Your leading investment firm along and around the hydrogen value chain
SENCO is the responsible investors’ gateway to the hydrogen sector
SENCO means „sense“ in Esperanto. As much as Esperanto is the universal language, hydrogen is the sole universal element to drive the paradigm change in the energy system.
SENCO is united by the recognition that hydrogen is an essential key to the decarbonization of the economy and to a diversified, sustainable and future-proof energy supply.
SENCO was created by a passionate group of experienced investment professionals as well as leading industry- and hydrogen experts providing institutional investors with a one-stop access to the fast growing hydrogen economy.
SENCO drives the required industrial transformation as an independent, sector focused investment firm with deep hydrogen knowledge and creates long-term values for society, nature and its investors.
SENCO invests in companies and projects along the hydrogen value chain generating sustainable and ESG-compliant returns of the asset class.
SENCO is the first hydrogen-focused investment firm in Germany that combines all relevant skills and experience to fully benefit from the diverse opportunities of the hydrogen market.
Long standing team relationships, excellent market and technology knowledge, a close-knit and well cultivated network as well as direct access to the hydrogen related industry are our assets. We promise to utilize these for the benefit of our investors and portfolio companies.
SENCO Hydrogen Capital GmbH is an independent, Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) registered investment firm (AIFM).
As a sector focused investment firm with deep hydrogen engineering knowledge, SENCO focuses on investments across the entire hydrogen eco system. This includes generation, distribution, storage and end use of hydrogen and its derivatives such as methanol and ammonia. We are convinced that there is no alternative to hydrogen for a significant decarbonization in the industry, energy and mobility sectors.
SENCO sees hydrogen as a long lasting megatrend. We invest equity in infrastructure and infrastructure enabling businesses along the hydrogen value chain to create long-term values for society, nature and our investors. SENCO offers professional access to capturing the hydrogen market opportunities and benefit from ESG-compliant returns.
Our professional approach and extensive industry knowledge lead to attractive returns and excellent investor service
We invest in clean technologies, thus promoting continuous innovation in the field of environmental protection
Our investment strategy is committed to climate protection and aims for Net Zero emissions
We make a positive contribution to society by creating jobs, increasing European added value and social welfare
Our company culture stands for balanced management of interests between nature, society, industry and investors
SENCO’s hydrogen investments are sustainable capital investments and an optimal catalyst to drive the energy transition. SENCO is a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (UN PRI) and sets the following ESG targets:
Passion for environmental improvement
SENCO is the professional home for a group of likeminded partners who strive for investing excellence combined with positive environmental and decarbonisation impact. All partners look back on successful careers in their professional fields. As a diverse group of people united by a common goal, we offer a complementary set of skills that makes SENCO a unique partner for hydrogen related investments and stakeholders.
Our team of hydrogen engineers, specializing in engineering, project planing, consulting and operations, is an essential part of SENCO. Thus, our fields of expertise include comprehensive experience in investment management, finance structuring, legal affairs and hydrogen from a research point of view as well as from a hands on engineering standpoint.
We are dedicated to a hydrogen economy at scale using energies from renewable sources to reach a clean and carbon free future.
SENCO’s Partners, Industry Partners and Senior Experts are supported by an operational team covering all relevant fields of business:
› Project managers
› Specialized engineers
› Renewable energy specialists
› Analysts
SENCO has direct access to profound market- and technology knowledge
Please contact us for further information.
+49 221 292 647 30 (Phone)
+49 221 292 647 39 (Fax)
We are represented in two cities:
› Cologne
› Hanover
Carsten looks back on more than 20 years C-level experience in the investment and asset management industry. Before setting up SENCO he acted as CEO and CIO of NORD/LB Asset Management AG and of Warburg Invest AG. During this time he was also Member of the Executive Board of the German Fund Association (BVI). Prior to that he was a partner of WP Global Partners, a US private equity firm. Before joining WP Global Carsten established Equity Partners, a successful German based small-mid cap private equity firm as CEO and CIO. He started his career in various roles in banking. Carsten has deep industry knowledge and sits on various boards.
He earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Muenster.
Oliver has been working in the private equity industry for more than 20 years. Before setting up SENCO, Oliver, together with two partners, built Silver Investment Partners, a private equity firm focusing on small/mid cap companies in the DACH region. Previously he was responsible for the direct investment division of Equity Partners, a leading German private equity company focusing on small-mid cap as well as complex buyout transactions. Prior to this, Oliver managed leveraged buyout transactions in the mid and large cap segments for AlpInvest (a core division of The Carlyle Group).
Oliver holds an MBA from the University of Birmingham and a business degree from Pforzheim University. He also received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Central England.
Matthias has more than 25 years of experience in international banking. He was one of the founding board members and CEO for many years of EAA – Germany’s first “bad bank” with up to €150 billion AUM from project finance, structured finance, equity investments and securities. Part of this portfolio was an international energy portfolio with a volume of several billion euros, ranging from conventional power plants to renewable energy financing. As early as 1996, he was involved in the foundation of Germany’s first wind test service provider for onshore wind turbines as an investment manager and member of the supervisory board. Matthias is a member of the Supervisory Board and Chairman of the Risk Committee of NORD/LB as well as a member of the Supervisory Board of Mount Street Portfolio Advisers, an international servicer for alternative assets, among others.
He holds a degree in economics from the University of Erlangen/Nuremberg.
Marcel is an awarded clean tech entrepreneur and company founder. Before setting up SENCO, sustainability and clean energy solutions have long been the focus of his professional interest. He shares his insights as a guest speaker at various industry events. He started his career in the financial industry working for a small cap asset management firm in Hanover and a Berlin based real estate holding company.
During his international studies of business administration Marcel attended the Otto-Friedrich-University in Bamberg and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in Gujarat, India.
Mathias is a seasoned finance expert and CFO who has spent the past 30 years supporting numerous companies in their complex financial structures and accompanying their growth as project manager and executive. As a CFO in the private equity, real estate and hospitality fields, he has worked together with Carsten, Oliver and Patrick for many years, most successfully at Equity Partners, a leading German private equity company focusing on small, mid-cap, and complex buyout transactions.
Patrick is an accredited lawyer and tax advisor (Steuerberater). He has been with Clifford Chance, a major international law firm, for more than 25 years, 13 years thereof as Managing Partner of the Munich office and 5 years as managing director of the PVW Treuhand Steuerberatungs- und Wirtschaftsprüfungs GmbH affiliated to the law firm. He specialized in corporate law, M&A, private equity, tax law and funds as well as structured finance, real estate and infrastructure. He holds multiple “Germany Best Lawyer of the year” awards in Corporate law, M&A law, Private Equity Law, Real Estate Law, Tax Law, Asset Finance Law and Leasing Law.
He studied at the Universities Tübingen and Munich law. He passed his PHD at the University of Cologne.
Marcel is the founder and Managing Director of EMCEL, a leading fuel cell and hydrogen consulting and engineering firm. He has extensive knowledge and experience in system development and hydrogen infrastructure application. He filed about 15 patents during his career and worked for Daimler AG, NuCellSys GmbH and Ballard Power Systems AG. He studied at the universities of Cologne and Hamburg.
Marcel wrote his diploma thesis on a fuel desulfurization unit for fuel cell systems at DaimlerChrysler AG.
Markus hold a professorship for Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion at the University of Ulm. He is a member of the ZSW Managing Board and Head of the Electrochemical division. His 300 people strong division is working on Batteries, PEM fuel cells and Hydrogen. In his nearly 25-year-long career at BASF, Markus has held various management positions in chemical catalysts, fuel cells and battery materials in Germany, Japan and the United States.
He received his PhD in electrochemistry from the University of Ulm, Germany.
Stephan is President of a leading LNG and gas infrastructure company. He was CEO of Vier Gas Transport, the sole owner of Open Grid Europe. Before that he was President of ENTSO-G, the leading association of Europe’s transmission system operators. At E.ON Ruhrgas he has held various positions e.g. as Member of the Executive Board and Head of Legal.
Thomas was CEO of STORAG Etzel, Europe’s largest independent oil and gas storage operator. During his career in the energy industry, he was CEO of NET4Gas, the Czech gas transmission company, and Head of Gas Procurement at RWE, a leading German multinational energy company. He negotiated and advised on long term gas procurement, transportation and storage contracts. He also consulted on gas infrastructure development with particular respect on political, regulatory and strategic issues.
He holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Cologne.
Albrecht is an experienced mobility expert and current managing partner of the “Gesellschaft für Unternehmensplanung und Technologie”. Previously, he held various management positions at international companies in the aerospace, rail and automotive industries. He began his career at the Boston Consulting Group before working for Daimler’s aerospace division. He was a long-standing member of the management board at Knorr-Bremse, deputy CEO at the Russian Gaz Group and CEO of Schaltbau AG.
Albrecht earned his doctorate under Prof. Warnecke at the Fraunhofer IPA in Stuttgart. He is also involved in various committees (IHK, ZVEI, etc.) and is chairman of the Society for Production Management (GfPM) with a focus on the automotive industry.
Karl is an experienced top manager in the energy sector and a member of the Supervisory Board of OMV, Austria’s leading oil, gas and energy company. In addition, he holds a professorship for Strategy and Applied Business Administration at the University of Graz, Austria. Prior, he was Strategy Advisor for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Chief Strategist at Royal Dutch Shell and Senior Director Policy and Scenarios at the World Energy Council.
Karl studied petroleum science from the mining University Leoben, Austria.
Erik has been a professional board member, founder, and entrepreneur in the energy sector for more than 20 years. As an investment banker and a seasoned private equity professional, he invested in numerous large energy projects in Australia, Eastern Europe and Asia in the early 2000s. During the last decade, he built renewable energy companies in Scandinavia and the Balkans. His interest in the hydrogen market is longstanding and with his extensive global network he looks forward to developing decarbonisation projects in this field.
He studied business in Cologne, Buckingham, Lyon as well as at WHU, where he is a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board.
Julia leads Sustainable Supply Chain Management at the Operations Department of EBS Business School. Her research interests include ESG, CSR, sustainable development, and environmental operations. Her research papers have been published in several journals such as the Journal of World Business or Journal of Cleaner Production.
Markus is a proven expert in the field of risk and insurance management and a member of various advisory boards for almost three decades, including more than 20 years as an executive and supervisory board member of national and international insurance companies.
He was a board member at AXA, Allianz, ERGO and Provinzial with mandates in Germany, France, Singapore and Thailand. Previously, he was responsible for risk and insurance management at Hoechst AG (Frankfurt) and Voest Alpine Technologie AG (Linz and Vienna). In addition to insurance management and sales, he has extensive experience in restructuring, mergers, turnarounds and new business development.
He studied chemistry and economics at the University of Ulm and holds a degree in chemistry. He received his PhD in 1995 from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich.
Jürgen is a leading energy and industry expert. He is an industrial entrepreneur (Georgsmarienhütte steel group), Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the RAG Foundation and former Chairman of the Board of RWE, a leading internationally active German utility company. In his professional career, Jürgen has served as a member of supervisory boards, advisory boards and boards of trustees at Volkswagen AG, Deutsche Post AG, Deutsche Bahn AG, SURTECO SE, Messer Group, Tognum, Ardex GmbH, ASL Aircraft Service Lemwerder and JPMorgan Chase International Council, among others.
After receiving his master’s degree in Industrial Administration from Purdue University West-Lafayette, Indiana, he earned his doctorate from the Technical University of Berlin in 1980.
Florian is General Manager of Philips Medical Solutions in Hamburg, Germany, CFO of Philips’ D-A-CH region and Board Member of Philips Pensions-Service. He has extensive experience in operational excellence and transformation. Prior to Philips, he has held leading positions in mid-cap companies and multinationals like Siemens as CFO, in corporate M&A and – together with Carsten, Oliver and Mathias at Equity Partners – in private equity. Furthermore, he held mandates in the supervisory board of two medium-sized companies.
He is an economist from the University of Augsburg and physicist with a degree in renewable energies from the Technical University of Munich, where he conducted research on hydrogen systems in collaboration with BMW. He holds a PhD from Technical University of Compiègne, France.
Sylvia is a member of the German National Hydrogen Council and she serves as Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy Systems IWES. She is the first Deputy Chairperson at HYPOS and responsible for federal activities & research, including fuel cell and electrolysis. She was Deputy Head of the Fraunhofer IMWS and prior to that, she was Deputy Head in the Executive Board of the Fraunhofer HQ. As a postdoc she worked on the development of fuel cell systems at Heliocentris.
Michael is Professor of “Energy Storage and Energy Systems” at the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg. He is an advisor for the German Federal Government and a scientific expert for leading hydrogen projects HYPOS, H2Global and the EU Public Private Partnership FCH JU. He received several awards for developing “Power-to-X”, published the standard reading “Energiespeicher” and has given more than 500 lectures.
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