Creathor Venture Strengthens Management Team, Appoints Three New Partners
Bad Homburg v.d.H., June 21st, 2017 – Creathor Venture, leading European venture capital firm, has promoted three of its long-time Investment Managers to Partners effective June 1st, 2017. Christian Leikert, Dr Christian Weiss and Christian Weniger complement Creathor’s management team, joining CEO Dr Gert Köhler and Managing Partners Karlheinz Schmelig and Cédric Köhler. With the promotion, Creathor honours the exceptional achievements of the three investment professionals, not only regarding portfolio company investments and support, but also with respect to fundraising activities and representation tasks.
Dr. Gert Köhler, founder and CEO of Creathor Venture, comments: “Since joining us, all three have done a tremendous job, helping to push our portfolio companies forward and being an enormous support in our fundraising activities. As we are planning to grow further, we are proud to continue our journey towards one of the most respected VCs in Europe with the three colleagues in leading positions.”
Christian Leikert who holds a master’s degree in business administration from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, joined Creathor in 2013 as an Investment Manager and has since been responsible for numerous life science investments, especially in the fields of diganostics, medical devices and platform technologies. He is responsible – amongst others – for Creathor’s portfolio companies Cube Biotech, Sinopsys Surgical and CEVEC Pharmaceuticals. Christian joins Karlheinz Schmelig as a Partner on Creathor’s life science team.
Dr Christian Weiss joined Creathor’s information technology team in 2015 as an investment manager, supporting portfolio companies such as COBI, zadego or Humanoo. Before that, he worked for McKinsey as an Engagement Manager and co-founded a start-up. He studied Business Administration and Economics at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel and at Yale University, holding a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree. Besides further engaging with SaaS and digital health start-ups, Christian will continue to support Creathor on the corporate development side.
Christian Weniger is part of Creathor’s information technology team since 2015. He actively supports several portfolio companies, including Happycar, iFunded and R3Coms. Prior to joining Creathor, Christian worked in the venture capital team of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the sovereign-wealth fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BSc in Business Administration and Commercial Law from the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel. He will continue to bring to the table his expertise in consumer internet and deep tech while also pushing Creathor’s fundraising and partnership activities forward.
About Creathor Venture
As a leading pan-European Venture Capital firm, Creathor Venture invests in technology-oriented companies and entrepreneurs. Creathor Venture focuses on mobile, digital media, cloud technology, artificial intelligence, internet of things, sharing economy, fintech. In the life science sector, Creathor invests in selected areas such as precision medicine, enabling platforms, med tech and digital health. Regional focus is on Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and the Nordics. The management team of Creathor Venture consists of the CEO Dr. Gert Köhler, Karlheinz Schmelig, Cédric Köhler and the three new Partners. The team has been investing successfully in the early-stage venture capital business for 30 years. During that time, the team has built more than 200 technology companies successfully, conducted more than 20 international IPOs and has achieved exceptional returns for fund investors and the financed entrepreneurs in the past, all in the position as lead investor. The current portfolio of more than 30 companies is actively supported in development, growth and internationalization by a team of 19 staff. Creathor Venture manages funds of more than EUR 220 million and holds offices in Bad Homburg (Frankfurt), Tutzing (Munich), Zurich and Stockholm. As the largest investor in Creathor’s funds, the management underlines its entrepreneurial orientation. You can find additional information on www.creathor.com.
Dr. Gert Köhler, founder and CEO of Creathor Venture, comments: “Since joining us, all three have done a tremendous job, helping to push our portfolio companies forward and being an enormous support in our fundraising activities. As we are planning to grow further, we are proud to continue our journey towards one of the most respected VCs in Europe with the three colleagues in leading positions.”
Christian Leikert who holds a master’s degree in business administration from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, joined Creathor in 2013 as an Investment Manager and has since been responsible for numerous life science investments, especially in the fields of diganostics, medical devices and platform technologies. He is responsible – amongst others – for Creathor’s portfolio companies Cube Biotech, Sinopsys Surgical and CEVEC Pharmaceuticals. Christian joins Karlheinz Schmelig as a Partner on Creathor’s life science team.
Dr Christian Weiss joined Creathor’s information technology team in 2015 as an investment manager, supporting portfolio companies such as COBI, zadego or Humanoo. Before that, he worked for McKinsey as an Engagement Manager and co-founded a start-up. He studied Business Administration and Economics at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel and at Yale University, holding a Ph.D. and a Master’s degree. Besides further engaging with SaaS and digital health start-ups, Christian will continue to support Creathor on the corporate development side.
Christian Weniger is part of Creathor’s information technology team since 2015. He actively supports several portfolio companies, including Happycar, iFunded and R3Coms. Prior to joining Creathor, Christian worked in the venture capital team of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the sovereign-wealth fund of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BSc in Business Administration and Commercial Law from the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel. He will continue to bring to the table his expertise in consumer internet and deep tech while also pushing Creathor’s fundraising and partnership activities forward.
About Creathor Venture
As a leading pan-European Venture Capital firm, Creathor Venture invests in technology-oriented companies and entrepreneurs. Creathor Venture focuses on mobile, digital media, cloud technology, artificial intelligence, internet of things, sharing economy, fintech. In the life science sector, Creathor invests in selected areas such as precision medicine, enabling platforms, med tech and digital health. Regional focus is on Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and the Nordics. The management team of Creathor Venture consists of the CEO Dr. Gert Köhler, Karlheinz Schmelig, Cédric Köhler and the three new Partners. The team has been investing successfully in the early-stage venture capital business for 30 years. During that time, the team has built more than 200 technology companies successfully, conducted more than 20 international IPOs and has achieved exceptional returns for fund investors and the financed entrepreneurs in the past, all in the position as lead investor. The current portfolio of more than 30 companies is actively supported in development, growth and internationalization by a team of 19 staff. Creathor Venture manages funds of more than EUR 220 million and holds offices in Bad Homburg (Frankfurt), Tutzing (Munich), Zurich and Stockholm. As the largest investor in Creathor’s funds, the management underlines its entrepreneurial orientation. You can find additional information on www.creathor.com.