Claudius Jablonka

Claudius is an experienced investor and operator with a strong track record of identifying and empowering exceptional early stage founders. For more than a decade, he has created a deep network in the European tech ecosystem that complements Leitmotif’s transatlantic operations. He is based in Munich, Germany.

Prior to Leitmotif, Claudius was a Co-Founder and General Partner at 10x Founders, an early-stage venture capital firm that raised €160 million from an extraordinary network of 200 European and US angel investors. During his tenure, 10x Founders invested in 70 startups across Europe and the US – notably Cylib (battery recycling), Ixana (semiconductors) and Magic (AI foundation models). Previously, Claudius established the Munich office of Plug and Play Tech Center, where he led several deep tech and AI investments – including Recogni and Presize.ai – and successfully facilitated open innovation programs with some of Europe’s largest corporations.

As Chief of Staff at notebooksbilliger.de, one of the most successful e-commerce companies in Germany, Claudius was instrumental in scaling the organization to €800 million in annual revenue. Claudius began his career at the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM) managing an elite entrepreneurship program that included the founders of five unicorn companies – Personio, Razor, Cellares, Trade Republic and Forto. He continues to be a lecturer and advisor at CDTM. 

Claudius earned a doctorate in Economics and a Master of Business Research from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). He also obtained a Master’s degree in Management & Technology, with a minor in Mechanical Engineering, from the Technische Universität München (TUM), during which he spent a semester abroad at UC Berkeley.