Private Equity News & Analysis

Benchmark hires European venture partner

London-based Benchmark Capital Europe has hired Klaus Hommels, formerly of BV Capital, Apax Partners and AOL, as its first European venture partner.

By
Robert Venes
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London-based Benchmark Capital Europe has hired Klaus Hommels, formerly of BV Capital, Apax Partners and AOL, as its first European venture partner.

Early-stage technology venture capital firm Benchmark Capital Europe has appointed entrepreneur Klaus Hommels as the firm’s first European venture partner.
 
Hommels will be based in Benchmark’s London office and will primarily focus on new investment opportunities.
 

Hommels: first European venture partner for Benchmark

Prior to joining Benchmark, Hommels spent several years as a private investor with a track record of investing in European technology and media companies including Skype, Midas Player, StarDoll and OpenBC.
 
Before that, Hommels was a partner in the Munich office of US and German venture capital firm BV Capital; he also worked at Apax Partners in Munich and Zurich.
 
Earlier in his career, Hommels spent several years at AOL, where he was on the management board and responsible for business development, content and advertising sales. He was also involved in the establishment of Freenet.de, the internet subsidiary of German mobile phone operator Mobilcom, and served on its supervisory board. Prior to that, Hommels was at Deutsche Bank.
 
Founded in 1995, Benchmark Capital has offices in Silicon Valley, London and Israel and manages more than $3 billion (€2.3 billion) in committed venture capital. Benchmark Capital Europe was established in May 2000 and has since made over 50 investments in the enterprise software and services, communications and security, semiconductors, mobile computing, consumer services and financial services sectors.