Introduction
Alexander Samwer (born 1975, in Cologne) is a German internet entrepreneur who co-founded the online auction business Alando, the venture capital fund European Founders and the international investment firm Arvantis Group.
Career
With his brothers Marc and Oliver he co-founded consumer-to-consumer auction house Alando, which was sold to eBay in 1999 for $43 million, then Jamba! which was sold to VeriSign for $270 million in 2004.
With his two brothers he founded the venture capital company European Founders with which they invested in StudiVZ (former German-counterpart to Facebook), MyVideo (German-counterpart to YouTube), Bigpoint Games and several other companies. The Samwer brothers invested in Facebook in 2008, after selling StudiVZ to the Holtzbrinck Group. They also founded the startup studio Rocket Internet headquartered in Berlin with early-stage investments in Europe's largest online fashion company Zalando, online food-delivery company Delivery Hero, Asian e-commerce company Lazada Group and online meal retailer HelloFresh. In 2013, the Samwer brothers founded 150 million € Global Founders Capital (GFC) fund for early-stage startups.
In 2018 Alexander Samwer established the privately-held investment firm Arvantis Group with a focus on entrepreneurial investments in the technology, renewable energy and real estate sector. Group companies include Picus Capital (technology), Pacifico Energy Partners (renewable energy), Augustus, Linus and Fabrix Capital (real estate).
Education
He studied politics at the University of Oxford (from 1995), receiving an MA, and then received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Personal life
His parents are both in the legal profession. Alexander Samwer is an active supporter of social projects in education and environmental protection. He is a founding member of the climate initiative "Leaders for Climate Action".