Combining operation and investment experience with a strong sector focus, our team supports our companies in exploiting market opportunities, driving innovation and long-term success.

General Partners

  • Thomas Gieselmann
    Thomas Gieselmann
    San Francisco
    Tom is a co-founder of BV Capital and focuses his investments in the areas of early stage (post product / prototype) business-to-consumer Internet/Wireless applications. His field of interest includes location relevant services, games, communications services, network businesses, freemium, monetization, social, and the-next-big-thing. He focuses on service design and the combination of value proposition, distribution strategy, and business model. Tom has led investments in, among others, del.icio.us (YHOO), PeanutLabs, nCircle, Fotolog (HIM) and K2Network, and served on the board of epinions (EBAY). Before co-founding BV Capital, Tom was the youngest partner at Bertelsmann Ventures where he contributed to the successful investments of Gotomypc (CTX) and eGroups (YHOO). He started his career in the Internet industry at Videotel, a joint venture among Microsoft, EDS, Deutsche Telekom and Axel Springer, building Europe’s first online service in the early 1990s. Thereafter, as part of the initial team of AOL Germany, he developed both aol.de and AOL Games.
  • Andreas Haug
    Andreas Haug
    Hamburg
    Andreas Haug has started several digital businesses as an entrepreneur and has invested in startups as a business angel for years. He has broad experience in setting up, expanding and restructuring Internet and other media companies. Andreas is the founder of infoMedia Group, which he sold to Thyssen Telecom and a cofounder of diligenZ Management Consulting. Previously, he worked in media for Bertelsmann AG.
  • Christian Leybold
    Christian Leybold
    Hamburg
    Christian joined the firm in the San Francisco office in March 2003. He has since moved back to Europe where is working out of the Hamburg office, focusing on Internet Consumer investments. Christian has a technical background and previously was a member of the Technology Strategy group at Deutsche Telekom’s Detecon International, and a technology consultant at Siticom Telecoms Consulting in Paris. Christian also held various positions at the Daimler Chrysler Research Center India in Bangalore and the Coordinated Science Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Christian is frequently quoted in the media as an expert on Venture Capital, such as in this interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  • Mathias Schilling
    Mathias Schilling
    San Francisco
    Mathias is a co-founder and Managing Partner of the firm. He focuses on Consumer Internet, Wirleless Applications and SaaS investments. He led BV’s current investments in Angieslist, Appfolio, Citydeal, Eucalyptus, HiMedia (HIM.PA), Sonos and Yume Networks. Previously, Mathias was a partner with Bertelsmann Ventures and involved in the succesful outcomes of Nuvomedia, GotomyPC and egroups. He also worked in media at Bertelsmann AG in New York and in management consulting at Roland Berger & Partner in Paris.

Partners

  • Andreas von Blottnitz
    Andreas represents BV Capital on the boards of Sonos and Appfolio. Previously, Andreas was the President and CEO of Expertcity and successfully grew the company from an early stage company to a leader in Web-based remote access and customer support technology known as GoToMyPC/GoToMeeting. He was instrumental in developing the company’s innovative online marketing and acquisition model, which resulted in over 150,000 customers and in the acquisition of Expertcity by Citrix. Prior to Expertcity, Andreas served in senior management roles with several online media companies. As president and CEO of AOL in Germany, he managed the European service launch and propelled the company to a $150 million dollar corporation within a few years.
  • Jan Henric Buettner
    Jan is the founding partner of BV Capital, an entrepreneur and new media pioneer with international reputation. He has founded several successful Internet ventures and in the process created more than $15 billion in value. Jan has a long history in developing, managing and operating Internet, telecommunications and media service companies, including an early involvement in the licensing process for the digital mobile network in Europe and the emerging value added media services.
    In the early 90′s, Jan and his team created one of the world’s first multi-media online services in Germany, and subsequently founded AOL Europe as a joint venture between America Online and Bertelsmann. Following the integration of his company into the joint venture, Jan was president and chief executive officer of AOL Germany until 1997. He then moved to California where he set up the BV Capital venture capital funds. In 2000, the Wall Street Journal named Jan “one of the most influential European technology financiers on either side of the Atlantic.” Since then, Jan is active as an international venture capitalist, private investor and entrepreneur with a focus on Internet consumer services and mobile applications.
  • Wolfgang Rose
    Wolfgang is a Partner of BV Capital Funds I and II and is focused on software and media investments. As one of the co-founders of the first BV Capital Fund, Wolfgang worked in the US for 3 years and served as a board member for several portfolio companies. Since the foundation of the second BV Capital Fund in July 2000, Wolfgang has focused on European investment activities out of the European BV Capital office in Hamburg, Germany. Prior to BV Capital, Wolfgang served as Chief Technology Officer of AOL Europe, where he was responsible for the launch of the European AOL networks. Wolfgang has held research and management positions in the computer and telecommunications industries, and managed large software projects at Daimler Benz, Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom. His technical background includes distributed software architectures, computer networking and solid state physics as semiconductor lighting. Wolfgang holds a Master’s degree in Physics.

Team

  • Linda Dannenberg
    Linda Dannenberg
    Hamburg
    Linda is an Associate at eVenture Capital Partners. Prior to joining eVenture, Linda completed her studies of Business Administration with majors in Statistics and Corporate Finance at the University of Cologne and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. During her studies, Linda worked for the online fashion start-up armedangels, where she set up and implemented a new sales channel. She also spent time at an online tutoring start-up in London and Seattle, where she has been involved with Business Development and Finance. Linda wrote her Master thesis on valuation of Internet start-up companies.
    Linda holds a Master’s degree (Dipl.-Kffr.) in Business Administration and graduated among the top 5% of her class.
  • Maren Eckloff-Boehme
    Maren Eckloff-Boehme
    Hamburg
    Maren has been our Chief Financial Officer for more than ten years. Prior to joining the team, she most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of eGroups Europe GmbH in Germany and was responsible for the organizational and financial development of the European operations. Before she joined eGroups, Maren was head controller at AOL Bertelsmann Online, where she developed the controlling systems for sales and marketing. Maren started her career as controlling manager at Vereins & Westbank AG.
  • Stefan Hoelscher
    Stefan Hoelscher
    San Francisco
    Stefan is an Analyst at BV Capital in San Francisco. Prior to joining BV Capital, Stefan worked for Otto Group, one of the biggest multi-channel retailers in the world. He was involved in strategic projects and the development of new businesses, e.g. about introducing eGrocery in Germany. Previously, Stefan completed his graduate studies in Business Administration with majors in finance, accounting and international management in Muenster (Germany) and Turku (Finland). During and before his studies, Stefan gained additional experience in the fields of banking (Deutsche Bank) and consulting (Oliver Wyman).
  • Jessica Laine
    Jessica Laine
    San Francisco
    Jessica rejoined the team as Junior Controller after first holding an Assistant position in the Santa Barbara office in 2004. Prior to her return, Jessica worked as an Expense Analyst for Citrix Online, a division of Citrix Systems. She brings experience and associated study from the fields of Business Administration, Finance, Public Relations and Marketing to BV Capital.
  • Ekaterina Mikula
    Ekaterina Mikula
    Kiev
    Katya is an Investment Analyst with eVenture Capital Partners in Kiev. She provides insight into the Ukrainian market coupled with business analysis experience in both Western and Eastern Europe, across a variety of industries. She launched the Otto Group’s first eCommerce project in the Ukraine, adapting the project to both Ukrainian legal and market structures. Her prior work experience was with Theron Management Advisors.
  • Sebastian Pollok
    Sebastian Pollok
    San Francisco
    Sebastian Pollok rejoined BV Capital in San Francisco as an Associate after completing the study-abroad portion of his graduate studies at Kellogg School of Management (Chicago) and a hands-on internship with BV Capital.
    During his studies, Sebastian started DropSocial, an online social calendaring company, and was a founding member of the Swiss Startup Weekends, a series of events that bring startup enthusiasts together to share ideas, form teams, and build products. Sebastian gained additional experience from his work for The Boston Consulting Group in London and as an initial team member of an e-commerce startup in Berlin.
    Sebastian holds a Bachelor’s from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany and a Master’s degree in business administration from the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
  • Alexandra Rasskazova
    Alexandra Rasskazova
    Moscow
    Alexandra is a business analyst with the team in Moscow. With experience at Theron, KPMG, and Roland Berger, she has been involved analyzing, performing due diligence, developing strategies for companies and markets with a global scope. She is currently responsible for strengthening our presence in the region and working to bring promising startups into our network.
  • Anja Sallen
    Anja Sallen
    Hamburg
    Anja has been a member of the team for more than 8 years. Before joining BV Capital in 2002 as Financial Administrator, Anja was an Account Manager at GOP-Varieté – the biggest event lieu in East Westfalia, Germany. There she was responsible for monetary transactions, accounting, audit preparation, data back-ups, HR administration and payroll-related tasks. She has always been drawn to travel and has lived and worked in Byron Bay (Australia), Chicago (US), and Berlin (Germany).

Advisors

  • Oliver Beste
    Oliver Beste has over 10 years of experience as entrepreneur, consultant and business angel in the internet, media and consumer goods industries. In 1999 he co-founded and made myToys.de the leading internet retailer for children’s products in Germany with over 100 Mio. € in sales and continuous growth rates above 40%. Before myToys Oliver gathered broad industry experience over 4 years as consultant with McKinsey.
  • Dr. Rainer Hillebrand
    Dr. Hillebrand is the Board Spokesman OTTO, as well as a Member of the Executive Board, Marketing, Sales, E-Commerce OTTO.
  • Juergen Schulte-Laggenbeck
    Jürgen has been a Member of the Board for the Otto Group since 2005, with responsibilities for both Finance and IT. Previously he was a Member of the Board for OBI, for Finance, IT, and Logistics. He also serves in the Board of Advisors for both Payback and Eurohypo. His prior work experience also includes McKinsey in Germany.
  • Stefan Wiskemann
    Stefan has depth of experience across Media and Internet. He has been involved in the founding and building of startups like Ricardo.de, 20six, and 21 Publish. As a business angel, he has over 5 years of active investing in media and Internet companies such as last.fm, Creative-weblogging.com, myblog.de, gamegoods.net, and kinkaa.com.