five pivotal years as an engineer at Microsoft in Seattle.

Once he returned to Bucharest in 2005, Daniel founded DeskOver, which evolved into UiPath. He recognised the potential of the emerging RPA market and strategically positioned UiPath for a public offering in 2021 — a move that achieved a staggering $36 billion valuation.

That leadership in the RPA market has established Daniel as a pivotal figure in shaping how automation and human work integrate. Through it all, Daniel emphasizes a corporate culture of humility, a quality he says is essential for adaptation and innovation.

UiPath
Daniel has built the fastest-growing and leading provider of Robotic Process Automation.
Humility gives you clarity.
Daniel Dines, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of UiPath
Personio
- Hanno and his team are revolutionizing human resources management steering HR to the digital age.

In just eight years, the software firm Personio has become Europe’s leading provider of HR software and one of the continent’s most valuable start-ups. Hanno Renner, the co-founder and CEO, remembers a time when money was far tighter. Before the company received its first real funding, it was down to just €200 in its bank account.

“As students, we didn’t have an office,” he recalls. “So we worked wherever we could find space at college to build Personio’s first software product — scrambling together any savings we had to help with the costs.”

Today Personio has more than 10,000 customers and 1,800 employees from more than 80 countries.

Personio
Hanno and his team are revolutionizing human resources management steering HR to the digital age.
People are the single biggest influencer on the success of every company - we help by providing excellence in people operations.
Hanno Renner, Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Pigment
- Eléonore and Romain are tackling only the most ambitious problems. They settled on a plan to replace spreadsheets — in effect, to liberate 1 billion users from the tyranny of Excel. Pigment‘s mission is to allow businesses everywhere to make better, faster decisions in a changing world - drawing on data analysis, intuitive design and sophisticated modelling to help leaders spend more time thinking and less time number-crunching.

Incredible willpower, scalpel-sharp business acumen, and imperturbable clarity of mission — these are some of Eleonore Crespo’s ingredients for success.

“Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started,” she says. “For me, while I was working in VC, I got an awful back injury that required surgery, and had me bedridden for months, putting my normal life on hold. In the middle of all this pain, I had the chance to think about what I really wanted in life, and the answer was clear: I wanted to build something big, something really impactful.”

She and her co-founder Romain agreed: They would tackle only the most ambitious problems. They settled on a plan to replace spreadsheets — in effect, to liberate 1 billion users from the tyranny of Excel. The result is Pigment, a platform businesses everywhere rely on to make better, faster decisions in a changing world. It enables leaders to draw on data analysis, intuitive design, and sophisticated modeling to help them spend more time thinking and less time crunching numbers.

In short order, Pigment signed such clients as Deliveroo, Klarna, Carta, Evenflo, Miro, Airtable, Figma, Brex, Webhelp, Gong, Poshmark, Eventbrite, and Mozilla. In the summer of 2023 the company closed a Series C round that put its total fundraise at $248 million in less than three years.

Pigment
Eléonore and Romain are tackling only the most ambitious problems. They settled on a plan to replace spreadsheets — in effect, to liberate 1 billion users from the tyranny of Excel. Pigment‘s mission is to allow businesses everywhere to make better, faster decisions in a changing world - drawing on data analysis, intuitive design and sophisticated modelling to help leaders spend more time thinking and less time number-crunching.
Everyday when you wake up as a founder, you should ask yourself, what I'm going to do today that is really going to change the course of my business.
Eléonore Crespo, CEO & Co-Founder of Pigment
Mario Götze
- Mario is a football world cup champion and scored the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final.

When Mario drove home the winning goal against Argentina in the 113th minute of the 2014 World Cup final, he secured Germany's fourth World Cup title and cemented his status as an international sensation.

German fans long knew he was a playmaker. From a boyhood in Germany’s Allgäu region, he rose from Dortmund's BVB youth team and made his Bundesliga debut with Borussia Dortmund in 2009. Since 2010, he has been a fixture in the German national team, playing in two World Cups and European Championships.

Beyond the pitch, Mario has embraced Germany’s startup scene, investing strategically in ventures such as KoRo, PowerUs, and Qualifyze. He actively seeks to contribute value to these companies, and thus to leave a lasting impact in both sport and business.

Mario Götze
Mario is a football world cup champion and scored the winning goal for Germany in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final.
I want to compete, prove myself at the highest level and show that I can help any team.
Mario Götze, Soccer World Champion and angel investor
GetHarley
- Charmaine is the Founder of GetHarley, an online platform that connects consumers with physicians and personalized skin care products.

Having experienced first-hand frustration with the skincare industry, Charmaine started GetHarley while still working at Goldman Sachs — delivering boxes of products to her customers on her way to her office job.

Five years later, GetHarley has raised some $80 million in funding and supports more than 1,000 clinicians who treat over 100,000 individuals.

From the first time we met her, we were floored by the clarity and sharpness of her thinking, her maniacal and obsessive focus on her customers, and her inspiring ambition.

Quote: “We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.“

GetHarley
Charmaine is the Founder of GetHarley, an online platform that connects consumers with physicians and personalized skin care products.
I’m used to having good service in other parts of my consumer life, which is why I wanted to create the same thing in the skincare space.
Charmaine Chow, Founder of GetHarley
Miro
- Andrey is the Founder and CEO of Miro — the world's most popular visual collaboration platform.

Andrey has always been a builder at heart. While running his own creative agency in the 2000s, he dreamed of an environment where he and his team wouldn't have to reinvent their work from scratch every day. He envisioned something that would foster a different kind of collaboration.

Andrey created a digital canvas that went beyond conventional collaboration tools, offering people a platform for self-realization and innovative thinking. "We build the canvas, and we want everyone to realize their potential by interacting with it," he says. "I wanted us to realize ourselves."

Today, Miro spans 12 global offices and stands as the world's premier visual collaboration platform. It has become essential to 99% of Fortune 500 companies across a range of domains: brainstorming, ideation, research, design, and agile ceremonies. And Andrey’s unwavering determination to collaborate now provides that digital toolbox to a stunning 50 million users.

Miro
Andrey is the Founder and CEO of Miro — the world's most popular visual collaboration platform.
I am not in love with my ideas, I'm in love with the problems. Every product should be.
Andrey Khusid, Founder & CEO of Miro
Nico Rosberg
- Nico Rosberg – 2016 Formula One World Champion – is an awarded Sustainability Entrepreneur and Founder of Rosberg Ventures. After his highly successful racing career, he transitioned into the business and startup world with ventures focused on sustainability, innovation and technology.

Once Nico Rosberg captured the F1 World Drivers’ Championship, he easily could have settled into a comfortable retirement. Instead, he shifted gears. Fueled by lessons learned on the racetrack — concentration, balance, and courage — he plunged into the world of entrepreneurship, where he focuses on companies in green technology and sustainability.

The son of a former F1 world champion, Nico began competitive karting at the age of 6. During his teenage years he raced karts against Lewis Hamilton, with whom he went on to share friendly lifelong competition. The enduring rivalry with Hamilton, now a seven-time F1 world champion, became a defining feature of Nico’s career.

Nico’s meticulous approach to racing — including his emphasis on physical fitness and mental preparation — was instrumental in his 2016 world championship with Mercedes. His ability to translate his learnings on the track to the world of entrepreneurship has become an essential ingredient for many founders who are seeking to achieve their own great performances.

Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg – 2016 Formula One World Champion – is an awarded Sustainability Entrepreneur and Founder of Rosberg Ventures. After his highly successful racing career, he transitioned into the business and startup world with ventures focused on sustainability, innovation and technology.
No matter how good a driver you are, you have to have the right car and the right team behind you in order to succeed.
Nico Rosberg, Founder of Rosberg Ventures & Formular 1 World Champion
Stihl
- Selina Stihl is Vice Chairwoman of the Stihl Advisory Board and Co-Owner of Stihl, a German manufacturer of the world's best-selling brand for chainsaws, and the only chain saw manufacturer to make its own saw chains and guide bars.

Selina Stihl's story is one of deep-rooted values and evolving dreams. As a child in Hamburg, she aspired to become an architect before finding her way to her family's roots in Waiblingen. During an internship at STIHL, the family business since 1926, Selina immersed herself in the company's operations. She found herself drawn to the industrial environment. Something about the distinctive smell of the factories told her she was in the right place.

She sharpened her business acumen in auditor roles in London and by managing a beverage manufacturer in Hamburg. Then, through a VP post for STIHL in Brazil, Selina began to transition from hands-on management to strategic advisory roles. Eventually she returned to Germany to join STIHL’s advisory board.

Selina's professional achievements and her innate connection to her family’s legacy inform her leadership style — an appreciation for dynamic innovation, tethered firmly to tradition.

Stihl
Selina Stihl is Vice Chairwoman of the Stihl Advisory Board and Co-Owner of Stihl, a German manufacturer of the world's best-selling brand for chainsaws, and the only chain saw manufacturer to make its own saw chains and guide bars.
When we launched our first battery devices in 2009, we were pioneers in our industry. The success of battery technology was not certain at that time, but we took the risk. Today, it pays off.
Selina Stihl
Swarovski
- Markus Swarovski is taking the world’s largest crystal manufacturer to the next level.
Swarovski
Markus Swarovski is taking the world’s largest crystal manufacturer to the next level.
Everything you want is on the other side of fear.
Markus Langes-Swarovski, Chairman of the Board of Swarovski
KAZAA, SKYPE, ATOMICO
- Niklas has changed the game three times as the founder of Kazaa, Skype, and Atomico.

Few tech entrepreneurs have achieved as storied a career as Niklas Zenström, one of Europe’s greatest success stories and champions. He enjoyed an idyllic childhood in Sweden before studying abroad in the United States and becoming fascinated with computers and Silicon Valley giants such as Apple. He built the file sharing platform Kazaa — an iconic platform in the peer-to-peer internet — before going on to found the internet telephony business Skype, which he sold to eBay for $2.6 billion in 2005. Later he joined a consortium that bought back Skype — and later sold it to Microsoft for $8.5 billion.

Through his fund Atomico, Niklas has applied his expertise and investments to supporting some of the most promising tech startups in Europe. As a philanthropist Niklas supports human rights and environmental campaigns — and as an avid sailor, he has twice won Europe’s prestigious Fastnet race, fulfilling a boyhood dream of racing yachts.

KAZAA, SKYPE, ATOMICO
Niklas has changed the game three times as the founder of Kazaa, Skype, and Atomico.
If you want to be an entrepreneur it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle. It defines you.
Niklas Zennström, Founder of Skype, Kazaa and Atomico
Wolt
- Miki is the co-founder & CEO of the Helsinki-based company Wolt, Europe’s second fastest growing company, known for its food delivery platform.

Miki Kuusi came of age in the aftermath of the 2009 global recession, a moment where Europe felt wide-open and the iPhone and Android had people rushing to smartphones. People were interacting with computers and the internet in novel ways, leading to a startlingly simple question that inspired Miki and five other co-founders to launch Wolt in 2014. If phones were being used to summon cars via apps such as Uber, could they do the same for food?

A decade later, Wolt is a leader in food and grocery delivery in Europe, available in 25 countries and over 500 cities, generating some €3 billion in sales for more than 120,000 merchant partners. In 2022 DoorDash acquired Wolt in a deal worth $8 billion.

Quote: “We’re living through this revolution. The aha moment was realizing that the smartphone in everyone’s pocket was going to become a remote control for everything in life.”

Wolt
Miki is the co-founder & CEO of the Helsinki-based company Wolt, Europe’s second fastest growing company, known for its food delivery platform.
A company needs to have an extreme focus on the smallest subset of things that constitute success. As the founder, your job is to define this narrowest possible focus.
Miki Kuusi, Co-Founder & CEO of Wolt
Max Viessmann
- Max Viessmann is taking a 100-year-old market leader in heating and cooling systems to the digital age.

Max Viessmann steers the Viessmann Group with a forward-thinking vision that blends technological innovation with a commitment to sustainability. First as Chief Digital Officer and now as CEO, he has injected dynamism into a century-old family business, steering the century-old heating and refrigeration manufacturer toward a digital future. His progressive emphasis meets contemporary business challenges while preserving the family’s legacy in a rapidly evolving world.

Under Max's guidance, Viessmann has become synonymous with environmental stewardship and social responsibility. More broadly, he has committed to creating sustainable and liveable spaces for future generations. He further shapes global strategies for climate and energy solutions in his influential role on the Board of Directors of Carrier Global.

Max Viessmann
Max Viessmann is taking a 100-year-old market leader in heating and cooling systems to the digital age.
We generate living spaces for generations to come.
Max Viessmann, CEO of Viessmann Group
Amorelie
- Lea co-founded Europe's leading sensual lifestyle platform.

Lea Cramer was determined to destigmatize the sensual lifestyle industry. Getting there would require a huge risk. At the age of 24, she left her role managing Groupon’s operations in Asia, and co-founded the sensual e-commerce brand Amorelie.

A failure could have undermined her young career — but the bet soon paid off. Amorelie shot to a staggering $65 million in revenue, established a presence in 15 markets, and grew to 150 employees. Lea emerged as one of the most accomplished entrepreneurs in her industry. Her dedication and innovative spirit earned her numerous accolades, including recognition as a role model entrepreneur by the federal government in 2014.

In reshaping her industry, Lea has shattered stereotypes and overcome obstacles. Her pioneering efforts have made her a giant in the worlds of sexual wellness and European entrepreneurship.

Amorelie
Lea co-founded Europe's leading sensual lifestyle platform.
I wanted to break with the taboo to openly talk about our love lives.
Lea-Sophie Cramer, Co-Founder of Amorelie
Tacto AI
- Tacto AI offers a data-driven, intuitive solution that frees up capacities, reduces complexity, and can be deployed without costly IT resources.

André, Nico, and Johannes represent the confluence of a unique founder DNA. The trio met at Munich’s Center for Digital Technology and Management. There they hatched a shared vision for AI-first B2B software as a catalyst to modernize Europe's established industrial base. Tacto was born.

As founders, their velocity, humility, and focus on truth enable the trio to build products that customers actually need. At Tacto, they bring AI-driven direct procurement solutions to mid-sized industrial companies — including legacy firms that form the backbone of Europe’s economy often with a minimum of modern software.

Tacto, in short, improves supply chain efficiency for those companies. But the founders also help these businesses gird themselves against future supply chain challenges and price shocks. They value practical experience and impact over traditional accolades — a fundamental ethos that informs the way they build their growing team.

Tacto AI
Tacto AI offers a data-driven, intuitive solution that frees up capacities, reduces complexity, and can be deployed without costly IT resources.
We aim to bridge the gap between the backbone of the European economy, industrial mid-caps, and the digital industry, in order to unlock additional value creation and innovation potential.
André Petry, Nico Bentenrieder and Johannes Groll, Co-Founders of Tacto
Supercell
- Ilkka is the CEO and co-founder of Supercell, the Helsinki-based mobile games developer behind Clash of Clans, Hay Day, Boom Beach, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars.

It’s not false modesty when llkka describes himself as the “least-powerful CEO in video games.” Rather, he is really offering an insight into his radically contrarian approach to start-ups and company building — one that has driven outsized success for Finnish gaming company Supercell.

By committing to the mantra “trust, don’t control,” Ilkka built Supercell around small, nimble teams. Those autonomous teams, insulated from outside meddling and armed with maximal freedom, create a corporate culture resembling professional sports teams. The organization exists to support high performers who are empowered to focus on their individual role.

This approach has generated startling results. With an extreme commitment to excellence, Supercell has released just five games, ever. All of them have become worldwide top-10 iOS and Android releases, and four have grossed more than $1 billion.

Quote: “We’ve replaced the control with trust. The best days at Supercell, for me, are when I hear about something way later than it has been decided. That proves the model is working.”

Supercell
Ilkka is the CEO and co-founder of Supercell, the Helsinki-based mobile games developer behind Clash of Clans, Hay Day, Boom Beach, Clash Royale and Brawl Stars.
Great teams make great games. Great individuals do not necessarily make a great team.
Ilkka Paananen, Co-Founder & CEO of Supercell
Mollie
- Adriaan has been disrupting the payments industry with Mollie’s smart and flexible payment solutions now for over a decade.

From his youth, Adriaan’s insatiable curiosity drove him to sharpen his talent for technology. His passion for coding during his teenage years — helped by a secondhand Apple computer his uncle gave him — set the stage for an extraordinary entrepreneurial career that launched when he founded the payment service provider Mollie in 2004 at the young age of 18.

Under Mol's leadership, Mollie emerged as a fast-growing unicorn. The Dutch startup made headlines in June 2021 with an astonishing $800 million Series C funding round that valued the company at $6.5 billion.

Mol further went on to co-found a second tech unicorn, MessageBird, a prominent player in the cloud communications industry.

Mollie
Adriaan has been disrupting the payments industry with Mollie’s smart and flexible payment solutions now for over a decade.
Do. Or do not. There is no try.
Adriaan Mol, Founder and CEO of Mollie
Bharti
- Bharti Airtel is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa.

Sunil Mittal started his entrepreneurial journey at the age of 18, by making crankshafts for local bicycle manufacturers. He is the founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises, a conglomorate which he started in 1976 involved in space, insurance, telecom, real estate, food and hospitality. Bharti Airtel, the group's flagship company is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa. In addition to his incredible success in business, Sunil has been a passionate supporter of furthering education in India, through the Barti Foundation, which has established schools in villages across India and offers free quality education with free books, uniform and meals to children. In 2007, Sunil was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honor.

Shravin Mittal joined his father at Bharti Airtel in 2010. He is also the founder of Unbound, a VC firm investing in the most promising “100-year” companies globally, including the likes of Databricks, Snowflake, and Asana.

Bharti
Bharti Airtel is one of the world's largest and India's largest telecom company with operations in 18 countries across Asia and Africa.
For me, relationship is very important. I can lose money, but I cannot lose a relationship. The test is, at the end of a conversation or a negotiation, both must smile.
Sunil Mittal, Founder and Chairman of Bharti Enterprises
Xentral
- Benedikt and Claudia are redefining lean ERP for SMEs.

For a while, the conspicuously bleary hour of 5 a.m. was a busy time in the Sauter household. That predawn hour was when Claudia Sauter and her husband Bene began their days, programming a software to help manage their small business, a seller of microcontrollers.

Fuelled by coffee and a passion for building, they created the first version of their software expressly to solve their personal pain points. Their software project soon took on a life of its own: The intuitive ERP captured the attention of their existing customers, and xentral was born.

Xentral has since grown into a leading ERP solution for SMBs. And the husband-wife duo are only just beginning to empower their thousands of customers to run businesses better, at top speed.

Xentral
Benedikt and Claudia are redefining lean ERP for SMEs.
We want to build a better ecosystem to help our customers run their own businesses better.
Benedikt and Claudia Sauter, Co-Founder of Xentral
Choco
- Daniel and his team accelerate the world's transition towards sustainable food systems.

Daniel Khachab’s ambition ran hot early in life. He brought it to the German Air Force, where he learned resilience. Then he launched a social network based around restaurant reservations. When the company fizzled, he remained alert for the next endeavor.

A few years later, he found himself conducting research in the bustling markets of Singapore. There he observed the archaic ways in which restaurant owners placed orders: leaving voicemails by phone, with a host of different suppliers — a maze of a process, fraught with errors.

The sheer inefficiency convinced Daniel there was an opportunity to capture. This led to the birth of Choco in 2018: a digital platform that connects restaurants and suppliers, boosting operational efficiency and reducing waste. Today, Choco has become the global category leader, serving tens of thousands in the food industry across the United States, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, and Belgium.

Daniel’s aims for Choco go beyond technology. He envisions a world where food wholesale markets operate waste-free, powered by technology and sustainable practices. He nurtures the next generation of entrepreneurs by returning often to his alma mater to share his insights. And as Choco continues to expand, he drives it to set new standards in the food industry for a more sustainable future​.

Choco
Daniel and his team accelerate the world's transition towards sustainable food systems.
The food supply chain is one of the largest and most inefficient globally.
Daniel Khachab, Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
HelloFresh
- Dominik reinvented how we shop and consume our daily food.

Dominik Richter founded HelloFresh with the aim of revolutionizing the way people eat. That is no small task, clearly. Yet as the food delivery company has grown from its humble early days in 2011, when Dominik and his team hand-packed and delivered meals to their first customers, the trailblazing CEO has poured his passion into making home cooking accessible, enjoyable, and sustainable.

As he turned meal kits into a global phenomenon, Dominik has changed the entire food industry. HelloFresh supports the entire supply chain of a meal, from sustainable farming, to newly harvested ingredients, to reliable recipes — reducing food waste and emissions at every possible stage. The company’s rise from a start-up to the global food subscription leader testifies to Dominik’s pursuit of innovation and growth without sacrificing values.

HelloFresh
Dominik reinvented how we shop and consume our daily food.
You will miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Dominik Richter, Founder & CEO of HelloFresh
Verena Pausder
- Verena is an entrepreneur and one of the best-known faces on the start-up scene in Germany. She is Chairwoman of the Startup Association and stands for entrepreneurial passion, a high degree of economic and socio-political responsibility and the will to actively promote the future viability of Germany as a business location.

to be added

Verena Pausder
Verena is an entrepreneur and one of the best-known faces on the start-up scene in Germany. She is Chairwoman of the Startup Association and stands for entrepreneurial passion, a high degree of economic and socio-political responsibility and the will to actively promote the future viability of Germany as a business location.
We need a narrative that says, "yes we can" rather than "we’re going down".
Verena Pausder, Founder of Pausder Ventures & Chairwoman of the Board at German Startups Association
Miele
- Christian’s great-grandfather founded Miele and formed it into a global leader of home appliances. Christian now backs the next generation of Europe’s entrepreneurs as a partner at e.ventures.

As a venture capital investor, entrepreneur, and proponent for startups, Christian Miele has made a career of transcending conventional boundaries.

His investment philosophy holds that transformative journeys start with a single step. He prefers to partner with founders who see obstacles as part of an authentic path to success.

His own path began early, as part of the century-old Miele family business known for its global production of household and commercial appliances. He studied economics and went to work for Bertelsmann and Rocket Internet before founding TodayTickets, a digital ticket sales platform that was later acquired by a Spanish competitor.

Christian remains committed to energizing European entrepreneurship. As the President of the nonprofit German Startup Association, he collaborates with founders to foster relationships with European governments and to build resilient, innovative companies. His voice has become one of the strongest and most-recognized in German politics and business.

Miele
Christian’s great-grandfather founded Miele and formed it into a global leader of home appliances. Christian now backs the next generation of Europe’s entrepreneurs as a partner at e.ventures.
The time has come to strengthen Europe’s startup powerhouse: We can build the next generation of digital global market leaders in B2B.
Christian Miele, Partner at e.ventures
Fiege Logistics
- Felix and Jens Fiege are pioneering the digital future of one of Europe's leading full-service logistics providers in the fifth family generation.

The remarkable story of Felix and Jens Fiege, the fifth-generation leaders of Fiege Logistics, begins in 1873, humbly, with Joan Joseph Fiege lugging coal on a horse-drawn cart through Greven, Westphalia. Over the generations, Fiege Logistics has transformed dramatically from a business focused on transport, to one oriented around forwarding, and ultimately to a contract logistics provider.

Since taking leadership of Fiege Logistics in 2014, Felix and Jens have ably steered the company through market challenges and supply chain disruptions. In 2021 INTES Academy recognized their joint leadership with the Family Entrepreneur of the Year award, a testament to their effective governance and forward-thinking approach at a time when the Covid pandemic's jolted supply chains worldwide.

The rise of Fiege Logistics from a small haulage business to an international logistics giant is a story of unwavering work ethic, smart business decisions, and wise succession planning. Underpinning it all: a strong family bond and a commitment to the company’s long-term success.

Fiege Logistics
Felix and Jens Fiege are pioneering the digital future of one of Europe's leading full-service logistics providers in the fifth family generation.
We embed the latest technologies in networking and automation to stay at the forefront of the complex e-commerce and multi-channel logistics.
Felix and Jens Fiege, Co-CEOs of Fiege Logistics
Oetker
- In 1891 Dr. August Oetker invented Backin, a new baking powder that should soon revolutionize how we bake cakes. Today the fourth generation of the Oetker family business is building the future from 125 years of experience.

The saga of the Oetker family, who heralded one of Europe's most successful food companies, is rooted in generations of pioneering spirit and entrepreneurial drive. Born a baker’s son in 1862, Dr. August Oetker as a young man embarked on a pharmacy apprenticeship that led to him owning a pharmacy in Bielefeld in 1891. His groundbreaking development in 1893 of the baking powder Backin laid a key cornerstone for his business. The foresight to create and brand pre-measured baking powder packets revolutionized home baking and helped make Oetker a household name across Europe.

Over the decades the family diversified the company's interests across various sectors, setting the stage for its future growth. Today the Oetker Group unites some 350 companies under three business divisions: consumer-related products, luxury hotels, and data and information processing. Several additional companies complement the group's diversified portfolio.

The Oetker family's journey from a humble beginning to a global presence in the food industry exemplifies a remarkable blend of vision, adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to quality and innovation.

Oetker
In 1891 Dr. August Oetker invented Backin, a new baking powder that should soon revolutionize how we bake cakes. Today the fourth generation of the Oetker family business is building the future from 125 years of experience.
We support growing the future of food.
Oetker Digital
GetYourGuide
- Johannes and Tao re-invented travel experiences with the fastest-scaling tour and activities booking platform in the world.

Without a fateful travel mix-up, the global booking platform GetYourGuide might never have existed. It began when Johannes, then a student at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, arrived early for a holiday in Beijing. He spent days wandering the streets, unsure of how to fill his time and what to see. Once his classmate Tao, a Beijing native, arrived to act as a local guide, the duo were able to get the most out of the experience.

Along the way, they sketched out a vision that became GetYourGuide. Cheap flights and great hotels were easy to book anywhere in the world. But bookings for what Johannes calls the fun parts of a trip — tours, activities, social connection with locals — were scattered, and ripe for disruption.

When they returned to school, the men tapped two other friends in Zurich who, like them, shared a talent for engineering and a love of travel, and got to work. One pivot, one pandemic, and over $1 billion in funding later, GetYourGuide has emerged as a leading global platform for experiences. Travelers have used it to book more than 80 millions tours, allowing people everywhere to experience destinations richly and authentically.

GetYourGuide
Johannes and Tao re-invented travel experiences with the fastest-scaling tour and activities booking platform in the world.
We often credit our success to our dedication to infinite learning.
Johannes Reck and Tao Tao, Co-Founders of GetYourGuide

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So who is next?

Tune into our latest episodes on...

Hyperscaling SaaS & Family
In the eye of the storm: The role of AI in a changing world order
Skin in the game
Entrepreneurship Unbound: the story of building India's largest telecom and finding the next generational businesses
Rising with Resilience and Vision: The story Supercell
The Athlete Investor
  • Personio
  • Xentral
  • Pigment
  • Tacto
  • Apron
  • Miro
  • Truelayer

What our
entrepreneurs say

Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Hanno Renner
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Hanno Renner
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Hanno Renner
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Hanno Renner
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Hanno Renner
Co-Founder & CEO of Personio
Visionaries Club has become a key building block in Europe's tech ecosystem in record time, driving disruption in B2B. Rob, Sebastian and Visionaries have been supporters of our Journey at Personio, and I have decided to become an investor in Visionaries from day one as well. I love their value proposition and how they constantly re-invent Visionaries.
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Eléonore Crespo
Co-Founder & Co- CEO of Pigment
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Eléonore Crespo
Co-Founder & Co- CEO of Pigment
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Eléonore Crespo
Co-Founder & Co- CEO of Pigment
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Eléonore Crespo
Co-Founder & Co- CEO of Pigment
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Eléonore Crespo
Co-Founder & Co- CEO of Pigment
Sometimes the most painful moments in life turn out to be the ones that push you to get started.
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Franz Haniel
Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Haniel
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Franz Haniel
Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Haniel
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Franz Haniel
Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Haniel
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Franz Haniel
Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Haniel
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Franz Haniel
Former Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Haniel
Visionaries Club is bringing together a unique network of leading entrepreneurial shapers from the old and new economy enabling a fruitful exchange to drive Europe's digital transformation. I believe Visionaries' approach is unique to unlock more entrepreneurial spirit and momentum.
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
Andrey Kusid
Founder & CEO of Miro
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
Andrey Kusid
Founder & CEO of Miro
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
Andrey Kusid
Founder & CEO of Miro
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
Andrey Kusid
Founder & CEO of Miro
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
Andrey Kusid
Founder & CEO of Miro
Everything I do is designed to try and make Miro a spherical company.
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Charmaine Chow
Founder & CEO of GetHarley
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Charmaine Chow
Founder & CEO of GetHarley
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Charmaine Chow
Founder & CEO of GetHarley
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Charmaine Chow
Founder & CEO of GetHarley
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Charmaine Chow
Founder & CEO of GetHarley
We do what we do, because we are deeply passionate about empowering people to look, feel, and be their best selves at every age.
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Daniel Khachab
Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Daniel Khachab
Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Daniel Khachab
Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Daniel Khachab
Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Daniel Khachab
Co-Founder & CEO of Choco
Visionaries is one of the most ambitious, smartest and most aggresssive ones, and that is why we just love working together as we share those values.
Calling a dream crazy is not an insult, it’s a compliment.

We are entrepreneurs ourselves.

We are entrepreneurs at heart. We have gone through your journey. We have directly lived and experienced it. Today we work hard day and night to build the VC fund we always wished for when we were founders ourselves. It is this joy of building that gets us up in the morning. We make deep and enduring commitments to the founders that we back. In a world of fast-paced deals and momentum-driven opportunism, we take the long-term view. The founders we back want to make a lasting impact on the world. And so do we. Following our deepest passion is what brings out the best in us. Thus, we do not see ourselves as investors, but rather as co-entrepreneurs working tirelessly alongside the founders that we back. We are obsessed with helping you win.

The
club

The importance of money has decreased in venture capital.

Today, access and network have become the most important ingredients that an investor can offer. We are backed by a selection of the world’s leading entrepreneurs from the digital and industrial space. With our family entrepreneurs such as Swarovski, Mittal, Haniel, Stihl, Henkel, Siemens, Oetker, Fiege and Bitburger, we can provide you with direct access to first customers for product-market-fit, and unparalleled scaling opportunities, reaching more than 90% of Europe’s most prolific (industrial) family businesses. Our founders and operators are behind companies such as UiPath, Miro, Flixbus, Mollie, Spotify, Personio, Adyen, HelloFresh or Pitch, and have only just gone through your journey themselves. They will directly assist you in building and scaling a successful SaaS company. This authentic, hands-on entrepreneurial experience is the best possible support we can offer to founders - one which we could never replicate as partners or just “hire” into a fund.

We are entrepreneurs ourselves.

We are entrepreneurs at heart. We have gone through your journey. We have directly lived and experienced it. Today we work hard day and night to build the VC fund we always wished for when we were founders ourselves. It is this joy of building that gets us up in the morning. We make deep and enduring commitments to the founders that we back. In a world of fast-paced deals and momentum-driven opportunism, we take the long-term view. The founders we back want to make a lasting impact on the world. And so do we. Following our deepest passion is what brings out the best in us. Thus, we do not see ourselves as investors, but rather as co-entrepreneurs working tirelessly alongside the founders that we back. We are obsessed with helping you win.

The importance of money has decreased in venture capital.

Today, access and network have become the most important ingredients that an investor can offer. We are backed by a selection of the world’s leading entrepreneurs from the digital and industrial space. With our family entrepreneurs such as Swarovski, Mittal, Haniel, Stihl, Henkel, Siemens, Oetker, Fiege and Bitburger, we can provide you with direct access to first customers for product-market-fit, and unparalleled scaling opportunities, reaching more than 90% of Europe’s most prolific (industrial) family businesses. Our founders and operators are behind companies such as UiPath, Miro, Flixbus, Mollie, Spotify, Personio, Adyen, HelloFresh or Pitch, and have only just gone through your journey themselves. They will directly assist you in building and scaling a successful SaaS company. This authentic, hands-on entrepreneurial experience is the best possible support we can offer to founders - one which we could never replicate as partners or just “hire” into a fund.

The Power of Old and New

We bridge information asymmetries between the old and the new.

At Visionaries, we bridge the information asymmetry of “what is possible” in the technology startup space and “what is actually needed” in the industrial space. Bringing those two entrepreneurial worlds together lies at the core of our DNA to unlock infinite value in B2B.

Visionaries B2B Funds

Why B2B?

There is no economic reason for any part of the value chain not to be digitized in the long run if there is potential to streamline and automate processes. From developer tools to vertical-specific applications, we expect software to power all areas of business. Work is increasingly digital, distributed, and getting more complex. People need better tools to do their jobs and free up time for personal health and self-fulfillment. Businesses will thus look more and more like tech companies – the digital world will need new infrastructure, both hardware, and software.

Visionaries Tomorrow Fund

Courageous Capital for the World of Tomorrow

Big, science-enabled technological breakthroughs have changed the world – for the good and the bad. We are at an inflection point that requires radically rebuilding the fundamentals of our world’s largest industries – not just incrementally improving them via digitalization. The current VC ecosystem is not designed for this. Bold investments into frontier technologies require deep domain knowledge, (almost) infinite pools of long-term capital, entrepreneurial risk-taking and a new guiding principle: not just “financial return” but “world return”.

The Visionaries Tomorrow Fund, together with our commercialization partners (our family business & industrial LPs) and our scaling experts (our unicorn founder LPs) is providing courageous capital and entrepreneurial experience to ambitious founders addressing the greatest challenges of the 21st century, from lab to IPO.

Latest Stories

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Power of B2B

We are at an inflection point of global tech: Covid-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated technology adoption in B2B: There is no economic reason for any part of the value chain not to be digitized in the long run if there is potential to streamline and automate processes. From developer tools to vertical-specific applications, we expect software to power all areas of business. Work is increasingly digital, distributed, and getting more complex.

People need better tools to do their jobs and free up time for personal health and self fulfillment. Businesses will thus look more and more like tech companies – the digital world will need new infrastructure, both hardware and software. This time we are in a strong position in Europe to shape the next wave of disruption in B2B: Europe is home to many global industrial world market leaders, most of them built on legacy technology with the potential to be either disrupted or enabled by new digital technologies.

Our Team

Robert Lacher
Founding Partner

Robert is Founding Partner of Visionaries Club and an entrepreneur at heart. Before Visionaries he has been the Founding Partner of La Famiglia having been the driver behind the fund’s history and early vision. Robert continues to manage La Famiglia’s first independent fund with more than 30 portfolio companies such as deel, Personio and Forto. . Robert is also a Founder of the fashion platform AMAZE, which he sold to Zalando in 2016. Prior to that, he worked for Boston Consulting Group and studied engineering and business at RWTH Aachen, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, and Harvard University.

Portfolio
Sebastian Pollok
Founding Partner

Sebastian is Founding Partner of Visionaries Club. His passion are "dent in the universe" frontier tech investments with Visionaries Club’s TOMORROW fund. Previously, Sebastian was co-founder and co-CEO of AMORELIE (exit to ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE in 2018) and an early-stage investor at Headline in San Francisco. Sebastian studied at Kellogg School of Management, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, WHU, and the University of St. Gallen. He sits on the board of the German Startups Association as well as Founders Pledge.

Portfolio
Tomorrow Portfolio
Sahar Meghani
Partner

Sahar is a Partner at Visionaries Club. Based in London, Sahar leads our early growth fund and has made investments in Fintech, HR, Insurance, Health and Saas. Before joining Visionaries Club, Sahar held leading roles in Product, Business and Corporate Development roles at LinkedIn and Wonga. Prior to that she worked in Investment Banking at Greenhill & Co and in private equity at Insight Equity. Sahar is an avid cricket fan, has lived in 5 countries including Pakistan, UAE, Oman, US and the UK and currently resides in London with her husband and two daughters. Sahar studied Economics and Political Science at Wellesley College and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Portfolio
Venkat Kondragunta
Senior Associate

VK is a Senior Associate at Visionaries Club, and spends most of his time focussing on later-stage B2B investing at Visionaries. Prior to joining Visionaries in 2023, he was working in the early-stage ecosystem in Europe with stints as a founder, operator, and investor. VK studied Economics & Management at the University of Oxford. Outside of work VK plays the drums, can be found chasing down restaurant recommendations in London, and is also a long-suffering supporter of the Green Bay Packers.

Portfolio
Isabella Yamamoto
Senior Associate

Bella joined Visionaries Club in 2023 and focuses on early stage B2B investing. Prior to Visionaries Club, Bella worked at Remitly, a fintech unicorn, and was responsible for launching their business in new markets. She ran the DACH and APAC region and led their expansion into China. Whilst doing her MBA she worked at Accel where she focused on fintech and Open Source companies. Bella was born and raised in Tokyo. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelors from Cambridge University.

Marton Sarkadi Nagy
Partner

Marton is Partner at Visionaries Club. From day one at the fund, he has co-led various Seed and Growth investments in B2B SaaS. Before joining Visionaries Club, he drove Growth at TIER Mobility from Seed through Series B as one of its first employees. Earlier, he worked at Morgan Stanley, developing pricing algorithms for exotic securities. He holds his Master's in Mathematical Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Marton is Hungarian, likes surfing and ultramarathon running and plays the saxophone.

Portfolio
Robert Jäckle
Partner

Robert is Principal at Visionaries Club. Joining the fund on day one, he has since co-led several Seed and Growth investments focussing on various verticals, including Fintech, Compliance, HR, Sustainability and Automation. Before joining Visionaries Club, he worked as an operator for HeyCar, helping to bring E-Commerce to used cars and in private equity at 3i. Robert studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Oxford, where he was part of the University’s Tennis and Ski racing teams.

Portfolio
Thong Le Hoang
Principal

Thong is Principal at TOMORROW, the frontier climate tech fund of Visionaries Club. He joined the team in 2023 and is focused on investing in startups leveraging breakthrough science to tackle the climate crisis. Prior to joining Visionaries Club, Thong was part of Fraunhofer, Europe’s largest institution for applied research, where he co-built their deep tech VC from day one. His academic background lies in electrical engineering and management from TU Munich.

Tomorrow Portfolio
Johann Butting
Partner

After almost three decades in operating roles in the global technology industry, Johann has decided to focus on working with earlier stage companies. He is a Partner at Visionaries, and works a day a week with us supporting our portfolio companies operationally, especially on GTM topics. Previously Johann has worked in senior GTM roles for Slack, Dropbox and Google. Earlier in his career he has founded, built and sold two SaaS companies in the US. An engineer by education Johann turned into a business person over the years. But his true passion is building things - regardless of whether that is great technology, great teams or great businesses.

Linh Seidel
Platform Associate

Linh is a Platform Associate at Visionaries Club, where she works at the intersection of the investment and operations teams connecting the dots between our portfolio companies and LP network. Before joining Visionaries Club, Linh worked in the Finance, Data & Business Intelligence Team at OceansApart, supporting scaling performance analyses and internal processes during the company's rapid growth phase. Additionally, Linh is an active team member of the 2hearts community team bringing together individuals with immigration backgrounds from Europe’s tech industry. She holds a Master’s degree from Grenoble Ecole de Management graduating as valedictorian.

Laura Bongartz
Team Lead Operations & Communications

Laura is Team Lead Operations & Communications at Visionaries Club and holds a pivotal role in managing a seamless flow of activities for the Visionaries Club Founding Partners Robert and Sebastian between deals, board meetings, and other commitments. In addition, Laura is leading our internal and external event operations as well as our team operations, such as feedback and development processes. Laura holds a bachelor's degree in business administration with a focus on Marketing & Media. Prior to joining Visionaries Club, she worked with Boston Consulting Group and Lufthansa in Munich.

Roland Geeraedts
Chief Financial Officer

Roland is the Chief Financial Officer at Visionaries Club. He and his team are responsible for all fund-specific topics such as finance, reporting, fund operations, tax, legal, and HR, as well guiding portfolio founders on financial matters. Prior to joining Visionaries, Roland was one of the first five employees of Moonfare, a fintech startup, where he was in charge of finance and operations. Roland helped scale the company to >250 employees, more than €2bn in Assets, a fully international structure including US operations, and raised over €150m in Seed to Series C funding rounds from tier 1 venture funds. Roland has a background in Transaction Advisory, mainly in the Technology / Private Equity space, having worked with EY for 9+ years in Germany and San Francisco (> 60 M&A transactions). He studied business administration at the University of Münster and University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Justus Hagebölling
Senior Manager - Finance & Operations

Justus is the Senior Manager Finance & Operations at Visionaries Club and leads various topics in the funds’ finance, legal, operations and tax functions. Before joining Visionaries Club, he worked as an Investment Manager at a Fintech startup in Berlin, and brings his finance expertise from several years as an Associate Director working in Asset Backed Finance at NORD/LB in New York. He holds an MBA from WHU with a specialization in Financial Management, including international modules at Kellogg School of Management and IIM Bangalore, and a Bachelor of Laws. Justus enjoys spending time traveling and is always in for a good basketball match.

Antonia Köhler
Office Manager & Team Assistant

Antonia is Office Manager & Team Assistant at Visionaries Club. She is responsible for managing our Visionaries Loft in Berlin Mitte, helps to organize on-site events, and supports Laura in operational tasks. Furthermore, she supports our team as a Team Assistant, overseeing a wide range of tasks to ensure a smooth day-to-day business. Before joining Visionaries Club in 2022, she worked as an Assistant and Office Manager at OceansApart and Hashtag You.