Germany-based venture capital management firm Redstone has hired Martin Scherrer, who was previously at reinsurance group Swiss Re’s Securitas Capital and Swiss Re Alternative Investments subsidiaries, as a Switzerland-based director.
Redstone manages corporate venture capital and institutional VC funds. Its VC-as-a-service model helps corporates and venture capital firms to identify and partner innovative startups.
Funds that Redstone runs include Berliner Volksbank Ventures, DB Digital Ventures and Vogel Ventures, managing them on behalf of credit union Berlin Volksbank, rail operator Deutsche Bahn and media company Vogel Business Media, respectively.
Scherrer has worked in the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the past two decades, having spent two years from 2000 at Swiss Re’s private equity arm Securitas Capital as a financial analyst before taking up an associate role at its investment unit Swiss Re Alternative Investments.
He was most recently a venture partner at France-based investment firm BlackFin Capital Partners where he sourced and backed early-stage fintech and insurtech companies for two years since 2017.
Regarding his new role, Scherrer said: “Never before have corporates been challenged by such a rapid pace of technological change. CEOs have realised that a strategic portfolio of startup investments can greatly enhance a company’s innovative power and can even be critical to its future success.
“Redstone, as a leader in corporate venturing, gives me a unique opportunity to bring together my startup and VC experience.”
– Photo of Martin Scherrer courtesy of LinkedIn
