Christian Buchenau
„TO WORK WITH HIGHLY CREATIVE AND DRIVEN MINDS IS WHAT INSPIRES AND CHALLENGES ME EVERY DAY.”
As a Partner and member of the founding team of Paua Ventures Christian is mainly responsible for structuring funding rounds and leading exit discussions. He serves on board for various companies out of the Paua portfolio and acts as a mentor for Microsoft Accelerator, Techstars and XY. He is frequently giving lectures on entrepreneurship, startups and VC-financing at LMU Munich.
Prior to Paua he had worked in M&A at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and Vienna.
Christian holds a finance Master from EADA Business School, Barcelona.
Georg Stockinger
“I AM A DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR AT HEART AND LOVE WORKING CLOSELY WITH FOUNDERS IN SOLVING BIG PROBLEMS. SEEING OUR COMPANIES GROW MAKES ME VERY PROUD OF THE VALUE THAT WE ARE HELPING TO CREATE IN OUR SOCIETY”
Georg joined Paua as a Partner in early 2016 and is serving on the board of various portfolio companies. Due to his past experience as a founder and entrepreneur, he enjoys working closely with founders and provides operational value add across the Paua portfolio. Among other geographies, Georg is leading the Southern European investments of the fund. In addition to Paua, he is active as a Mentor for various Entrepreneurship Associations (Startup Bootcamp, Founder Institute etc.) and holds guest lectures on Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital at ESADE Barcelona.
Prior to Paua, Georg had built and led various successful startups in in the eCommerce, Marketplace and SaaS area. He was Managing Director with Rocket Internet in Latin America and Consultant for McKinsey & Company.
Georg holds an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Graz University of Technology, an MSc in Finance from ESADE Barcelona, and an MA in Strategy & International Management from University of St. Gallen.
Federico Wengi
“WORKING WITH DRIVEN AND TOUGH ENTREPRENEURS HUMBLES ME GREATLY AND INSPIRES ME TO STEP UP SO THAT I CAN ADD VALUE TO THEIR COMPANIES”
Federico joined the team in 2013, became Partner at Paua Ventures in July 2018.
His main assignments include deal hunting, deal flow management, company building, financial modelling as well as internal development. He is a trusted sparring partner for CFOs/CEOs in portfolios. He is a spreadsheet guru and is actively blogging about VC and the Berlin tech scene.
Before joining Paua he worked as entrepreneur in residence at our portfolio company Flaconi. He has an M&A and corporate finance background at Deutsche Bank in London and Mediobanca in Frankfurt.
Federico holds a Master of Science in Finance from Bocconi University in Milan.
He completes the Rubik’s cube in about three minutes.
Felix Plapperer
“IT’S A HUGE PRIVILEGE TO WORK WITH CREDIBLE ENTREPRENEURS THAT HAVE THE GUTS TO EXECUTE INCREDIBLE IDEAS. THEREFORE, I ASPIRE TO BE A PROACTIVE, HUMBLE & FAITHFUL SUPPORTER OF ANY FOUNDER THAT CROSSES MY WAY.”
Felix joined Paua as an Associate in early 2019. Despite his mission to further build our portfolio he is eager to provide operational support as accessible sparring partner to our current investments.
Felix joins the team after nearly 4 years at the Boston Consulting Group, where he mostly worked on digital topics within Industrial Goods, Due Diligence & Insurance projects. Prior to that he worked for Rocket Internet (Indonesia, Lazada) & Henkel (China, Adhesives).
He holds a B.A. from the University of St. Gallen, an M.Sc. From ESADE in Barcelona & spent an exchange term at Harvard University. He has lived in 8 different cities across Asia, North America & Europe.
In his free time he is a passionate pilot, cave diver & free skier.
Charlotte Baumhauer
“YOU NEED A BIG VISION, COURAGE, AND PERSEVERANCE TO BUILD GREAT STARTUPS. I WANT TO FIND SUCH ENTREPRENEURS AND SUPPORT THEM ACHIEVE THEIR GOALS.”
Charlotte joined Paua as an Associate in 2020. She is eager to hunt down new tech startups in Europe and is also providing operational support as a hands-on sparring partner for Paua’s portfolio companies.
Charlotte joins the team from McKinsey, where she was part of the operations practice and mostly worked on projects in lean operations, supply chain transformations, and digital manufacturing.
She holds a Master from Imperial College London in Mechanical Engineering. She grew up in Munich and Paris and speaks fluent French.
In her free time, she spends a lot of time with friends and family and loves all sorts of outdoor sports like skiing, hiking, field hockey, and golf.
This is the Paua Story
The Beginning
The Paua story begins in 2009 in the heart of Munich. We defined our strategy and made the first investment with our own money. And then there was no turning back – the Paua journey had begun.
Why Paua
Paua is the Maori name for an iridescent sea shell. And similar to venture capital – every now and then you’ll discover a pearl.
Key Milestones
Paua´s first successful exit in 2012, the following move to Berlin and further exits such as Amorelie, Flaconi and JustBook reshaped our business. From access to opportunities and talent we ventured to closing our first institutional fund in 2015.
Beyond Financial Fuel
Our partners backing Paua are primarily entrepreneurs themselves and industry experts in their fields. It is in our DNA to provide more than capital. We strive for real partnerships and throw in everything we’ve got: From our experience in growing businesses to relevant product and tech expertise and our network of industry pioneers and veterans.
The Future
We will continue to invest in very talented entrepreneurs who are pursuing ambitious, challenging tasks. We will treat them with respect and hope for the best. And we have only just begun – want to shape the future with us?
