Rolf Birkert

Rolf Birkert is a member of the Management Board (Vorstand) of Deutsche Balaton Aktiengesellschaft, the Heidelberg-based, publicly listed investment and holding company founded in 1991 and controlled through Wilhelm K. T. Zours' VV Beteiligungen AG. Birkert holds a degree in Business Administration (Betriebswirtschaftslehre) from the University of Mannheim and, before entering the Deutsche Balaton group, worked as a Vice President at Morgan Stanley.

He joined Deutsche Balaton in 2011 and has held authority to represent the company as a board member since December 2014. His management-board mandate has been repeatedly extended by the Supervisory Board — most recently in November 2021, carrying his term through the end of 2024 (following an earlier three-year extension resolved in December 2018).

Because Deutsche Balaton operates as a diversified holding with many direct and indirect subsidiaries, Birkert's role extends well beyond the parent company. He has served as a management-board member or supervisory-board member across a large number of group and portfolio entities, including Deutsche Balaton Biotech AG, Prisma Equity AG, Latonba AG, Talbona AG, Altech Advanced Materials AG, eSports.com AG, H2 Core AG, iFunded AG, Pflege.Digitalisierung Invest AG, MISTRAL Media AG and Ming Le Sports AG. This spread of mandates reflects Deutsche Balaton's model of taking active, board-level positions in the companies it backs rather than acting as a passive minority investor.

Deutsche Balaton itself describes its two core business areas as "Private Equity" and "Corporate Investments" (stakes in listed companies), investing without specializing in any single industry and holding positions directly or through independent subsidiaries. In 2019 the group reported roughly €120 million in revenue.

• Sector-agnostic, opportunity-driven: Deutsche Balaton invests across industries rather than to a fixed thematic mandate, splitting activity between private-equity-style stakes and listed "corporate investments."
• Active, board-level ownership: The firm takes meaningful stakes and places its own people (including Birkert) on management or supervisory boards of investee companies — a hands-on, governance-heavy approach rather than passive capital.
• Multi-stage: The portfolio spans early-stage/venture holdings (e.g., fintech and digital platforms) through growth-stage and mature listed companies; the "seed/angel" classification some databases apply reflects the group's early-stage venture activity.
• Geographic base: Primarily German companies, with notable exposure to Australia (e.g., cleantech/materials) and other markets via subsidiaries.
• Publicly listed permanent capital: As a listed AG rather than a fixed-life fund, Deutsche Balaton can hold positions over long horizons without conventional fund-exit timing pressure.