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Nicole Junkermann

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Nicole Junkermann
Junkermann in 2018
Born (1980-04-27) April 27, 1980 (age 46)
Düsseldorf, Germany
Alma materInternational University of Monaco (1998), Harvard Business School (2002)
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • investor
Years active1990s–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2017)​
Children1

Nicole Junkermann, also known since 2017 as Countess Nicole Brachetti Peretti,[1][2] (born 27 April 1980[3]) is a German businesswoman and investor with international activities in the sports, healthcare, and technology sectors. As of 2020, she lives in London.[4]

Junkermann is the founder of NJF Holdings, an international investment company with interests in venture capital, private equity, and real estate.[5]

Early life and education

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Nicole Junkermann,[6] born in Düsseldorf, is the only daughter of businessman Heinz Junkermann and his wife Ingrid. Her father founded a jewellery store (Schmuck-Kassette GmbH), a real estate company (IFG Gesellschaft für Immobilienbesitz) and a private bank for wealthy clients.[7] He began taking Nicole with him to business meetings when she was 12 in order to prepare her for her future career.[8]

Junkermann grew up in Marbella, Spain[9][10] and studied business administration and management at the International University of Monaco (receiving a Bachelor's degree in 1998) and at Harvard Business School (studying in its programme for management development in 2002) in the United States.[11]

Career

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Early ventures

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Junkermann started her career as a model and she later co-founded the online gambling business Winamax in 1998.[10][2]

In 2002 Junkermann as a minority shareholder and the former Adidas CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus bought Infront Sports & Media out of the decaying media empire of Leo Kirch.[12] By 2011, the company was owned by a group of private investors, including majority shareholder Jacobs Holding, the Junkermann Group, and Dr. Martin Steinmeyer, with Philippe Blatter, nephew of then-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, serving as chairman and president. The company acquired the rights to the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and, in 2011, obtained permission to market the television rights for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups in Asian markets.[13][14] The company was subsequently sold to private equity group Bridgepoint Capital in a transaction valued at approximately $600 million.[15][16]

NJF Holdings and NJF Capital

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Shortly after the sale of Infront in 2012, Junkermann founded NJF Holdings. Its venture capital arm, NJF Capital ("Nicole Junkermann Finance Capital"), is registered in the British Virgin Islands and headquartered in London. The fund manages a diversified portfolio with investments across healthcare, biotech, sports, fintech, and deep tech.[17][18]

Three of NJF's early investments include Songza, Dollar Shave Club, and RelateIQ, which were acquired by Google, Unilever, and Salesforce, respectively.[19] Junkermann’s approach in NJF Capital has been to bridge traditional and emerging technologies[20] which has created a portfolio of unicorn companies.[21] Through these investments, she has participated in projects alongside prominent figures such as Google co-founder Eric Schmidt and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Her current stakes include high-profile companies like Revolut, SpaceX, Rippling, and Lendable.[2][10][22][23]

In the healthcare and technology sectors, Junkermann has backed Owkin in 2020, a Paris-based AI startup that uses machine learning for medical and biological research; she serves on its board of directors.[24][25] She has also invested in media companies, including the photo agency Magnum Photos in 2019.[10][26][failed verification]  She is part of the board of the cybersecurity investment fund created by Pablo Casado in 2024.[27]

Another investment and board of directors role by Junkermann (or NJF) was in the cybersecurity company Carbyne (formerly Reporty), co-founded in 2014 by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, which offered technology for user communication with emergency services.[28][29][30] Her firm was part of the company's initial Series A funding, and she joined its board in 2017.[29] In November 2025, Axon Enterprise (formerly TASER International) acquired Carbyne for $625 million.[31]

Other

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Junkermann has been a committee member of the Tate Americas Foundation, a charity that supports the work of the Tate Gallery in the United Kingdom, since 2005.[32][failed verification] Junkermann previously served on the HealthTech Advisory Board appointed in 2018 by Matt Hancock, MP, to advise him in his role as Health Secretary of the United Kingdom.[10][33]

Junkermann was appointed a trustee of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity as well as the Royal Academy Trust.[2] She was a visiting professor at Lancaster University.[34] She stepped down from or was terminated from these positions following evidence that she had longstanding affectionate personal relationship with the child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.[1][35]

Personal life

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Junkermann had long-running personal as well as professional relationship and extensive correspondence with the wealthy child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her correspondence with Epstein had an unusually affectionate tone, included discussion of personal gifts, continued after his 2008 conviction for procuring a child for prostitution, and lasted until the year of his death in 2019.[1][35] A spokesperson for Junkermann later said she considered his crimes "appalling" and that she had been "completely deceived and misled by him and deeply regrets their conversations regarding personal and professional matters".[35]

In 2017, she married the Ferdinando Brachetti Peretti (born 1960), an Italian count, with whom she has a daughter.[10][36][37] She lived in Monaco until her marriage, and thereafter in London.[38][39]

Junkermann speaks German, English, French, Italian and Spanish.[40] As of 2018, she lived in South Kensington, London.[39]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 Perry, Simon (16 February 2026). "Cancer Charity Supported by Kate Middleton and Prince William Faces Epstein Fallout as Trustee Resigns". People. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Field, Matthew; Warrington, James (8 February 2026). "The German countess who advised the NHS and called Epstein 'Mr Wonderful'". The Telegraph. Born in Düsseldorf in 1975, Ms Junkermann, also known as Countess Nicole Brachetti Peretti, is best known as the head of investment firm NJF Capital
  3. ↑ "Nicole Junkermann – investor, entrepreneur and builder". Nicole Junkermann. Retrieved 21 May 2026.
  4. ↑ Referente, El (20 April 2020). ""Lo que de verdad hace una inversión buena son los emprendedores, y por eso cuando invierto, invierto en personas"". El Referente (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  5. ↑ Rich, Gracia (21 July 2020). "International Investor and Entrepreneur, Nicole Junkermann Sets the Stage Globally for Women In Finance | Formidable Woman Magazine". Retrieved 21 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "tbtech". tbtech.co. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
  7. ↑ "How a German Industrialist Invented Modern Tech — Then Vanished". European Business Magazine. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  8. ↑ Raeanne (24 February 2021). "Heinz Junkermann – A Personal Impact". The European Financial Review. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  9. ↑ "Diese Frauen glauben an junge Gründerinnen und Gründer". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Askari, Emma Roig (29 April 2019). "Nicole Junkermann: así es la mecenas de la agencia Magnum". Vanity Fair (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  11. ↑ "Nicole Junkermann". Wellfound. Archived from the original on 17 November 2025. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  12. ↑ "Chinesische Dalian Wanda will Schweizer Infront wieder verkaufen". 2023. Retrieved 25 December 2025.
  13. ↑ Cushnan, David (27 October 2011). "Infront secures key Fifa rights sales contract". SportsPro. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  14. ↑ "Infront Signs 2006 FIFA World Cup Agreement With Dentsu For New Media Rights". Sportcal. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  15. ↑ Long, Michael (2 September 2011). "Bridgepoint buys out Infront Sports & Media". SportsPro. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  16. ↑ Ebrahimi, Helia (2 September 2011). "Bridgepoint buys Swiss sports rights company". The Telegraph.
  17. ↑ Barratt, Bianca. "How Young Businesses Can Safeguard Their Future According To A Successful Investor". Forbes. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  18. ↑ "Nicole Jukermann: 'China va a salir beneficiada de esta crisis'". El Mundo (in Spanish). 12 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  19. ↑ "Handelsblatt". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  20. ↑ Junkermann, Nicole (7 February 2025). "Will AI change how you watch the Super Bowl?". City AM. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  21. ↑ Arelle, Vanessa (19 May 2018). "Nicole Junkermann, la emprendedora que debes conocer". Vogue (in Mexican Spanish).
  22. ↑ "Epsteins deutsche Vertraute: Sie schrieben sich manchmal minütlich". t-online (in German). 5 February 2026. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  23. ↑ Filippetti, Simone (1 October 2022). "Randi Zuckerberg lancia a Londra la start up Hug, fucina di creativi". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian). Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  24. ↑ "Owkin Closes $11-Million Financing for AI in Drug Development". Drug Development and Delivery. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2025.
  25. ↑ Brors, Peter; Maisch, Michael (23 June 2020). "Nicole Junkermann: „Die Krise trennt gute von schlechten Unternehmen"". www.handelsblatt.com (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  26. ↑ "Owkin, ein KI-Biotech-Unicorn, bringt seine innovative KI nach Deutschland, Österreich und in die Schweiz". www.pharma-zeitung.de. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  27. ↑ Rodríguez, Carlos (8 January 2025). "El fondo de Pablo Casado y el sobrino de Ana Botín levanta 150 millones, el máximo previsto". elconfidencial.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  28. ↑ Çam, Deniz. "To Fight Coronavirus, This City Is Asking 911 Callers To Agree To Self Surveillance". Forbes. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
  29. 1 2 Ganon, Tomer; Kurz, Amir; Abramson, Ran (18 July 2019). "The Ties That Bind: Ehud Barak's Business Network". Archived from the original on 27 November 2025.
  30. ↑ Dasgupta, Shirsho (20 March 2026). "Miami-Dade police, FHP and others contracted with tech startup funded by Epstein". Miami Herald.
  31. ↑ Shulman, Sophie (5 November 2025). "Public safety giant Axon acquires Carbyne for $625 million in cash". ctech. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  32. ↑ "Committees". Tate Americas Foundation. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
  33. ↑ "Health technology expert panel meets for the first time". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
  34. ↑ "Lancaster University appoints Nicole Junkermann Visiting Professor in Practice". Lancaster University. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
  35. 1 2 3 Malik, Erin (11 February 2026). "Lancaster University visiting professor named 3,475 in the Epstein files leaves position". The Tab.
  36. ↑ Filippetti, Simone (14 July 2021). "L'Italia è piena di talenti, ma quello che manca sono i capitali e un ecosistema". Il Sole 24 ORE (in Italian).
  37. ↑ "Nicole Junkermann: Die Düsseldorfer Millionärin heiratet einen italienischen Milliardär". Bunte (in German). 30 March 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  38. ↑ "Battesimo in Vaticano per la piccola Vita, figlia di Ferdinando e Nicole Brachetti Peretti". www.ilmattino.it (in Italian). 20 March 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2026.
  39. 1 2 Peter Brors (27 November 2018). "„KI kann verstörend wirken" – Investorin Junkermann über Fluch und Segen Künstlicher Intelligenz". Handelsblatt (in German). Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  40. ↑ "Diese Frauen glauben an junge Gründerinnen und Gründer". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 3 January 2025.
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