
Jonathan Lerman
Associate
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- Full Name
- Jonathan Lerman
- Title
- Investment Director
- Firm
- capiton AG
- Firm Type
- Private Equity (mid-market buyout, succession, growth/expansion capital) — *not an angel/seed investor*
- Investment Stage
- Buyout, management buyout/buy-in (MBO/MBI), growth financing, buy-and-build, carve-outs
- Check Size
- ~€20–60 million of equity per investment (larger deals via co-investment with LPs)
- Target Company Profile
- Profitable large SMEs ("Mittelstand") with annual revenue of roughly €50–300 million; capiton takes majority and minority stakes
- Sector Focus
- Two core themes — High-Tech Industrials (digitalization, sensor technology, electronics/networking) and Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Geographic Focus
- DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- Location
- Berlin, Germany
Background
Jonathan Lerman is an Investment Director at capiton AG, a Berlin-based, partner-owned independent private equity firm that has invested in the German-speaking Mittelstand for more than two decades and manages roughly €1.3–1.6 billion in assets. He joined capiton in April 2018 and has since risen from the associate ranks (his title in earlier records) into an Investment Director role on the firm's investment team, working alongside partners such as Fritjof Franz, Christoph Karbenk, Frank Winkler and Christoph Spors on deal origination, execution and portfolio work.
Lerman holds a Master's in International Finance from HEC Paris, which he completed with Highest Honors, and a Bachelor's in Business Administration from Humboldt University of Berlin. Before capiton, his experience included roles connected to Rocket Internet SE and the M&A advisory firm ACXIT Capital Partners, giving him a mix of venture/scale-up and corporate-finance exposure prior to entering mid-market private equity.
capiton pursues six main investment rationales — founder succession, management buyouts/buy-ins, growth financing, buy-and-build consolidation, corporate carve-outs, and continuation-fund vehicles for longer-hold assets. As an Investment Director, Lerman operates within this DACH mid-market buyout mandate rather than early-stage angel or seed investing; the "Angel Investors / Seed Round" framing in the original stub does not match capiton's actual strategy.
Investment Thesis & Focus
- Invests through capiton's mid-market buyout funds (Fund V closed at €440m in 2015; Fund VI is the current vehicle), typically writing €20–60m equity checks and co-investing with LPs on larger transactions.
- Targets profitable DACH-region SMEs with ~€50–300m in revenue, taking majority or minority positions.
- Concentrates on two sectors: High-Tech Industrials (digitalization, sensors, electronic networking) and Healthcare & Life Sciences.
- Backs situations built around founder succession, MBO/MBI, growth capital, carve-outs and buy-and-build consolidation.
- Firm track record emphasizes operational value creation — capiton cites ~18% average annual EBITDA growth and ~16% average revenue growth across holdings, signaling a "buy good companies and grow them" thesis rather than pure financial engineering.
Notable Investments
- KD Pharma Group — CDMO for pharmaceutical and nutritional lipids; acquired dsm-firmenich's Marine Lipids business in 2024.
- AEMtec GmbH — High-tech electronics/microsystems manufacturing (opto-electronics).
- CEDES AG — Swiss high-tech sensor and safety systems provider.
- Raith GmbH — Nanofabrication and electron-beam lithography equipment (high-tech industrials).
- Asyril SA — Swiss flexible feeding / robotics vision systems (high-tech industrials).
- Axxence Group — Natural and nature-identical flavor/aroma ingredients (healthcare/life sciences).
- AlphaPet Ventures / Healthfood24 — Premium pet-food and consumer health brands.
- EVP / Vitafy — Digital consumer health and nutrition.
- Wundex Group, SAPV Care, HCD Healthcare & Diagnostics — Healthcare / homecare services.
- Solvis GmbH — Sustainable heating systems (industrials).
- Dec Group, Addvance Group, MIP — Additional active industrials/services holdings.
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