Jens Zimmermann

Co-Founder at Pioneering Education

Speaker

Jens has more than two decades of Private Equity & Venture Capital experience and a track record of building successful businesses internationally. After working for Booz, Allen & Hamilton’s acquisition services team in Munich and Paris, Jens joined a pioneer buyout group in Germany, before founding HGU Hamburg Private Equity AG in 1998.

Since 2004, he has been working in Private Equity in South Asia and the Middle East. In 2007, Jens merged his activities into New Silk Route, a USD 1.3bn growth capital fund, where he focused on private equity opportunities across the Middle East and Asia. Jens has led over 50 investments, served on over 30 public & private boards and founded several companies in the US, Europe and Asia.

Since 2008, Jens has been very active in impact investing, initiated by spearheading and scaling pioneer investments in the education sector in Emerging Asia. His passion for impact and education have resulted in a number of further investments & board roles in leading education groups & edtech companies globally. He is currently setting up a pioneering education platform in the GCC.

Jens holds a MBA degree from the Harvard Business School, from where he graduated in 1995. Jens is a founding member of the Harvard Business School alumni organization in Germany and of the Harvard Business School Club of the UAE. Jens is also a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO). Jens has 3 daughters and is based in Dubai.