Sophia is a Partner at Cherry Ventures. Based in Stockholm, Sophia brings her expertise on Nordic startups and a growing interest in the femtech space to the team. Sophia joined Cherry from Atomico, where she also served as Partner and created the firm's well-known Angel Program. Sophia is passionate about supporting early-stage companies, an interest she has discovered through 40+ angel investments of her own across Europe and North America. For seven years, Sophia also served as Spotify's Global Marketing Director, developing the audio platform from an apartment-based Swedish startup into an international household name. Aside from venture capital, she also acts as Board Director at the non-profit organization Race for the Baltic, is cofounder of AllBright.se, and is an innovation advisor to the Swedish Prime Minister. Sophia is a graduate from Stockholm University.

Alex joined Cherry Ventures in 2020, bringing a technical background and operational founding experience to the team. Before Cherry, he built and sold his fintech startup. Having previously spearheaded computer science research projects and worked in private equity and consulting, Alex continues to toggle between — and translate — computer science and financial know-how at Cherry. These seemingly disparate interests are also reflected in his education at Technical University Munich, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Center for Digital and Technology Management. A proud Bavarian, Alex spends some of his time for Cherry in Munich (but he’s acclimated well to the German capital). He loves mountains, skiing, sailing, and a nice, cold Weißbier. Though excited by all tech-driven disruption, Alex is particularly interested in workflow automation.

Max joined Cherry in 2021. He studied law in Barcelona and Berlin and passed the bar exam in 2020. Before Cherry, Max worked as a legal trainee in private equity at Freshfields, but rounded out his interests working at Zenjob as a project manager, consulting at Boston Consulting Group, and in VC at Acton Capital. He’s interested in regulated industries, cybersecurity, and, no surprise, improving the legal software stack. Outside of venture, Max can be found catching up on the latest in international politics, playing tennis, or planning his next travels. Though working across deals, Max will also support our Nordic coverage.

Charlotte is a Principal at Cherry. Before joining the team, she was the founder & CEO of EdirectInsure, a direct to consumer insurance platform in southeast Asia acquired by FWD Group in November 2018. Prior to this, Charlotte was co-founder and VP of Asia Pacific at Quandoo, a commerce platform for restaurants acquired by Recruit Holdings in March 2015. She also held roles as Head of Planning EMEA at Groupon based in Berlin and Regional Vice President in London, where she launched several UK and Nordic markets and the Groupon Goods vertical. Charlotte spent the beginning of her career at Goldman Sachs in London and holds a PhD in clinical neuroscience and a masters in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge. She loves to spend her time diving into complex industries, with a particular focus on health, Bio 2.0, fintech, and insurance.

Matteo is a Principal at Cherry. Before joining the team, he was an investor at Initial Capital in London where he invested in and was a Board Director for several entertainment and consumer tech startups. Before becoming an investor, Matteo spent almost ten years at Google where he performed different roles including Product Manager at YouTube during the early years after its acquisition and as Head of Games for Google Play in Europe. Prior to Google, he worked at Bain and Company. He holds a business degree and a masters in corporate finance from LUISS Guido Carli Business School. He is currently a Member of the Tate Members Council.

Patrick joined the investment team in 2017 and is particularly excited about SaaS, open source, and fintech. As an early Bitcoin hodler, Patrick has already lived through several financial cycles and become just a little bit smarter each time. He enjoys the outdoors and would not be doing his Austrian citizenship proud if he weren't a ski instructor. Patrick previously worked at Dreamit Ventures. He was educated in Vienna, London, and Philadelphia, and holds a bachelors of economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Filip is a Founding Partner at Cherry. Before Cherry, he founded his first startup company in 2008, an online auction house for antiques and collectibles. He then joined the founding team of Zalando as CEO of the group’s shopping-club. Up until 2014, Filip led Zalando's business development activities, including the international expansion as well as the overall product/mobile strategy for all online shops until the IPO. Filip is also an active supporter of the "Ashoka" network, helping founders start social businesses around the world. He holds a masters of science degree (Diplom) from WHU-Beisheim School of Management. Filip loves to spend his time around product-focused companies and has particular interests in digital health, AI, fintech and "next-gen" retail technology.

Marguerite took her first steps into venture capital at e.ventures, where she looked at European companies from various sectors raising Seed to Series B rounds. Marguerite is particularly passionate about consumer models and marketplaces, DTC, and mobile businesses. Marguerite gained operational experience at Side, a marketplace in the flexible working space in France. She also worked at Founders Intelligence and advised some of the most renowned CEOs and CDOs on their digital transformation strategies and open innovation projects. Marguerite grew up in Paris and studied in London, Madrid, and Istanbul. She holds a masters in international business and management from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a bachelors in European studies from King's College London.

Christian is a Founding Partner at Cherry. After a few years at Boston Consulting Group, Christian joined Zalando as its first CMO. Christian was responsible for building and managing the group’s marketing efforts (like, for example, performance marketing, CRM, PR, TV, and brand marketing). He then joined the management board of Peek&Cloppenburg and was responsible for the company’s online business. He holds a masters (Diplom) in business administration from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. He has lived and worked in the US, Spain, Brazil, and South Africa. Christian gets excited about founders that are as passionate about execution as they are about building a strong and sustainable brand. He has a particular focus on logistics and mobility as well a food technology companies.

Katharina joined Cherry Ventures in 2018 and is passionate about all things nextgen industry, digital health and consumer. Prior to Cherry, Katharina earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and worked with startups in the US, Germany, and Israel. She initially started her career at Boston Consulting Group in Zurich and, before that, studied business at the University of St. Gallen. Originally from Munich, she is an avid supporter of her hometown's ecosystem and works with many of our companies there. Outside of Cherry, Katharina is always up for new adventures, be it horse trekking in Kyrgysztan or spending a summer exploring Silicon Valley.

Thomas is a Partner at Cherry Ventures and is particularly excited about product-centric founders and industry-defining opportunities in software. Prior to Cherry, Thomas gained experience as an entrepreneur building Bonusbox, an e-commerce data and loyalty network. He also worked as assistant to the CEO and in corporate development at Penguin Random House in New York and in the e-commerce division of Bertelsmann/Arvato. He gained additional experience at McKinsey and in several startups. Thomas studied economics in Essen, London, and Berkeley and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Ben is a Venture Partner at Cherry Ventures. His fascination with computers and technology began at age 12 and he hasn't stopped hacking devices ever since. He created and contributed to various open-source projects — like themoviedb.org — before becoming a founder in 2006. Working primarily as a CTO/CPO, Ben has three exits under his belt, including moviepilot.de. He is obsessed with finding good common grounds among product, tech and business requirements. As a member of the investment team, he focuses on deeptech, crypto, SaaS, and other technology-related opportunities, but enjoys evaluating the tech side of industry-agnostic products. Ben is active in the Berlin tech community as a speaker, mentor, and supporter. He also insisted to list that he’s undefeated in FIFA here in the office and that he was part of the German Quake national team.

Catherine is Head of Communications & Platform at Cherry Ventures, bringing several years of professional journalism experience to the team. Most recently, she was a freelance journalist reporting on German tech for Silicon Allee and Sifted, a Financial Times-backed news site. She moved to Berlin as a Fulbright scholar in 2018 to research art restitution after spending several years as CNN’s White House and Capitol Hill assignment editor. Catherine hails from the Washington, DC area and earned her bachelors degree with honors in English literature from Dartmouth College.

Lexi joined Cherry Ventures in 2017 and now manages internal operations at the firm. Prior to Cherry, she worked as an office manager and junior SEA manager at Magine TV, a Swedish startup in Berlin. Lexi perfected her organizational skills by working in the film industry as a production and project manager for several years. She loves food, dancing, and her guilty pleasure — trash TV.

Alex is CFO and Operating Partner at Cherry. He works across all aspects of Cherry’s fund and internal operations, finance, and investor relations. In addition, our founders value him as a sparring partner on all finance related topics. Alex joined the firm as Head of Finance in 2016 after spending several years in investment banking, most recently at Morgan Stanley in London. During his time at Morgan Stanley, Alex was involved in several large public offerings including the IPOs of Zalando and Rocket Internet. He holds a masters of science in finance and accounting from EBS Business School.

Christina joined the Cherry team as an executive assistant. She previously worked several years as an executive assistant at Leverton GmbH, a tech startup, and at Design Hotels AG, a hotel marketing corporation, both in Berlin. Prior to moving to Germany, she lived in London and worked at Burberry on its global launch of its multi-language e-commerce platform. Christina has lived in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, France, the UK, and Germany and has a passion for languages. She speaks five languages and holds a language degree in Spanish and Italian from the University of Manchester. She loves great food, traveling, and learning about new cultures.

Dominik is Cherry's Senior Manager of Venture Development & Finance. Before Cherry, he gained several years of investment and industry experience at CMP, a private equity fund with a strong focus on operations and turnarounds. Having also previously worked in manufacturing and finance in Asia and Europe, he is particularly passionate about companies gaining the competitive edge in the industry 4.0, AI, and fintech fields. Dominik holds a masters in finance from ESADE Business School, where he specialized in venture capital & private equity, M&A, and operational financial management.

Franziska joined Cherry as its Talent Acquisition Manager to help to recruit world-class talent for the Cherry family. Previously, she worked as a freelance photographer and project manager at a graphics and communications agency. Prior to this, she gained extensive knowledge as a brand manager for the Berlin-based startup reBuy and family-owned BRITA water filters in the Frankfurt area. She has lived in Chile, Japan, the Czech Republic, and the US due to her studies in international business. Franziska holds an MBA from Universidad de Santiago de Chile and masters degree from Wiesbaden Business School. As a family manager of three little ones, Franziska knows how to keep several balls in the air and is a big fan of new work tools and techniques.

Ulrike is Cherry's Head of People & Talent. In her role, she provides hands-on support and acts as a strategic partner in multiple areas of human resources for both Cherry Ventures and its portfolio companies. Over the past ten years, Ulrike has worked with management teams and C-level leaders across various organizations. Prior to Cherry, she was a Senior Business Partner at Zalando SE. Joining Zalando in its early years, she actively contributed to scaling and organizational changes as well as leadership and cultural development. Before jumping into the startup ecosystem, Ulrike was part of the people and talent acquisition team at KPMG. Ulrike holds a masters degree in business from ESCP Europe. To professionally underpin her passion for people and meaningful leadership development, she also holds a degree as a systemic business coach from Artop Academy (Humboldt University Berlin). Her time living in the US, Spain, and the UK has made her lifelong traveler.

Conny joined the Cherry team as the Executive Assistant to Christian, Daniel and Filip. Christian, Filip, and Conny have been working as a team for many years during her time at Zalando. She previously worked with the German-American Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia and at several other international companies. Conny studied event management in Leipzig, Germany. She is a huge fan of travel and loves visiting her friends in the US.