Tobias Jahn

Partner


Munich, Germany

Tobias Jahn

Tobias, an engineer turned investor, brings nearly 20 years of venture capital expertise. Formerly with 3M Ventures and BMW i Ventures, he now drives climate tech and deep-tech innovations at Hitachi Ventures, passionate about partnering with visionary founders.

As an engineer at heart, Tobias combines natural curiosity with business acumen refined over nearly two decades of venture investments. Since 2008, he has been investing in venture-backed tech-companies, driven by the belief that venture investing isn’t about keeping pace with change but leading it.

Tobias began his journey in technical and innovation management at BMW before transitioning to 3M’s Corporate Venture unit, where he worked on investments in energy management, multi-touch displays, collaboration software, and more. After over six years at 3M, he joined BMW i Ventures, advancing from Principal to Managing Director for Europe. During his tenure, the firm evolved its focus from mobility services to autonomous driving, industrial automation, and, ultimately, climate tech.

Now at Hitachi Ventures, Tobias centers his efforts on software and hardware solutions in climate tech, tackling areas such as industrial decarbonization, green molecules, energy transition, resource efficiency, and circularity. His work bridges the needs of corporations on their ESG journeys with the ambition of startups aiming to scale. Tobias is equally passionate about groundbreaking deep-tech innovations—like quantum technology, fusion energy, and space tech—that promise transformative societal impacts in the coming decade.

Tobias holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stuttgart.

Personal Note

Tobias loves any excuse to be outdoors, whether it’s sailing, trail running, skiing, biking,… Basically, if it involves fresh air and a bit of adrenaline, he’s all in!

Areas of Interest

  • ClimateTech
  • Decarbonization
  • Energy
  • Circularity
  • DeepTech
  • Vertical B2B SaaS Solutions

Active Investments

Ascend Elements

Equiem

BeZero

Cyclic Materials

Strangeworks

Makersite

Wase

Samsara

Thea

Previous

Graphcore

Claroty

Synera

Autobrains

Chargemaster

JustPark

Perceptive Pixel