Jan Borgstädt, formerly a vice president of corporate venturing unit Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), has co-founded a venture capital firm called Join Capital with another BDMI alumnus, Tobias Schirmer.
Borgstädt joined BDMI in 2007 as principal before taking a position as head of European ventures in 2011, eventually leaving the unit in September 2014. He previously founded digital publisher Sekretaria Media in 2000, and joined publishing house Haufe when it acquired Sekretaria in 2003.
Schirmer, formerly an associate at Deutsche Bank, joined the Bertelsmann Entrepreneur Program, where Borgstädt spent a year before moving to BDMI, in 2008. He transferred to BDMI in 2009 and spent five years as a principal before leaving at the same time as Borgstädt.
Based in Berlin, Germany, Join Capital was co-founded by Borgstädt and Schirmer, who are acting as managing partners for the firm. Its portfolio includes Portugal-based code review technology startup Codacy and visual marketing tool developer Resolution Foundry.