Tom Harder

Dr. Tom Harder is a Munich-based private equity and venture investor and a co-founder and Managing Director of Nordwind Growth, the growth-equity arm of Nordwind Capital GmbH. He has spent the bulk of his career in German and European private equity, with prior roles at Schroder Ventures (the firm that became Permira), IMM Industrie Management München, and Kleindienst Datentechnik AG, building a skill set centered on private equity, leveraged buyouts, M&A, corporate development, and venture capital. He founded Nordwind Capital, the predecessor PE vehicle (founded in 2013, ~$500M AUM), and later launched Nordwind Growth in 2022 to focus on growth-stage technology companies.

His education spans the University of Technology Dresden, the University of Hamburg, ESSEC Business School, and Georgetown University, and he completed Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management (OPM) executive program from 2014 to 2016. He holds a doctorate (hence "Dr. Tom Harder").

At Nordwind Growth, Harder leads a small Munich team alongside fellow Managing Directors Christian Plangger and Ulf Schweda (the three are the registered managing directors of NC Management GmbH, the regulated fund manager under Germany's KAGB/BaFin framework). The firm closed its first dedicated growth fund of €145M in 2023 and invests as an active partner supporting portfolio companies on their path to sustainable, international growth.

• Invests in growth-stage European technology companies with "proven market potential and scalable business models," primarily across the DACH region and Western Europe
• States three core selection criteria for portfolio companies: a "scalable and proven business model," an "outstanding founder & leadership team," and "defendable, tech-driven competitive advantages"
• Writes growth-equity checks roughly in the €5M–€25M range, often leading rounds (led Pimcore's $12M Series B and ENPULSION's €22.5M growth round)
• Sector breadth across enterprise software/SaaS, enterprise infrastructure, retail/e-commerce tech, and deep tech (the ENPULSION deal marked Nordwind's first move into the space sector)
• Positions the fund as an active, hands-on partner focused on international scaling rather than a passive capital provider