VITA

Rolf Christof Dienst is an entrepreneur and investor in the technology and life science sectors and is one of the founders of the venture capital scene in Germany. Born in Wuppertal in 1946, he has lived and worked in Munich since 1967 and has lived with his family in Icking in the Isar Valley since 1983.

During his law studies (he was admitted to the bar in 1974), in 1968, together with Albrecht Graf Matuschka, he established the asset management company later known as the Matuschka Group, of which he was president. His areas of responsibility were: Real Estate, Venture Capital and Corporate Finance.

In 1983/84, together with TA Associates (Boston) and Siemens AG (Munich), he founded the first German private venture capital company for the Matuschka Group: TVM Techno Venture Management (now TVM Capital), of which he was managing director in the early years. After selling his shares in the Matuschka Group, he founded Wellington Partners Venture Capital in Munich, Zurich and London in 1991.

In 1993, he and four partners started TelCare GmbH in Wilhelmshaven, Germany’s first independent call center, and was responsible for the sale of the company to Sykes Enterprises, USA in 1997.

In 1998, he and three partners founded ImmobilienScout GmbH – Berlin, of which he was managing director for the first two years and which was developed into the German market leader by his successor Arndt Kwiatkowski.

From 1998 to 2011, Rolf Christof Dienst was Founding General Partner of Wellington Partners. With assets under management of > € 1 billion and several Managing Partners, Wellington was one of the leading venture capital firms in Continental Europe. Rolf Christof Dienst continues to be associated with Wellington Partners and in particular with the life science sector as Partner Emeritus and advisor. Wellington’s best-known investments include Actelion, Immatics, ImmobilienScout, Spotify and 360T, where Rolf Christof Dienst represented Wellington on the advisory board. Further investments can be found on the website: Wellington Partners Venture Capital.

After a nine-month sabbatical in Asia (2011/12), the family office Wessel Management GmbH Munich was activated and developed into an active early-stage investor with a team of six employees. Wessel has investments in 40 technology companies in Europe, the USA and Southeast Asia and manages real estate assets for its own account and for friendly co-investors. Among the better-known Wessel investments are Control Expert, Langenfeld, which was sold to General Atlantic in a management buyout in 2017 and is now part of Allianz Group, Munich, and the partial exit of Kinexon GmbH, Munich. Other investments can be found on the website of Wessel Management GmbH.

From 2005 to 2007 Rolf Christof Dienst was a member of the board of BVK (Bundesverband Deutscher Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaften e.V.) and from 2007 to 2009 its chairman.
In 2001, he was appointed honorary senator by his university, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich, for his commitment to the establishment and initial financing of the Entrepreneurship Center.

The Dienst family is strongly involved in the charitable and impact sector, among others: founding the tropical forest foundation OroVerde Bonn in 1988, co-founding the Opera Studio of the Munich State Opera, founding the German Entrepreneurship Centre and many other impact projects at home and abroad, which he discovers and supports on his regular international travels.

He has been married to Caroli Dienst, née Winkler, since 1976 and has five children and 12 grandchildren.