Stefan Winners
Stefan Winners is an entrepreneur, investor, board chairman, and trusted advisor to founders, family offices, and public companies. He founded Winners & Co. GmbH in 2011.
For more than 25 years, Stefan has successfully built, transformed, and scaled companies—even in challenging market environments and under intense international competition. His track record combines strategic vision with disciplined execution, enabling businesses to develop clear long-term strategies and translate them into measurable operational results.
Before founding Winners & Co., Stefan served for more than 15 years as CEO of Burda Digital SE and TOMORROW FOCUS AG, where he played a key role in building one of Germany's leading digital business portfolios. During this time, he actively invested in and developed companies including ElitePartner, Finanzen100, FOCUS Online, Jameda, and numerous other digital market leaders.
Throughout his career, Stefan has served as Chairman, Board Member, or strategic advisor to a wide range of public and private companies. His board mandates have included DoDo Group (Prague), New Work SE (formerly XING), HolidayCheck Group, GoAudio, CEPRES, Giesecke+Devrient, zooplus, Cyndx (USA), and several other fast-growing technology businesses.
Over the course of his career, Stefan has advised on and executed buy-side and sell-side transactions with an aggregate transaction value exceeding €4.5 billion. As CEO and Chairman, he has led numerous financing rounds, capital market transactions, and IPOs on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and Euronext Amsterdam, while also advising growth companies and investors on capital markets and strategic transactions in the United States.
In 2021, Stefan served as CEO of Lakestar SPAC I, Europe's first technology-focused SPAC. The company successfully raised €275 million and completed the business combination with HomeToGo, valuing the company at approximately €1.2 billion.
From 2021 to 2024, Stefan also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the European Healthcare Acquisition & Growth Company, which raised €200 million and was listed on Euronext Amsterdam.
Today, Stefan works closely with founders, family offices, investors, and executive teams, combining entrepreneurial experience, operational leadership, capital markets expertise, and an international network to help build exceptional companies
Successful IPO of Energy Vault in February 2022: Stefan Winners, together with Robert Piconi (CEO) and Dr. Andrea Wuttke (CFO) at the New York Stock Exchange
Stefan holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Passau, Germany. He also completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School, as well as Harvard’s Making Corporate Boards More Effective executive education program.
For six years, Stefan was a participant at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, where he engaged with global business leaders, policymakers, and entrepreneurs on the opportunities and challenges shaping the future of business.
He lives in Munich, Germany.
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