Klaus Hommels  Klaus Hommels is a venture capitalist based in Zurich, Switzerland. He focuses on early and growth-stage investments and has founded his own venture capital fund by the name of Lakestar, through which he has been investing mainly in Internet businesses. He has been involved in successful Internet investments such as Skype, Facebook and Xing. Hommels studied at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where he became a Master of Science in Business Administration and also studied a Ph.D. in Finance. After graduating, he worked as a Managing Director in business development, content and advertising for AOL. He started the role in 1995 and was based in Germany. He left the position after four years in 1999 to join Apax Partners. Hommels worked as a Director for the private equity firm in Munich. At the height of the dotcom bubble burst, he began to invest as a private investor in technology startups. During this period, he invested in a number of notable startups at an early stage. This included the likes of Facebook. In 2006, after six years as a private investor, Hommels joined Benchmark Capital, now Balderton Capital, as a Venture Partner in London. After a year with Benchmark, he founded Hommels Holding, resuming his private investing in technology and Internet-based businesses. In 2009, it was announced that Hommels had made an investment in the startup, Spotify. As part of the announcement, he also became a member of its board. He was an early-stage investor in the company, with the valuation of around £20-£30 million. Following this early success, Hommels set up his own venture capital firm, now known as Lakestar. Since 2012 Lakestar has built a reputation as one the best venture capital firms in Europe for its high return on investment. The venture capital's first seed fund recorded a 70% internal rate of return from its investments. The firm has capitalized on this success and has continued to raise funds to invest predominantly in European tech start-ups. In 2013, Lakestar announced the launch of its first institutional fund, Lakestar I, with a total commitment of €150 million. Lakestar I went onto make investments in various European-based start-ups. This included participating in a $27 million funding round for Omio, formerly GoEuro. Hommels has been a vocal supporter of the European start-up and technology sectors. In a 2017 discussion with CNBC, he argued start-ups in Europe need supportive policy and regulation in order to be competitive on a global scale.