Jan Brandes

Jan Brandes is a Berlin-based corporate-finance professional and Managing Partner at Flow Partners. Flow says he joined the firm in 2021 after more than 15 years of M&A and capital-raising experience across Lehman Brothers, Nomura, and NOAH Advisors.

Earlier NOAH Advisors materials list Brandes as Managing Director, with NOAH since August 2010, and describe his previous experience as Lehman Brothers from 2005 to May 2010, with Nomura from late 2008, in Media/TMT investment banking. The same NOAH materials list his public NOAH email and German mobile number.

At Flow Partners, Brandes focuses on technology advisory work. His bio says he has completed more than 30 M&A, capital-raising, and IPO transactions with aggregate value above €10 billion, including KKR and Permira’s acquisition of ProSiebenSat.1 and merger with SBS Broadcasting, the XING IPO, the sale of Yad2 to Axel Springer, and the sale of KäuferPortal/Aroundhome to ProSiebenSat.1 and General Atlantic.

Brandes also serves as an advisor to Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder, a Warsaw-based venture capital fund and venture builder. Pathfinder announced in November 2021 that Brandes joined to advise portfolio companies on development strategy, raising financing rounds, and leveraging his network. Flow states that he completed a Master of Science at Maastricht University.

• Brandes’ direct public profile is primarily as a corporate-finance and deal advisor rather than as a traditional fund investor. Public investor databases also list him as an angel investor with a seed-stage focus, but no personal portfolio size or check size is disclosed.
• Flow Partners’ stated approach is founder-oriented corporate-finance work: it supports founders in building finance functions, raising capital, and completing M&A exits.
• For capital raising, Flow emphasizes late-stage venture and growth capital, using “KPI-driven” equity stories, preparation, investor access, term-sheet negotiation, and deal structuring.
• Brandes’ own sector expertise, according to Flow, is mobility, online marketplaces, and delivery models; Flow lists HAPPYCAR, MILES, Volocopter, FlixBus, myTaxi, 10bis, and Promofarma.com among companies he has advised.
• Through Tar Heel Capital Pathfinder, the relevant thesis is early-stage technology: the firm says it invests in tech projects from “idea to seed stage,” with financing of up to €1M and hands-on support in strategy, technology, business development, and team building.
• Pathfinder’s 2024 VC II announcement says the fund continues to target pre-seed and seed technology projects across AI, SaaS, marketplaces, cleantech, edtech, medtech, and cybersecurity, with financing up to PLN 5 million and possible follow-on rounds.