About

Markus
Schunk

Markus Schunk

Chief Executive Officer, Chairman

Markus heads Digital at Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and has been with Holtzbrinck Digital since 2007. He has been involved in more than 50 M&A deals – investments/divestments – and has played a major role in developing and shaping the portfolio in the last decade. During that time Markus has worked closely with many portfolio companies and was responsible for past investments including Parship, Allesklar.com, studiVZ, myphotobook or money.pl.

Markus is CEO and Chairman of the board at Holtzbrinck Digital.

Prior to joining Holtzbrinck Digital, he held senior project management positions at Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and KPMG Corporate Finance. Markus studied Business Administration at Eberhard-Karls University in Tübingen.

Markus is an avid sportsfan. He stays active by regularly running, playing tennis or skiing depending on the season and by spending time with his 3 kids.

Michael
Hock

Michael Hock

Managing Director

Michael is Managing Director at Holtzbrinck Digital and responsible for our investments in science and education as well as our international activities.
He has more than 10 years experiences in international venture capital and corporate M&A business. Michael's personal track record includes successful investments, turnarounds and exits like Parship, Toptarif, SVOX AG, CRF Health, and Symbian.

Prior joining Holtzbrinck Digital in 2011 he was part of Siemens' corporate VC activities in Boston and Munich followed by boutique VC firm smac partners.
Michael holds an Executive MBA from Technical University Munich.

His passion is everything about his two kids - even if they stop him from running another marathon or enjoying an excellent espresso.

Stefan
Peters

Stefan Peters

Managing Director

Stefan is one of the managing directors of Holtzbrinck Digital and responsible for the Digital Publishing and Digital Health activities. While working closely with his companies like gutefrage.net, pflege.de and netdoktor he is continiuously sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities in the Digital Health and Digital Publishing space all around the globe.

Before he joined Holtzbrinck in 2012, Stefan led several M&A transactions as part of Axel Springer's M&A core team and was responsible for the investment management of content & community activities within the Electronic Media Division of Axel Springer. Stefan studied Business Administration at the University of Hamburg and started his career with Ernst & Young as a consultant in the transaction advisory unit.

Stefan loves to travel Asia, Europe and North America. He is an active sailor, has a passion for photography and is father to a daughter.

Carolin
Stein

Carolin Stein

Commercial Manager

Carolin is Senior Commercial Manager at Holtzbrinck Digital and focuses on the continuous development as well as detailed analysis of the portfolio-wide management reporting and oversees the value-based investment controlling. She further supports the Investment Management Team by taking responsibility for the financial due diligence with regard to new investment opportunities.

Carolin joined Holtzbrinck Digital in 2013 as Investment Manager being responsible for Toptarif, MyHammer and the two Eastern European portfolio companies money.pl and Habostorta. Prior to Holtzbrinck Digital, Carolin gained experience in project management as well as business intelligence at ProSiebenSat.1 Media and in transaction services at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Carolin studied Business Administration at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Carolin is a passionate runner and enjoys the amenities of Munich's surroundings in her free time.

Matthias
Kandeler

Matthias Kandeler

Investment Manager

Matthias is Investment Manager at Holtzbrinck Digital since August 2014. He is managing new investments from sourcing to closing and working closely with portfolio companies.

Prior to Holtzbrinck Digital Matthias worked two years in the media sales division of Bertelsmann. As co-founder and CEO of several Internet and software companies he gained international experience as serial entrepreneur for seven years. Matthias holds a degree in Business Administration.

Apart from his passion for various sports, Matthias loves traveling the world and spending time with his two kids.

Alex
Smout

Alex Smout

Investment Manager

Alex is the Investment Manager for Digital Science, part of Holtzbrinck Digital focusing on technology investments serving the scientific research and discovery industry. Based in London, he is responsible for new investments and portfolio management.

Alex joined Digital Science in April 2011 and in his time has supported all M&A activity, led business intelligence and taken operational projects within the portfolio businesses.

Prior to Digital Science, Alex worked as a strategy analyst for RBS, focusing on the IPO of RBS Insurance (now Direct Line Insurance Group plc). In his time at RBS he covered all areas of customer strategy including product innovation, market positioning, customer value and competitor pricing.

Alex holds an engineering degree from University of Cambridge where his studies included environmental engineering, product design and management.

Although he loves all things tech, Alex does occasionally get outside where he spends his time either cycling or skiing, depending on the weather.

Dominik
Halter

Dominik Halter

Junior Investment Manager

Dominik is Junior Investment Manager at Holtzbrinck Digital focusing on healthcare investments. He globally sources opportunities and is active in portfolio management.

Prior to joining Holtzbrinck Digital, Dominik worked in M&A and strategy at Bertelsmann's financial services division. He conducted several multi-hundred million dollar transactions as well as investments in both business information and FinTech. Dominik studied Business Administration at FHM Bielefeld with a specialization in entrepreneurship and management of SMEs.

In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family and with great enthusiasm he collects everything on Batman.

Julius
Jürging

Julius Jürging

Investment Manager

Julius is Investment Manager at Holtzbrinck Digital and focuses on investments in educational technology. He globally sources opportunities and is also active in portfolio management.

Prior to Holtzbrinck Digital, Julius gained experience at Zalora, a Rocket Internet Company in Southeast Asia and at the VC fund BDMI. Julius completed his bachelor studies in Business Administration at Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München and graduated with a Master degree in Digital Business from IE Business School Madrid.

Apart from technology, Julius loves to travel the world and spends his leisure time at the lakes & mountains around Munich.

Thijs
Povel

Thijs Povel

Investment Manager

Thijs is an Investment Manager at Holtzbrinck Digital focusing on sourcing and managing investments in scientific technology globally. He is based in London and oversees the Digital Science portfolio.

Prior to joining Holtzbrinck Digital, Thijs worked as an investment manager for an early stage dutch VC with investments across the telecommunications, payments and marketing industries. He also gained experience as a strategy consultant and worked as an SME expert for the European Commission.

Besides his interest for new ventures, Thijs also has a passion for science, having studied physics at Imperial College London. When not at work, he can be found travelling the world and enjoying different sports.

Claudia
Jaser

Claudia Jaser

Executive Assistant

Susanne
Ziegler

Susanne Ziegler

Executive Assistant

Natalie
Pretsch

Natalie Pretsch

Team Assistant