Strategic Finance · Funding · M&A · Scaling

Jennifer Janson

I help high-growth technology companies fund, scale and transact. From IPO preparation and equity stories to M&A, funding rounds and capital structure, I've led the finance behind billions in transactions — and built the FP&A, systems and teams that turn fast growth into a durable business. Broad across every corner of finance, and just as curious off the clock.

Portrait of Jennifer Janson
€6bn+ In funding, M&A & capital-markets transactions led
2 IPO journeys — Scout24's listing & Babbel's IPO readiness
11 yrs Scaling finance inside high-growth tech (2014–2025)
€2.9bn Largest single divestiture & carve-out led on the finance side

Hello

A finance leader with a broad range of expertise.

I'm Jennifer — a value-driven finance leader who has spent the last decade inside dynamic, high-growth technology companies, at every stage of the lifecycle from pre-IPO scale-up to public company.

At Babbel I served as Director of Corporate Finance — leading IPO preparation and the equity story, running funding rounds and finance-side M&A, and building the FP&A, forecasting and systems that create the basis for scale. At Scout24 I rose from working student to Head of Treasury & Financial Projects, leading the finance behind the group's largest transactions: a €2.9bn carve-out, a €1bn tender offer, and refinancings, acquisitions and buybacks worth billions more.

Strategic finance, funding and M&A are where I do my best work — but my experience spans just about every area of finance, from capital structure and treasury to controlling, tax and process design. I lead authentically, think in equity stories and unit economics, and care most about the decisions that shape a company's future.

Bilingual in English & German, conversational in French — and always curious about the people and cultures behind the numbers.

What I do

Areas of expertise

A strategic-finance core, backed by hands-on depth across the full finance function.

Strategic Finance & Equity Story

Shaping the financial narrative, profitability roadmap and equity story that win over boards and investors.

Funding & Capital Markets

Funding rounds, refinancings, bonds, tender offers and capital reductions — raising and structuring capital across equity and debt.

M&A & Transactions

Buy- and sell-side M&A, carve-outs, joint ventures and post-merger integration — on the finance side of the deal.

FP&A & Scaling

Budgets, forecasts, unit economics and driver trees — building the financial foundation for sustainable scale.

Treasury & Capital Structure

Cash management, financing and capital-structure optimisation, built from the ground up.

Process, Data & Systems

Financial systems landscapes, data flows and process optimisation that make finance faster and sharper.

The Journey

A decade scaling high-growth tech finance

From the IPO team to Director of Corporate Finance — building, funding and transacting at every stage.

  1. Today

    Founder & Principal — Hypatia Advisory

    Self-employed · Berlin

    Founded Hypatia Advisory to give founders, leadership teams and boards senior finance support when it counts most — strategy, funding, transactions and interim leadership that turn complexity into clear, confident decisions.

  2. 2021–2025

    Director of Corporate Finance — Babbel

    Berlin

    Owned corporate finance for one of Europe's best-known learning-technology companies — leading IPO preparation and the equity story, managing funding rounds and finance-side M&A, and running shareholder relations and reporting. Beyond the deals, I built the basis for scale: FP&A, budgeting and forecasting, unit-economics driver trees, and the financial systems and processes a fast-growing business needs.

    • IPO readiness & equity story
    • Funding rounds
    • M&A
    • FP&A & scaling
    • Unit economics
  3. 2016–2021

    Rising to Head of Treasury & Financial Projects — Scout24

    Munich

    Joined treasury in 2016 and rose to Head of Treasury & Financial Projects, leading the finance side of the group's defining transactions and capital-structure decisions through restructuring and the COVID-19 crisis — including the €2.9bn carve-out and sale of a subsidiary, a €1bn tender offer with capital reduction, and a €490m share-repurchase programme. Along the way I built Scout24's treasury and Europe-wide cash management from the ground up.

    • M&A & carve-outs
    • Capital structure
    • Equity & debt financing
    • Finance project leadership
  4. 2014–2016

    Working Student, Controlling / FP&A — Scout24

    Munich

    Part of the IPO team in the run-up to Scout24's 2015 listing — building bank reporting and learning a complex business from the numbers up.

  5. 2010–2014

    Tax Apprentice & Tax Clerk — Kanzlei EHK

    Augsburg

    The foundation: accounting, corporate and income-tax declarations, and financial statements — the grounding in fundamentals that still shapes how I read a business today.

Track record

Deals led & capabilities built

A sample of the transactions I've led on the finance side — and the teams and foundations I've built along the way.

Selected transactions

€2.9bnCarve-out & sale of a subsidiary — finance project lead
€1bnTender offer & capital reduction — technical execution
€1bnRefinancing with M&A acquisition line
€800mCorporate loan facility
€490mShare-repurchase programme
€250mFinanzcheck M&A transaction
€200mSchuldschein financing

Leadership & other highlights

  • Scaled and led finance teams and departments across FP&A, reporting, treasury and financial systems
  • Part of Scout24's IPO team for its listing, and led Babbel's IPO readiness and equity story
  • Built Scout24's treasury and Europe-wide cash management from the ground up
  • Set-up & structuring of a hybrid bond
  • Implementation of new financial systems and tooling
  • Executive MBA — Erasmus University Rotterdam & University of Cologne
  • "Treasury of the Year" nominee — FINANCE Magazine

Current Chapter

Hypatia Advisory

Senior finance leadership and strategic advisory for the moments that define a company — growth, funding, transactions and complexity.

"However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results." — Winston Churchill
Visit hypatia-advisory.com

Senior Finance Leadership

Experienced hands for the finance function when stakes and pace are both high.

Strategic Advisory

Clear thinking on financial strategy, decision-making and execution.

Interim Finance Leadership

Steady, senior leadership to bridge transitions and professionalise teams.

Transaction Support

Hands-on support through funding rounds, M&A and divestitures.

Beyond Work

The person behind the numbers

The same curiosity that drives good financial judgement shows up everywhere else in my life.

A traveller at heart

I'm happiest exploring somewhere new — understanding how a different culture thinks, what it values and why. Travel is how I stay open-minded, and meeting people who see the world differently is genuinely my favourite part of it.

Rugby, in two countries

I've played rugby for clubs across both Germany and the UK over the years — including fast, relentless 7s in the German Rugby Bundesliga with the München RFC. It's where I learned that teams win, not individuals.

Open mind, by default

New people, new perspectives, new mindsets — I seek them out. Curiosity isn't a hobby for me; it's how I make better decisions and better relationships.

Always learning

A BSc from the UK, an Executive MBA across Rotterdam and Cologne, a new city, a new venture — I tend to choose the path that teaches me something. The day I stop learning is the day I get bored.

Let's talk

Get in touch

Whether you're preparing to raise, weighing a transaction, scaling a finance team — or just want to swap travel stories — I'd love to hear from you.