Roman Kirsch | |
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 | |
| Born | Roman Kirsch July 3, 1988 Almaty, Kazakhstan |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Tech entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Parent(s) | Waldemar Kirsch and Helene Kirsch |
| Website | romankirsch |
Roman Kirsch is a German serial entrepreneur and investor in the tech- and consumer-internet-space. [1] [2] [3]
Kirsch holds a business degree from the German business school WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management. [4] He also has a Master of Science degree from the London School of Economics in Finance, Accounting and Management. [5] He also spent time at the University of Southern California [5] as well as the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
At the age of 13, Roman set up a business of importing watches from China. [6] Later in 2003, at the age of 15, Kirsch founded his first company (a souvenir shop in Hamburg). [7]
In 2011, Kirsch founded Casacanda, a furniture company that was acquired by Fab.com in February 2012, marking one of the quickest exits in tech history for an e-commerce startup and making Kirsch one of the youngest founders to achieve this milestone. [5] [7] [8] He subsequently served as CEO of Fab Europe until the end of 2012, during which he oversaw the company’s expansion and its rise to unicorn status with a valuation of USD 1 billion. [5] [9] Fab ultimately failed to sustain its growth and sold its remaining assets in a fire sale reportedly valued at just $15 million by 2015. [10]
In 2013 Kirsch, alongside Matthias Wilrich and Robin Müller, founded the Berlin fashion startup Lesara with Kirsch as the CEO of the company. [7] [11] [12] [13] Despite rapid growth and recognition, such as being named Europe's fastest-growing tech company by The Next Web in 2016 and Germany's fastest-growing tech company by Deloitte in 2017, Lesara faced significant challenges. In November 2018, the company filed for insolvency after failing to secure a crucial €10 million bridge financing round.
Through his venture studio Rapid Pioneers Group, Kirsch has co-founded and invested in over 30 consumer tech and brand ventures across Europe. [14] In 2012 Roman became the co-founder and investor of Amorelie, which grew into a leading female lingerie brand in Europe. In 2015 media company Pro7Sat1 acquired Amorelie, which is now valued at €100 million. [15] He was the first investor and advisor in Instagram-native wellness brand Fitvia in 2015, [16] which was 70% acquired by Dermapharm in 2019. [17] Other founding investments include K-Beauty brand Yepoda, HR-tech firm Global Talent Co., and coupon platform Lumaly. [18] The portfolio also includes green tech unicorn Enpal GmbH, [19] [20] as well as Bending Spoons, LAP Coffee, everdrop, and Wild Cosmetics. [21] [22]
In April 2021, Kirsch has raised $345m in an IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange for the investment vehicle Tio Tech. Kirsch serves as CEO of Tio Tech. [23] In April 2023, Tio Tech announced its shutdown after failing to complete a transaction within an agreed two-year deadline. [24]
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