eCapital Entrepreneurial Partners AG

Paul-Josef Patt has worked in venture capital for over twenty-five years. He was an investor in eCAPITAL's Fund I, moved into management in 2001, relaunched the firm in 2004, and served as its CEO for 25 years until the end of 2025; he now continues part-time as Founding Partner overseeing some portfolio companies. Earlier in his career he was a project manager at Roland Berger, chief representative of Kaufhof Holding AG, and executive partner of the retail chain Ernsting's family; he studied business administration in Tübingen, Paris and Muenster, where he completed his PhD.

Willi Mannheims is an entrepreneur focused on data security. He studied aerospace engineering at RWTH Aachen and Queens College UK, and earned an MBA from Henley Management College UK and the University of Houston. His career includes management roles at Daimler Chrysler and the VC fund DASA, head of business development at CUBIS AG, and founder & CEO of Secunet AG, as well as CEO positions at escrypt GmbH, ISITS AG, and Eracom AG. He has been involved in four IPOs and holds several supervisory board positions.

Lucas Merle began his career as a Management Trainee at renewable energy company juwi, later working as Operations Manager at Helpling and as a Management Consultant at UDG Consulting (which became SMP Strategy Consultants). He holds a B.Sc. in Management from Kozminski University and an M.Sc. in Entrepreneurship & Digital Innovation from ESCP. At eCAPITAL he focuses primarily on software and AI startups.

Michael Mayer is a Senior Partner at eCAPITAL with over 25 years of experience in venture capital. Before joining the firm, he founded TechnoStart, a venture capital firm focused on seed and early-stage technology companies. Earlier in his career he led the "Technology Transfer" working group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation and worked as an editor for monthly magazines at Transmedia Verlag. He holds a Diploma in Economics from the University of Konstanz.

Steffen holds a degree in electrical engineering and business administration with a focus on entrepreneurship from RWTH Aachen University, and studied abroad at Tongji University. His earlier experience includes business development for smart grid applications in China and R&D on superconductor solutions. He now works in venture capital, focusing on technology-driven business models.

Katharina Frie is a Partner at eCAPITAL. Before joining the firm, she was a Senior Consultant at UnternehmerTUM, the entrepreneurship center of the Technical University of Munich, working on innovation strategy, corporate incubation, and company building, and served as Interim COO at the TechFounders high-tech startup accelerator. She holds an M.Sc. in Technology & Management from TUM and studied abroad at Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics and the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.

Constantin Sanders joined the eCAPITAL investment team as an Associate in January 2024. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in business from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, with a focus on Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation, and spent a semester abroad at LUISS University in Rome. Before eCAPITAL he interned at the startups numa and Tourlane and gained investment experience at the Berlin-based VC funds Foodlabs and Earlybird Venture Capital.

Yanick Rosenbaum is an Investment Manager at eCAPITAL. Before joining the firm's investment team, he co-founded TCG Home, a portfolio management software company for the global collectibles market, and previously held various roles across early- to late-stage start-ups and venture building. He holds a master's degree in business administration from the University of Münster with a specialization in Marketing & Entrepreneurship and studied abroad at Reykjavik University in Iceland.

Hans-Christoph Quelle studied electrical engineering at TU München and earned a doctorate in signal and image processing at the Université de Rennes I. He held roles including assistant to the President of Deutsche Telekom in France and several leadership positions at Nokia (Sales Director, Director Market Creation, Director Corporate Strategy), later founding and running Secusmart GmbH and serving as SVP at BlackBerry. He is a Venture Partner at eCAPITAL and holds board seats at several companies.

Barbara Kaup works in financial and investment controlling at eCAPITAL Entrepreneurial Partners. She holds a business degree, having studied business administration at the University of Siegen and the University of Newcastle in Australia, with a focus on controlling and corporate environmental economics. She has professional experience in finance and controlling.

Elke Kramer works on financial and investment controlling within the operations team at eCAPITAL Entrepreneurial Partners. She earned a business degree from the University of Münster, concentrating on auditing and corporate taxation, and has professional experience in finance and controlling.

Sarah Janzen joined eCAPITAL in 2025 as a Financial & Investment Controller. She holds an M.Sc. in Business Administration with a specialization in accounting and controlling from the Hamburger Fern-Hochschule, which she completed while working full-time.