Lemon.markets strengthens leadership team

• Alexander Franz is promoted to VP Governance Operations and will oversee the advancement of scalable processes to drive further growth.
• Laura Cüppers takes on additional responsibility as VP Brokerage, now also leading Product Management.
• Philipp Schäfer, Head of Commercial since October, and Niko Schröer, joining as Head of Partnerships in 2025, will further drive the FinTech’s growth.
The brokerage-as-a-service platform lemon.markets is strengthening its leadership team to prepare for further growth in 2025. These strategic moves follow a successful funding round led by CommerzVentures earlier this year.
Expanding the leadership team and consolidating expertise
Alexander Franz has been promoted to VP Governance Operations and joins the leadership team. He has been part of the company for nearly two years as Head of Strategic Program Management. With over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including roles at N26 and KPMG, he played a key role in achieving major milestones such as obtaining the BaFin license. In his new role, he will primarily be responsible for developing scalable processes in partner onboarding and ensuring operational excellence in managing third-party relationships.

Laura Cüppers, VP Brokerage, takes on further responsibility and will now also lead Product Management in addition to overseeing Partner Management and Operations. With this move, key areas related to lemon.markets' partners are consolidated under her realm of responsibility to further develop collaboration and enhance partner experiences. Laura Cüppers has been part of the leadership team for nearly two years, significantly contributing to the platform’s development with her broad expertise and interdisciplinary skills.
Max Linden, founder and CEO of lemon.markets, explains: “I am thrilled to see us leveraging our immense internal potential, with both Alex and Laura taking on more responsibility. We work hard to create an environment where everyone can realize their full potential and grow with us.”

Strengthening the second leadership tier

Since October, Philipp Schäfer has been driving the FinTech’s growth as Head of Commercial. With over 12 years of experience in the asset management industry, he brings a deep understanding of the sector. He has previously driven innovation and strategic partnerships in the investment sector, at companies like DWS and Morgenfund.

Starting January 2025, Niko Schröer will join the team as Head of Partnerships. Niko Schröer, who previously held senior roles at Stripe and Google, will focus on supporting partners with onboarding and platform integration while further growing existing partnerships.

Additionally, the integral role of General Counsel Andreas Rieth will be formally strengthened. He will now also serve as authorized signatory of the regulated subsidiary lemon.markets brokerage.

A big thank you to Florian Werner

After more than three years, Florian Werner, VP Product, is leaving the company for personal reasons. “Flo has made a significant contribution to realizing our product vision. I am incredibly grateful for the trust he has placed in our partnership over the past three years. I wish him all the best and am excited to see which vision he will pursue next,” says Max Linden.

Prepared for the next growth phase

With its strengthened team, lemon.markets is optimally positioned to meet the growing demand for digital investment solutions and underlying brokerage and custody infrastructure. The company’s recent successes, including migrating Tomorrow’s investment business to the lemon.markets platform and going live with Holvi to offer a treasury solution for business customers, were significant milestones. Strategic collaborations with industry leaders such as Allfunds to expand the platform to include funds, like money market and investment funds, make lemon.markets an attractive partner for FinTechs, wealth managers, and banks.

Max Linden, founder and CEO of lemon.markets, explains: "I am very much looking forward to bringing even greater momentum to the market in 2025 together with our partners and our team, inspiring more and more customers to invest in the capital markets. We have set everything in motion to kick off the new year with great energy."