Markus Lehmann

Markus Lehmann is a Managing Director (Co-Geschäftsführer) of IBB Ventures, the venture-capital arm of Investitionsbank Berlin (operating legally as IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH). He stepped into the firm's top leadership on July 1, 2024, taking on a dual-leadership role alongside Katrin Robeck during a generational transition that saw long-serving managers Marco Zeller (departed August 31, 2024) and Roger Bendisch (departed May 31, 2025) leave after more than two decades each.

Lehmann is himself a long-tenured insider rather than an outside hire: he has worked at IBB Ventures for more than 20 years, most recently as Finance Director and Prokurist (an authorized company signatory). His remit centers on finance and operations, and he was closely involved in expanding the firm's fund offering — notably helping launch what IBB describes as the first publicly offered impact VC fund in Germany.

He studied business administration (Betriebswirtschaft) at the Internationales Hochschulinstitut (IHI) Zittau, part of TU Dresden. On his appointment he said: "It pleases me greatly that I can now actively shape IBB Ventures' development in my new role as managing director. I see this as both recognition and motivation. Together with my new colleague Katrin Robeck and our team, we want to continue the success story we have written with Berlin startups and contribute to Berlin's appeal as a startup capital."

IBB Ventures itself has provided venture capital to innovative Berlin companies since 1997 and is regarded as the market leader in early-stage financing in the city. It manages roughly €130 million across several funds — VC Fonds Technologie III, VC Fonds Kreativwirtschaft III, and the VC Fonds Impact Berlin (an impact fund of about €30 million in its investment phase since 2022). Over its history the firm has backed 300+ Berlin startups and recorded dozens of exits, including multiple IPOs.

• Stage: Pre-seed to Series A is the core sweet spot; the firm positions itself as a Berlin company's first institutional money and emphasizes a "bias to action" / "no intro, no problem" approach.
• Check size: Roughly €250,000 to €3 million per transaction, deployable across rounds via co-investment with other VCs and business angels.
• Sectors: Three pillars — Tech (healthcare, industrial tech, software & IT), Creative/Consumer (D2C, consumer tech, brands with global scaling potential), and Impact (ventures tackling social and ecological challenges).
• Geography: Strictly Berlin-based startups — capital must support the development and market launch of innovative products/services in the Berlin ecosystem ("Built in Berlin. Backed to scale globally").
• What earns a yes: Scalable business models and innovative solutions with the potential to redefine industries; ambitious founders, particularly those addressing sustainability and societal challenges for the impact fund.
• Lehmann's lens specifically: As the finance- and operations-focused Managing Director, his contribution skews toward fund structuring, financial discipline, and operational execution rather than leading individual deal sourcing — investment direction is led by IBB's Investment Directors (e.g., Clemens Kabel, and a deep bench of investment partners).