Jeannette zu Fürstenberg

Jeannette Catherine Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg (née Griesel;[1] born 10 September 1982) is a German businesswoman and entrepreneur.

Early life and education

Fürstenberg was born as a daughter of Ghislaine Elsbeth Cecile Rademacher-Dubbick and her husband Peer Griesel. Her paternal family is originally from Duisburg and owns the measuring technology company Krohne Messtechnik.[2]

Fürstenberg studied communications and economics at the University of Munich, also economics in London and Paris, graduating with a master's degree from the ESCP Business School.[3] She completed a doctorate in business administration with a focus in entrepreneurship and art during the Renaissance at the Free University of Berlin.[4][3]

Career

She has worked for Ernst & Young, Synthesis, and AXA. She is founding partner of La Famiglia VC, a European-based venture capital fund investing in early stage tech companies across Europe and the US.[5][6] Jeannette zu Fürstenberg has been active in the start-up ecosystem as Co-Founder, investor and advisor since 2013.[7][8][9]

In 2011, Fürstenberg and her husband founded "Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch". The project consists of a fellowship programme, annual temporary exhibitions and the establishment of a small collection. The focus is on young, emerging artists who have distinguished themselves in recent years through new concepts and languages of form and have in this context become the focus of international discourse.[10][11]

La Famiglia merged with American VC firm General Catalyst in 2023, after which Fürstenberg became a managing director at the latter, overseeing its European business.[12][13]

Fürstenberg sits on the board of German defense unicorn Helsing and French LLM unicorn Mistral AI.[14]

She and her firm General Catalyst lead the EU's AI Champions initiative. The initiative brings together 120 European companies across Europe, aiming to make Europe a global AI leader through coordinating efforts across industry, technology, capital and policy. This group of companies, led by General Catalyst, consists of startups such as Black Forest Labs, Mistral AI, Mirakl and Personio, and incumbents such as Deutsche Bank, L'Oréal, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, SAP, Volkswagen Group, Siemens and Spotify.[15][16][17]

On the initiative's official website, the mission statement written by her reads:

The initiative aims to frame a positive vision for Europe by mobilizing talent and capital, accelerating AI adoption in established industries, and increasing European companies’ competitiveness. Led by General Catalyst, our mission is to foster a resilient partnership between incumbents and technology providers to unlock Europe’s full potential in AI. Europe can seize a generational opportunity by leading in applied AI, integrating it into Europe’s industrial base to boost productivity, resilience, and economic sovereignty, especially in key sectors like manufacturing, energy, and defense.

To support this vision, General Catalyst's report ‘An Ambitious Agenda for European AI’ (linked below) provides a strategic blueprint for Europe's path to AI leadership.[18]

In 2025, in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Fürstenberg said that in the area of artificial intelligence, Germany and Europe should not just think about making progress, but actually winning the global race. She called for Germans and Europeans not to be intimidated by American and Chinese megaprojects such as the $500 billion Stargate project. She explained that in the first wave of internet technology development, European had not been able to catch up due to the fragmented markets in Europe, but AI would open new possibilities.[19]

Personal life

On 16 September 2010 she married Christian Prinz zu Fürstenberg (b. 1977) in a civil ceremony in Donaueschingen. They had a religious ceremony on 25 September 2010 in Rome.[20] At the time of their marriage, her husband was the heir apparent of his father, Heinrich Fürst zu Fürstenberg. They have four children. [5][21][22]

She began playing polo in 2010, and co-founded the Fürstenberg Polo Club with her husband later that year.[23][24]

References

  1. ^ Fine, Jerramy (14 September 2011). Bright Young Royals: Your Guide to the Next Generation of Blue Bloods. Penguin. ISBN 978-0425246870.
  2. ^ "Review 2017". Süddeutsche Zeitung Wirtschaftsgipfel. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Erbprinz heiratet Bürgerliche". Schwäbische. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  4. ^ Faltin, Günter (30 October 2018). Brains versus Capital - Entrepreneurship for Everyone – Lean, Smart, Simple. World Scientific Publishing Co. p. 197. ISBN 9789813234611.
  5. ^ a b "Princely Family". The House of Fürstenberg. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  6. ^ Johansson, Frans (1 June 2017). "Episode 7: Princess Jeannette zu Fürstenberg on Art, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship". Frans Johansson. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  7. ^ "JEANNETTE ZU FÜRSTENBERG". Hinterland of Things. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  8. ^ "200+ Great speakers and supporters of EYES". Eyes International. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Interviewees". The State of European Tech 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  10. ^ "FÜRSTENBERG CONTEMPORARY". FÜRSTENBERG CONTEMPORARY. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  11. ^ "LES COLLECTIONS DES PRINCES DE FÜRSTENBERG". Donaueschingen Am Ursprung. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  12. ^ Hammond, George (16 October 2023). "General Catalyst in German VC tie-up as part of European tech push". Financial Times.
  13. ^ Warnock, Eleanor (16 October 2023). "German fund La Famiglia merges with General Catalyst". Sifted.
  14. ^ Lewin, Amy (18 November 2024). "General Catalyst partner and Helsing, Mistral board member Jeannette zu Fürstenberg on how to build more businesses like them". Sifted.
  15. ^ "Jeannette zu Fürstenberg". Resilience Conf.
  16. ^ Wheeler, Kitty (19 February 2025). "Why The EU's AI Investment Plan is a Global Game-Changer". technologymagazine.com.
  17. ^ Partington, Miriam (3 July 2025). "Mistral, Black Forest Labs join calls to pause AI Act". Sifted. The signatories from the EU AI Champions Initiative — a coalition of 120 European companies brought together by Jeannette zu Fürstenberg at General Catalyst for the advancement of European AI — include the founders of Black Forest Labs, Mistral, Mirakl and Personio, as well as larger companies like Mercedes Benz, Siemens Energy and Lufthansa.
  18. ^ "EU AI Champions Initiative". EU AI Champions Initiative. Archived from the original on 4 October 2025. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  19. ^ Budras, Corinna (23 February 2025). "KI in Europa: „Fortschritt reicht nicht. Wir müssen gewinnen!"". FAZ.NET (in German). Archived from the original on 14 March 2025.
  20. ^ https://www.schwarzwaelder-bote.de/inhalt.donaueschingen-heirat-in-rom.4a7aefa6-991f-4756-b65a-834fd1a53313.html
  21. ^ "BABYFREUDEN IM HAUS FÜRSTENBERG: Prinz Christian und Jeannette zum dritten Mal Eltern geworden". Gala. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  22. ^ Heckl, Stephanie (23 November 2018). "Christian & Jeannette zu Fürstenberg Das Baby ist da!". Bunte. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
  23. ^ "Polo at spring of the Danube – new members are welcome" (PDF), Polo & Luxury Country Life Magazine, pp. 32, 33, 2015, retrieved 5 January 2019
  24. ^ Hügli-Herrmann, Birgit (5 August 2017). "FÜRSTENBERG POLO CUP – TEAM OCTOGONE WINS WITH A GOLDEN GOAL". Polo & Luxury. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
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