Companisto is the investment platform for startups and growth companies. Business angels and investors participate in groundbreaking innovations, promising companies, and ideas that write history through venture capital. As a fintech company, we stand for lean processes, specialized knowledge, and efficient solutions. We are the driver of innovation in the field of professional online corporate finance. In a diverse society, we assume responsibility for the founding culture in Germany and Europe.
Pioneering spirit as we understand it is the uncompromising urge and determination to explore new paths to success. Pioneers take risks. Not everyone achieves their goal. But those who succeed have the potential to create great things.
Pioneering spirit develops in outstanding teams and through special personalities. Promising business ideas arise from creativity, assertiveness, and initiative. The ability to turn these ideas into product or process innovations makes it possible to open up new markets. This is the cornerstone for the successful companies of tomorrow.
Companisto is the partner of pioneers.
Tamo Zwinge is the managing director of Companisto and worked as a lawyer in the large international law firm CMS Hasche Sigle in the areas of company law, corporate transactions, and private clients for several years. Because of his expertise, Tamo is specifically responsible for the legal structure of Companisto and the continuous optimization of the Companisto model in terms of follow-up financing by venture capital companies.
Together with David Rhotert, Tamo founded the Berlin start-up "partycard" in 2001 and served as its managing director until it was sold in 2005. Tamo studied law at the Freie Universität Berlin and completed his legal clerkship in Berlin and Pretoria, South Africa. Afterward, he received a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in commercial law with the specializations of "International Company and Capital Markets Law," "Corporate Governance," and "International Sales and Finance" at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Tamo has published articles on different aspects of corporate governance in international journals, for instance in the U.S. and in the UK.
Tamo is frequently impressed by the large number of very good and innovative ideas in Germany. He envisions a crowdinvesting platform that will enable these ideas to be implemented in such a way that not just a few but many people –the Companists – will benefit from it.
David Rhotert is the managing director of Companisto and specializes in consulting start-ups as an independent lawyer.
Already during his studies, he had founded "partycard," his first start-up, in 2001, which he managed together with Tamo Zwinge until they sold their shares in 2005. He knows the challenges and difficulties young company founders are faced with from his own experience. Crowdinvesting is meant to improve this situation.
David was born in Berlin and studied law at the Freie Universität Berlin. He was employed by the research and documentation service of the German Bundestag before he worked in the legal department of a major German company in Beijing for some time. During his work in two large international law firms, he also gained an in-depth knowledge in the domain of mergers & acquisitions.
He is a member of the "Kompetenzteam Mittelstand" (team of experts on small and medium enterprises) and of the committee for innovation, technology, and industry of the Berlin chamber of industry and commerce (IHK Berlin). Since 2011, he has been involved in the project "IchMachMichSelbständig.de" of the Berlin chamber of industry and commerce and has been supporting the Wirtschaftsjunioren (young entrepreneurs) Berlin. He is also a member of the Genshagener Kreis (Genshagen circle), an association established by the Einstein Foundation Berlin in order to improve communication between leaders from the areas of business, science, arts, and culture.
Cristian is a passionate and innovative programmer, who has been developing high-quality software systems for more than ten years. Whenever he designs frameworks, web infrastructure, relational databases, or other scalable data systems, he is in his element.
At Companisto, Cristian deals with the operation and development of the platform and ensures its consistent improvement.
Dr. Stephan Beyer combines many years of experience in the areas of finance, sales and technology. Today he works as a serial entrepreneur and founder in the area of innovation and digital manufacturing. He has realized ten exits, including Aupeo!, Ableton, NandaTech, Inubit, all of which are from the B2B, software, deep tech and medtech sectors and are now part of corporations such as Bosch, Siemens, Panasonic.
Today, he supports leading tech companies as trusted advisor for the C-Suite and acts as an advisor for fast-growing companies. An entrepreneur at heart, in his last role in 2014 he was among the founders of BigRep and a driving force behind the strategic development and global expansion of the company. As an engineer, Stephan holds a PhD in Finance from the Technical University of Berlin.
Carsten Brandt brings with him more than 20 years of experience in various industries and consulting. This is coupled with his international expertise, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2008, he founded PMsquare, an IT consulting company in Sydney, Australia and expanded it together with his team in Asia, with offices in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Germany, Sri Lanka and a partnership in the USA.
After PMsquare's Asia-Pacific units merged with Cornerstone Performance Management in 2016, Carsten started business angel investing in various geographies and industries. In 2019 Carsten returned to Germany. In addition to the management of PMsquare GmbH, the German unit of his company, he also focused more on the D-A-CH area with his start-up support.
Wolfgang Schmidt possesses more than 30 years of experience in IT for various industries. After building up new business areas in the energy and IT industry, he founded X-INTEGRATE Software & Consulting GmbH in 2007, which supports medium-sized and large companies in the digitalization of business processes and automation of decision-making processes.
In 2010 Wolfgang Schmidt was one of the initiators and co-founders of Cloud Ecosystem e.V. - the community of the digital economy, with the goal of accelerating the spread of innovative digital business solutions in and with the cloud. As a networker, Wolfgang supports the promotion of start-ups and invests in different territories and industries. His equity portfolio contains a double-digit number of larger investments.
Dr. Martin Hecker worked in the telecommunications market for over 20 years, contributing his expertise in IT, sales and new technologies. Prior to that, he was mainly involved in innovative business ideas and their implementation. In 2002, he founded Message Mobile GmbH, which was sold to a Nasdaq-listed company in 2019.
He has been an angel investor for more than 20 years, supporting companies in various industries at different stages of growth. In addition to technology-related topics, he prefers to take care of the area of innovation or support companies in all matters related to management and organization.
He has been active as a business angel on Companisto since 2014.
Alexander Haja is Head of HR and Office Management at Companisto. He and his team take care of all aspects of human relations and office management. He ensures the satisfaction of all employees and a harmonious working environment. In short: Alex is something like the good spirit of Companisto.
The certified project management expert (IPMA) comes from the Far North - which is certainly the reason for his calm mind, his level-headed nature and definitely his "Moin Moin!", or "Moin Moin! Alex has a proven communication coach and businessman for dialogue marketing.
As Head of Portfolio Management, Robert Wegner is responsible for managing our portfolio. In close coordination with the investment team, the development of the portfolio companies is regularly analysed and appropriate measures taken. With his in-depth knowledge of the portfolio companies, he is thus the important interface between the investors, the portfolio companies and Companisto.
For more than 10 years, he has accompanied the start-up scene and gained a lot of experience. His experience includes positions at the Berlin Economic Development Agency - Berlin Partner -, the Digital Association BITKOM and a leading global law firm, where he deepened his great expertise in the areas of communication, financing, process and project management.
At Companisto he is engaged in knowledge transfer and regularly organizes Tech Talks. He is interested in the fields of artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies, Internet of Things and FinTechs.
Sarah Buge brings more than 10 years of customer care experience to the team, with most of her experience in the FinTech and e-commerce sector. Her vision is to provide an excellent service experience for every companion. To achieve this goal, she and her team will support our investors from the moment they register on the platform until the successful completion of the investment rounds.
Anna has already built and managed communities in social and sustainable startups, as well as the healthcare industry. Her degree in international business law has also come in handy with one or two questions. But the question of how to form a supportive community out of a group of strangers with community activities, events and certain tools is what drives her the most.
Since 2022, she has been using the insights she has gained at Companisto in the area of community building. Together, they pursue the vision that startups should not only be supported financially, but also with knowledge, experience, and contacts from the community.
Sophie is passionate about marketing. Starting out in a full-service advertising agency, where she managed classic advertising campaigns, her path led her to a global corporation, where she was able to improve her skills and expand her field of knowledge to include project management and digital marketing in particular. At Companisto, she is internal and external contact person for all marketing related topics for financing rounds. She is also responsible for the development and implementation of Companisto's strategic marketing orientation.
Christos is a passionate web developer who has been developing professional websites and complex web applications for the past eleven years. It is his principle to write clean, easily maintainable and extendable code, and to create applications that elegantly blend security and functionality with attractive design and usability.
Together with Cristian, Christos contributes to the platform's maintenance, functionality, and extension and keeps it up-to-date with the latest trends and requirements.
The Berliner-by-choice already packed her suitcase in Hamburg in 2020 and found her way to us via a small detour. Dagmar has been working in the field of conception, graphics and web design for over 20 years. In addition to her work in advertising agencies, she founded her own label. At Companisto, Dagmar is responsible not only for creating the themes for the funding rounds, but also for further developing and ensuring compliance with the corporate design as part of all communication measures.
Nicky is a senior investment manager and part of the deal flow team. He is responsible for the acquisition and analysis of deals and structures the financing rounds on Companisto. Besides his academic education in finance, he has a personal interest in the world of venture capital investing. He is particularly motivated to enable the implementation of innovative business ideas with a lasting impact.
He studied economic sciences (finance) at the University of Hohenheim and gained experience in international trade and finance at the locations Dubai, Bangkok and Denpasar.
Andreas joined Companisto as a Senior Investment Manager in September 2021.
Previously, he worked for one of the leading companies in the renewable energy sector. As Director of Finance, he spent several years in California and was responsible for the development and expansion of the national holding company, as well as the company's expansions in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. After his return to Munich, he was responsible for setting up the headquarter’s Investment Management.
Christof is Senior Onboarding Manager at Companisto. At Companisto, he supports investors and employees for a smooth onboarding and workflow on our platform.
He brings experience from sales, logistics, and e-commerce in the furniture industry. Among other things, he worked there as
Logistics Coordinator, Process Manager and Sales Controller and experienced the startup side as an employee. He has been involved in several startups as a "man of the first hour" and thus contributed to the startup's development and success.
As a trained carpenter, he carries wood in his heart and rounds this off with his commercial experience and corresponding vision.
Alexandra is the office manager of our department. Her role is to ensure a good working environment, to schedule meetings and appointments, organize the office layout, maintain the office condition and arrange necessary repairs, organize office operations and procedures, and to provide general support to visitors.
Very dynamic and creative, Alexandra succeeds in making everybody smile.
Vlad is a PHP programmer with more than seven years of experience in developing complex applications. His job in the team is to ensure that development is aligned with new technologies and software design patterns. Always open-minded and creative, Vlad plays an important role in the team.
Maricel has more than 10 years of experience in IT, specifically in server management and optimization. This expertise enables him to find creative solutions for complicated and subtle coding issues. Database management helps him to improve and streamline data storage and establish new security protocols.
His calm personality and analytical thinking allow him to overcome all the challenges.
Georgia is an experienced online marketing manager who started her career in an online marketing agency. There, she specialised in project management, performance marketing and social media communication and supported well-known clients in the development of customised marketing measures, among other things.
At Companisto, Georgia takes responsibility for both organic social media channels and performance marketing. Her focus is on creating targeted social media content and campaigns that increase the company's reach and awareness. She uses her experience to develop targeted marketing strategies for maximum impact.
Yorick Heinlein joined Companisto in April 2022 and is responsible for deal sourcing and analysis. Previously, he studied economics at the Free University of Berlin. He gained experience in investment solutions management at a digital asset manager in Berlin and has knowledge of the insurance business.
Mareauline joined Companisto in October 2022 and is responsible for deal sourcing, startup analysis and evaluation, due diligence, contract negotiations of company valuations and investment agreements.She previously gained experience as an associate at a PE growth investor in Stockholm. After graduating from the prestigious law school of the University of Edinburgh, she worked, among others, for a New Zealand fintech startup in Edinburgh, a Swedish bank and an international market leader in fund and corporate services in Stockholm.
Florian Huber has been working as an Investment Associate at Companisto since April 2022. He is responsible in particular for identifying and supporting promising young companies in the southern region of Germany. Previously, he completed a master's degree in economics, which he successfully completed with a focus on crowdinvesting. His goal is to drive innovation and thus actively shape the future.
Erik joined Companisto in April 2023 and is responsible for deal sourcing, analysis and evaluation of startups.
Previously, he completed a master's degree in economics with a focus on entrepreneurship. In the process, he gained experience in an M&A consultancy as well as in the financing of start-ups and spent several years in the world of blockchain technologies.
Michael Weidemann joined Companisto in October 2020 and is responsible for the administrative management and monitoring of non-customer specific processes. From the notary appointment over the capital increase to the deposit transfers to the disbursements, he ensures in the background a smooth process for our investments.
His many years of experience as teamlead in the areas of commerce, customer and payment service distinguish him.
With an impressive history in the film and television industry, Ramin Shahnazary is our secondary market expert. He is responsible for creating our events, integrating funding rounds and creating stirring graphics. He is also our main contact for everything related to moving images. We consider ourselves lucky to have such a multi-talent in our team.
Janette is the magic dust that keeps our office running. With her successful degree in economics, more than five years of professional experience as a branch manager for one of the most successful coffee hubs in Berlin, and her networked way of thinking, she makes sure that everything runs smoothly here and that Companisto is a place of harmony. Every now and then, she also has a kind word for our printer.
Robert Riedel is Backoffice Operations Manager at Companisto. He worked for many years in the operational management of a ground services provider for aircraft handling at Berlin airports and is therefore very familiar with services, customer contact and operational day-to-day business - even under time pressure. At Companisto, he takes on administrative tasks, custody account transfers, handles the secondary market and supports the portfolio team with updates and surveys.
Maike is an event manager and innovation assistant and part of the community building team. She manages live and digital events and ensures transparent communication between investors and start-ups. She is particularly motivated by seeing how her events create sustainable networks where both sides benefit from each other. She graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück in Business Management with a focus on Business Events. In addition to the largest student festival, she was involved in a pilot project for networking freshmen during the Corona Pandemic. She also brings this innovative side to us and is constantly developing new event concepts.
As Portfolio Manager, Mark is responsible for managing companies that have already completed a successful financing round via Companisto. Together with the portfolio companies, he develops strategies that are in the best interest of the investors.
He has been fascinated by young, growing companies since his bachelor's degree in California, the home state of venture capital. Mark also holds a Master in Management from IESE Business School and most recently worked in the investment management team of a leading German FinTech.
Hülya has been working at Companisto since December 2022 and is responsible, among other things, for communication with our investors, share transfers from the secondary market, processing Trustpilot ratings and is our contact person for the data protection office and Effecta.
After a foray into the media world, she worked for many years as an administrative manager and office manager in the non-profit sector.
Pascal is the Backoffice Operations Manager at Companisto.
He worked for a payment service provider for several years, where he was the first point of contact for crowd platforms.
At Companisto, he now takes care of the smooth running of internal tasks. From the notary appointment for the capital increase to custody account monitoring and payouts.
Pascal's mother tongue is not only German, but also Sorbian. A minority in Lusatia.
As Onboarding Manager, Marvin ensures a smooth start of new Companists. After years of experience in direct customer contact in the Customer Success area, Marvin specialized in an emphatic onboarding of new customers and partners. With this experience, he diligently ensures an efficient transfer of knowledge so that the first steps at Companisto of new members of our network go off easily.
Diar has been working for Companisto since March 2022 and is responsible for affiliate and influencer marketing. Previously, she worked in the category department at Wayfair (Global Ecommerce Company), where she managed suppliers. During her bachelor's degree, she founded a fitness blog through which she worked with various brands, learning how to collaborate with influencers, network, and the power of influencer marketing for businesses. She will use the analytical skills she learned at Wayfair, as well as the knowledge she gained as a blogger, to find the best influencers and affiliates for Companisto. The goal is to increase brand awareness and attract more investors.
Sara makes things happen.
She organizes everything that has to do with our office and work equipment, so that everyone can do their work and everything runs smoothly at Companisto. And if she has a really good day, she sometimes orders ice cream for the whole team.
In addition to her training as an office management assistant, Sara has also successfully completed her additional qualification as a European businesswoman.
After completing her training as an office management assistant at KPMG, she set off for new shores. Through a professional school friend, she came across our eager shores and dropped anchor.
Angelika has been actively supporting the portfolio team since September 2022. She looks after administrative and project management issues, as well as some portfolio processes.
In addition to her training as a businesswoman for office management, she has also successfully completed her additional qualification as a European businesswoman.
Tomas Messina has been part of the Companisto team since August 2022 and has been providing strong support in investor relations ever since. Among other things, he ensures that our platform runs smoothly for both new and old investors and is always available to answer questions about your investments. He is also currently studying industrial engineering at the TU Berlin.
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