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Team

We are Cipio Partners

Group

Location

  • Roland Dennert

    Managing Partner

  • Dr. Hans-Dieter Koch

    Managing Partner, Manager

  • Diana Meyel

    Managing Partner, Manager

  • Dr. Ansgar Kirchheim

    Partner

  • Christoph N. Kossmann

    Manager

  • Carlo Schlesser

    Manager

  • Imari Barrenechea Ishii

    In-House Legal Counsel

  • Uelviye Bokeloh

    Office Manager

  • Werner Dreesbach

    Founding Partner

  • Mariam Goertz

    Fund Administration Manager

  • David Kreppel

    Chief Financial Officer

  • Thomas Lenz

    Principal

  • Nils Matthies

    Principal

  • Simone Moriconi

    Senior Finance Manager

  • Kerstin Planitzer-Zipf

    Chief Compliance Officer

  • Sandra Schuerkmann

    Executive Assistant, Finance

  • Sonja Seet

    Senior Financial Accountant

  • Lucia Spieth

    Legal Counsel

Roland Dennert

Roland is a Managing Partner. He is based in Munich and oversees new investments and portfolio management. He started his private equity career at 3i Group doing technology and mid-market buyout deals. Before 3i, Roland was a strategy consultant with Roland Berger and The Boston Consulting Group in Paris, as well as a robotics engineer with Hitachi Ltd. in Japan. Roland holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Master of Electrical Engineering from ETH Lausanne, Switzerland.

Dr. Hans-Dieter Koch

Hans-Dieter is a Managing Partner as well as a Manager to our Luxembourg entities. Located in Munich, he serves on a number of boards in addition to co-leading our Luxembourg operations. Prior to co-founding Cipio Partners in 2003, he was CEO of b-business partners BV, the global growth equity investment arm of Investor AB/Wallenberg Group, Stockholm. Previously, he was CEO of GE Capital IT Solutions, Europe, responsible for 7,000 staff and US$4bn in revenue. Hans-Dieter assumed that role following the sale of his company, CompuNet AG, Europe’s largest IT service provider, to GE Capital. Prior to co-founding CompuNet, Hans-Dieter was with McKinsey, Deutsche Bank and Matuschka Group. Hans-Dieter holds MBA and Ph.D. degrees from Frankfurt University.

Diana Meyel

Diana is a Managing Partner and the company’s COO as well as a Manager to our Luxembourg entities. She is located in Munich and leads our funds’ operations and investor relations. Diana also oversees transaction structuring and the ESG team in addition to representing Cipio Partners on the board of selected portfolio companies. Furthermore, she fulfils the role of Vice-Chair of the Invest Europe Professional Standards Committee. Prior to joining Cipio Partners in 2004, Diana was a Finance Manager at Wellington Partners, the pan-European venture capital firm and worked as a Senior Risk Analyst for Dresdner Bank Group nka Commerzbank in Germany and Bogotá, Colombia. Diana holds a degree in Banking Administration from Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Dr. Ansgar Kirchheim

Ansgar is a Partner. He is based in our Munich office and is responsible for both new investments and portfolio management. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2021, Ansgar was a Partner at High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). Previously, he was a founder and CEO of a German deep-tech start-up. He started his career at ERGO Group. Ansgar holds an economics Ph.D. from WHU – Otto-Beisheim-School of Management, Germany, and a Diploma in Physics from Humboldt University, Germany.

Christoph N. Kossmann

Christoph is a Manager of our Luxembourg entities. He is located in Luxembourg and co-leads our local operations since 2007. He has been a Managing Director of SGG nka IQEQ, a Luxembourg based family office and investment services provider, since 2006. Prior to this role, Christoph served as a Senior Officer at Sal. Oppenheim’s Luxembourg headquarters with responsibilities for the group’s corporate and trust activities. Before that, he was a Member of the Executive Board of Luxembourg based EXPERTA Corporate and Trust Services S.A. of Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. Earlier in his career he worked as a lawyer admitted to the Berlin courts. Christoph holds a law school degree from Freiburg University.

Carlo Schlesser

Carlo is a Manager of our Luxembourg entities. He is located in Luxembourg and co-leads our Luxembourg operations since 2007. Carlo has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SGG nka IQEQ, a Luxembourg based family office and investment services provider. Carlo began his career as tax advisor at Kredietbank Luxembourg, an international wealth manager and also worked for Arthur Andersen in Luxembourg. Carlo holds degrees from HEC Lausanne, Switzerland, Master in Economics and ESSF Brussels, Belgium, Diploma in upper taxation studies.

Imari Barrenechea Ishii

Imari is an in-house legal counsel and is based in Munich. She is involved in legal matters, such as the legal due diligence of investments, data security and other corporate law matters. Furthermore, she is part of the ESG team. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2024, Imari was sales operations manager at Velocity Electronics GmbH in Augsburg. Imari holds a Bachelor of Law from the University San Pablo CEU, a Master in Financial Management and Accounting from the University Isabel I and a Master in International Trade from the University Camilo José Cela. She completed all her degrees in Madrid.

Uelviye Bokeloh

Uelviye is an Office Manager. She is located in Munich. Since 2024, she supports the team with administrative matters and is responsible for marketing and PR activities. Before joining Cipio Partners, she was Junior City Operations Manager and held several courier coordinator positions at Takeaway Express B.V. & Co. KG in Munich and Hanover. Uelviye holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Werner Dreesbach

Werner is a Founding Partner. Prior to co-founding Cipio Partners in 2003, he was Senior Principal of Atlas Venture, a global VC firm focused on IT, Communications and Life Sciences, and member of its global management and investment committees. Before, Werner was VP Strategic Development for NASDAQ-listed Viasoft Corp., following the sale of his company, R&O Software-Technik, one of Europe’s largest system software developers. Werner founded R&O in 1984 after a career in IT strategy consulting. Werner holds a MSc in Computer Science with a minor in Psychology from Bonn University.

Mariam Goertz

Mariam is a Fund Administration Manager and based in Luxembourg. In her role she is responsible for handling fund administration and the day-to-day business of the Luxembourg entities. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2021, Mariam worked as an accountant at Arendt Services S.A., a Luxembourg based services provider. Mariam holds a Master of Science in Business Administration from Goethe University in Frankfurt a. M.

David Kreppel

David is the Chief Financial Officer of Cipio Partners. He is responsible for the valuations of our funds, fund controlling, risk management, and reporting. Additionally, he supports the investment team with due diligence and portfolio management. Before joining Cipio in 2015, David began his career as a Research and Teaching Associate at University of Trier. David holds a Master in Mathematics and Finance from University of Trier.

Thomas Lenz

Thomas is a Principal. He is based in our Munich office and is responsible for both new investments and portfolio management. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2022, Thomas worked as Investment Manager at Bayern Kapital focusing on early-stage VC deals and as Assistant Manager at KPMG Strategy Group/ Deal Advisory. Thomas holds a Master of Science in International Business from Copenhagen Business School in Denmark and a dual Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration of University Augsburg in Germany.

Nils Matthies

Nils is a Principal. He is based in our Munich office and is responsible for both new investments and portfolio management. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2024, he served as Associate Director at AEQUITA - Private Equity. Before that, Nils founded and led the Voith Innovation Lab, a joint venture between The Boston Consulting Group and Voith incubating SaaS products in industrial markets. Earlier in his career, Nils was a Project Manager at Siemens Management Consulting working on assignments in Siemens’ various software businesses and was a founding team member of Next 47, Siemens’ corporate venture fund. Nils holds a Master in Strategy and International Management (SIM) from the University of St. Gallen.

Simone Moriconi

Simone is a Senior Finance Manager. He is based in Munich and assists the partnership on investor relations, fund controlling, reporting and other finance related due diligence and portfolio management topics. Furthermore, he is part of the ESG team and holds the CFA Certificate for Sustainable Investing. Before joining Cipio Partners in 2022, Simone worked as Investment Controller at Munich Private Equity Partners, a German/Luxembourgish Fund of Funds. Simone holds a Master in Intermediaries, International Finance and Risk Management from Sapienza University in Rome, Italy.

Kerstin Planitzer-Zipf

Kerstin is the Chief Compliance Officer of Cipio Partners. She focusses on legal, regulatory and compliance matters and oversees all legal, financial and administrative functions relating to our management companies and funds. Before joining Cipio in 2003, Kerstin was Chief of Staff and Legal Counsel at b-business partners, the growth equity affiliate of Investor AB. Prior to that, Kerstin headed Finance and Legal at GE Capital IT Solutions Europe including M&A and restructuring work. Kerstin holds an MBA from Technical University of Berlin.

Sandra Schuerkmann

Sandra is an Executive Assistant. She is located in Munich and is responsible for the overall office management since 2017. In addition, she supports the team on finance and investor relations matters and is responsible for organizing the annual investors’ day. Furthermore, she is part of the ESG team and holds the CFA Certificate for Sustainable Investing. Before joining Cipio Partners, Sandra managed her own cake design retail business, held several office management roles within the Bavarian medical association and started her career as a landscape architect. Sandra has a Postgraduate Diploma in Landscape Design and Ecology from the University of Sheffield.

Sonja Seet

Sonja is a Senior Financial Accountant. She is located in Munich and oversees all German accounting matters. Furthermore, she assists with the financial and tax reporting of Cipio Partners Germany. Prior to joining Cipio in 2022, Sonja was with Fritz Gosse GmbH, where she worked as an accountant. She started her career in the hotel industry and worked among others as convention sales executive at Hotel Sheraton. Sonja is a financial accountant as well as a qualified hospitality professional.

Lucia Spieth

Lucia is a Legal Counsel. Located in Munich, she advises acquisitions, financing rounds and exits of portfolio companies since 2011. Lucia started her career at the international law firm Clifford Chance in the corporate/M&A team. After leaving Clifford Chance she opened her own law office and is since then advising clients in all aspects of corporate matters. Lucia graduated with the 2nd state exam in law from Munich University.