Nino Marakovic became chief executive of Sapphire Ventures, which manages the venture investments of the Germany-based technology company, seven years ago. Sapphire Ventures was know as SAP Ventures until recently.
Before this he worked at venture capital firms IVF Ventures and MeVC Capital. He has also worked for US-based investment banks Robertson Stephens, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
At Sapphire Ventures, Marakovic has overseen the growth of the corporate venturing unit with the launch of a dedicated $350m fund last year. Sapphire Ventures has funded and helped build more than 100 companies since 1997 – about a third are still in its portfolio – with goals to create financial returns and facilitate interaction among innovative companies, Sapphire and its broader ecosystem.
Sapphire Ventures has also been building a fund of venture funds to look at earlier-stage deals and in July hired Elizabeth Clarkson as a managing director and chief operating officer from a similar role at VC firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson managing its DFJ Global Network.