Our company
Our team
The CAPHENIA team consists of international specialists from a range of sectors, all united by a shared passion: to make mobility more sustainable. Find out more about some of our team members here.
Our shareholders
CAPHENIA shareholders are executives from industry and commerce who have been quick to recognise the potential of CAPHENIA technology. For them, this process is the key to achieving a carbon-neutral future for mobility. Some of our shareholders are presented here.
Our advisory board
The CAPHENIA advisory board consists of leading representatives from industry and commerce, as well as renowned scientists. They advise us on the implementation and further development of the CAPHENIA technology platform and maintain a lively exchange with us.
Our team
Dr Mark Misselhorn
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
“For me, CAPHENIA is a perfect example of sustainable development: we focus on avoiding environmental pollution, utilise the existing infrastructure and are developing the foundations for increased prosperity for all people.”
Dr Mark Misselhorn
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Dr Mark Misselhorn, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CAPHENIA, has dedicated his life and work to the topic of alternative fuels. He set up CAPHENIA’s predecessor company, CCP Technology GmbH, back in 2012 and was also its managing director. Under his leadership, CCP Technology concluded cooperation agreements with Lufthansa and other renowned development partners.
After studying Economics in Munich, Misselhorn completed his doctorate at the University of Göttingen. He went on to work as a consultant for the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO and the World Bank.
In 2007, Misselhorn founded his first company, the Maschinenwerk Misselhorn MWM GmbH. He succeeded in acquiring investments of one million euros for his start-up. Misselhorn also won the 2010 Munich Business Plan Competition. In 2012, he sold his company shares and began devoting his work to CCP Technology GmbH. Thanks to his efforts, investors invested a total of around eight million euros in the development of the technology for recycling CO2.
In 2018, Misselhorn founded CAPHENIA GmbH, together with the majority of CCP shareholders. With it, he and his partners are continuing the successful work of CCP.
Dr Andreas Waibel
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
“I first learnt about CAPHENIA’s technology back in 2012 and it hasn’t released its hold on me ever since. I am convinced that this process will allow us to make a significant contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions across the globe.”
Dr Andreas Waibel
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Dr Andreas Waibel is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at CAPHENIA. He was in charge of the development of CAPHENIA technology at Lufthansa and holds a doctorate in Atmospheric Research. Waibel has been combining his passion for flying with research work on the environmental impact of aviation since early on in his career.
Waibel studied Physics in Freiburg, Edinburgh and Heidelberg. In 1993, he graduated from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics as part of a research group on Atmospheric Physics. He went on to research the mechanisms of ozone depletion in the northern hemisphere at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz together with Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen. In 1997, he received a doctorate for his work.
In 1998, after completing his doctorate, Waibel began his career with Lufthansa, where he helped shape the group’s environmental concepts as a consultant. In 2007, he began working intensively with alternative fuels. He first came into contact with the CAPHENIA process in 2012. Waibel was immediately convinced by the process, as it provided a way to free Lufthansa from its dependence on oil.
After Lufthansa’s withdrawal from the project, Waibel decided to continue along the path of alternative fuels. In 2019, he moved to CAPHENIA as Chief Technology Officer.
Christian Freese
Technology & Analysis
“The CAPHENIA process is available in short time and will have a substantial impact on CO2 emissions. Environmental protection can be affordable and profitable.”
Christian Freese
Technology & Analysis
Christian Freese is in charge of the worldwide patents owned by CAPHENIA and CCP Technology. His interdisciplinary approach involves engineering, law and economics.
After graduating from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as a mechanical engineer, Freese founded an engineering firm. Later, 2003 Freese has founded a water sports facility which he sold to an investor in 2007. Freese is expert in heavy machinery, material science and process engineering.
Freese is closely connected to CAPHENIA GmbH and its predecessor CCP Technology since 2013.
Dominique N. A. Barbier
Forward Thinking
“Technology instead of ideology: electromobility, hydrogen or renewable fuels – different perspectives will open up growth opportunities and development potential in CO2 reduction. My credo: forward thinking.”
Dominique N. A. Barbier
Forward Thinking
Dominique N. A. Barbier brings extensive know-how from the media industry, HR consulting and as an entrepreneur. He has excellent contacts and networks.
After completing his studies in electrical engineering, Dominique Barbier began working for the Munich-based ProSieben Group in 1994. From 1999, Barbier worked for other broadcasters and international companies. His concepts, trailers and spots helped countless projects to success. In 2006 he receives the lectureship at the HFF Munich and in 2007 at the Bavarian Academy for Television. From 2011 - 2017 he takes over the management at CB & Partner in Munich. Barbier has been involved with sustainability since 1998 and gained experience as an investor in wind energy.
Barbier is a shareholder of CAPHENIA since February 2019.
Our shareholders
Prof. Dr Christoph Franz
CAPHENIA investor
“I want to help manage the transition to new fuels. CAPHENIA’s ground-breaking technology can do just that. I was already convinced of this as CEO of Lufthansa. That is why I have invested in CAPHENIA and am actively involved as a shareholder.”
Prof. Dr Christoph Franz
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the Roche board,
Ex-CEO of Lufthansa AG
Prof. Dr. Christoph Franz, CAPHENIA investor, is chair of the board of directors at Roche Holding AG, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. He also held the role of chair of the executive board at Deutsche Lufthansa AG until 2014.
In 1990, Franz completed his studies in Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Darmstadt including a doctorate. He then began his career at Lufthansa, where he worked in strategic group planning, amongst other things. In 1994, Franz moved to Deutsche Bahn AG, where he was appointed chair of the management board at DB Reise & Touristik AG and DB Regio AG in 1999. He was also a member of the Deutsche Bahn Group board of management for passenger transport.
In 2004, Franz returned to aviation and became CEO of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. After a successful restructuring and sale to the Lufthansa Group, he was appointed deputy chair of the executive board at Lufthansa in 2009 and took over the Passenger Division. In 2011, he succeeded Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber. In 2014, Franz was elected chair of the board of directors at the Swiss company Roche Holding AG.
Franz has been a shareholder and investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Simone Menne
CAPHENIA investor
“There are many ways to combat climate change. I am particularly convinced by CAPHENIA’s technology because it makes a substantial contribution to reducing carbon emissions and is also economical.”
Simone Menne
CAPHENIA investor, former CFO at Lufthansa AG and Boehringer Ingelheim, member of the supervisory boards for the BMW Group and Deutsche Post DHL Group
Simone Menne, CAPHENIA investor, is a member of the supervisory boards at BMW, Deutsche Post, Johnson Controls International and Springer Nature. She also sits on the audit committee of the latter three companies. Prior to that, Menne worked for Lufthansa for 27 years, most recently as Chief Financial Officer.
After studying Business Administration at the Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel, Menne began her career at ITT Corporation in the internal audit department. From there she moved to Lufthansa, where she took over the management of finance and accounting after various stays abroad at Lufthansa Technik AG.
Subsequently she worked as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at British Midland plc in England. Following the successful sale of the airline to the International Airline Group, Menne was appointed CFO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. She then went on to become CFO at Boehringer Ingelheim.
Menne has been involved with CAPHENIA since 2018. She has held a stake in CCP Technology GmbH, CAPHENIA’s predecessor company, since 2017.
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board
“As a global citizen, I believe in the value of personal encounters between people across borders and I feel obligated to contribute to this. CAPHENIA is the option I have chosen to make sustainable future mobility a reality.”
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board,
Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Kay Kratky, CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board, is also a member of the SAS and Klagenfurt Airport supervisory boards. Furthermore, he advises the EU Commission on mobility issues, runs his own company, Kay Kratky Global Consult, and is involved with aireg e. V. Kratky can look back on decades of experience in the aviation industry, most recently as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Austrian Airlines.
After studying Mechanical Engineering in Darmstadt, Kratky began his career as a pilot with Lufthansa in 1979. From 1996 he flew for Lufthansa Cargo, where he also took on a management role. After thousands of miles in the cockpit, Kratky moved completely to the management sector in 2008 and became CEO of the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo International Ltd. From 2011, he was Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the Lufthansa Group and CEO of Hub FRA. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of Austrian Airlines, where he remained until 2018.
Kratky has been engaged as entrepreneur and financier in the area of synthetic fuels since 2012. At CAPHENIA, he has been active since its foundation in 2018. Moreover, Kratky is co-founder of Cargo Human Care, a humanitarian aid organization.
Peter Gerber
CAPHENIA investor
“Every generation has its challenges. Avoiding carbon emissions is without doubt ours. CAPHENIA’s technology is ground-breaking in this respect: carbon dioxide is turned into a usable commodity on an industrial scale through recycling.”
Peter Gerber
CAPHENIA investor, CEO Brussels Airlines
Peter Gerber, CAPHENIA investor, is CEO of Brussels Airlines.
From 1983, Gerber studied Law and Business Administration in Gießen and Hagen. In addition, he completed a senior executive program at Columbia University in New York in 2008.
In 1992, he began his career with Lufthansa, where he held various positions. From 2001 to 2004, he took over responsibility for the group-wide “D-Check” earnings assurance programme. He was also responsible for strategic group development. From 2004 to 2009, Gerber was in charge of Lufthansa’s collective bargaining policy and social security, before being appointed to the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo AG in June 2009. There he was responsible for Finance and Human Resources. In June 2012, Gerber moved to the executive board of Lufthansa Passage Airlines, where he was responsible for Human Resources, IT & Services. In May 2014, he returned to Lufthansa Cargo AG’s executive board as chairman. On March 1, 2021, Peter Gerber took over the management of Brussels Airlines.
In addition to his work at Lufthansa Cargo, Gerber is chair of the supervisory board of Albatros, member of the supervisory board of Fraport AG, member of the executive board of Bundesvereinigung Logistik e. V. (BVL), member of the executive board of the Federal Association of German Airlines e. V. (BDF), member of the executive board of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Luftverkehrswirtschaft e. V. (BDL) and chair of the IATA Cargo Committee.
Gerber has been an active investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Dr Roland Busch
CAPHENIA investor
“I am inspired by our obligation to leave an intact mother earth for our children. That is why I am committed to CAPHENIA because I see one of the few currently available options for balancing sustainability and economic efficiency.”
Dr Roland Busch
CAPHENIA investor, chair of the supervisory board of Delvag Versicherungs-AG and chair of the board of directors of Yonder AG in Switzerland
Dr Roland Busch, is a CAPHENIA investor and chair of the supervisory board of Delvag Versicherungs-AG and chair of the board of directors of Yonder AG in Switzerland. In addition, Busch sits on the supervisory boards of the SML Solutions Group and several Lufthansa subsidiaries, namely: Lufthansa Service Holding AG, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Leasing GmbH. Busch is also a member of the board of directors of Swiss Global Air Lines Ltd. and Lufthansa Pension Trust e. V. He is also a member of the investment board at Lufthansa Malta Pension Holding Ltd.
Busch studied Business Administration in Münster until 1987 and then completed his doctorate in Osnabrück. In 1991, he joined Lufthansa as a management trainee. Until 2018, he held various positions in the group, including Head of Corporate Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Airlines, and Chief Financial Officer at Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. He served as Executive Vice President Finance at Deutsche Lufthansa AG until 2018.
Busch has been an investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Dr Peter Malanik
CAPHENIA investor
“As a passionate aviation executive, I want to live in a world where we can still fly in the future. At the same time, I want to leave the world in a good state for my son. Both these things are possible thanks to CAPHENIA.”
Dr Peter Malanik
CAPHENIA investor, President of the Austrian Aviation Association and Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Dr Peter Malanik, CAPHENIA investor, is president of the Austrian Aviation Association and chair of the Klagenfurt Airport supervisory board. Malanik has almost 30 years of management experience in aviation, including as CEO of Austria Airlines.
Malanik completed his Law degree in Vienna in 1984 with a doctorate. For most of his professional career to date, Malanik has held various management positions at Austrian Airlines – for example, as Executive Vice President for Global HR, Secretary General, member of the board/Chief Operation Officer (COO) and most recently as Joint Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
After leaving Austrian Airlines, Malanik became a shareholder of Neumann & Partner. As Senior Client Partner of Korn Ferry, he advised numerous supervisory boards from blue chip companies in Austria from 2016 to 2019. He has been president of the Austrian Aviation Association since 2018.
Malanik has been a shareholder in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Our advisory board
Prof. Dr Manfred Aigner
CAPHENIA advisory board
“In addition to its many benefits, the CAPHENIA process also has a very good potential for upscaling, as the decisive reactions do not take place on a two-dimensional surface, but rather in three-dimensional space in a turbulent flow reactor. This helps to significantly reduce fuel costs compared to other technology routes.”
Prof. Dr Manfred Aigner
CAPHENIA advisory board
Prof. Dr Manfred Aigner is Head of Institute at the Institute of Combustion Technology at the German Aerospace Center / Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). Aigner develops together with around 100 researchers different concepts for the combustion engine of the future. Its combustion processes are expected to be more reliable, more efficient and more sustainable.
A further research focus lies in the development of synthetic fuels.
Furthermore, Aigner acts as president for science and research at the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (aireg e. V.).
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board
“As a global citizen, I believe in the value of personal encounters between people across borders and I feel obligated to contribute to this. CAPHENIA is the option I have chosen to make sustainable future mobility a reality.”
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board,
Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Kay Kratky, CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board, is also a member of the SAS and Klagenfurt Airport supervisory boards. Furthermore, he advises the EU Commission on mobility issues, runs his own company, Kay Kratky Global Consult, and is involved with aireg e. V. Kratky can look back on decades of experience in the aviation industry, most recently as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Austrian Airlines.
After studying Mechanical Engineering in Darmstadt, Kratky began his career as a pilot with Lufthansa in 1979. From 1996 he flew for Lufthansa Cargo, where he also took on a management role. After thousands of miles in the cockpit, Kratky moved completely to the management sector in 2008 and became CEO of the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo International Ltd. From 2011, he was Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the Lufthansa Group and CEO of Hub FRA. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of Austrian Airlines, where he remained until 2018.
Kratky has been engaged as entrepreneur and financier in the area of synthetic fuels since 2012. At CAPHENIA, he has been active since its foundation in 2018. Moreover, Kratky is co-founder of Cargo Human Care, a humanitarian aid organization.
Prof. Dr Sabina Jeschke
CAPHENIA advisory board
“At the end of the day, it’s all about carbon-neutral mobility. CAPHENIA represents a promising option for minimising carbon emissions on the road, on rail and in the air. The patented ‘zone reactor’ approach is an outstanding technological innovation and has the potential to put ‘ecological technologies made in Germany’ on the global map.”
Prof. Dr Sabina Jeschke
CAPHENIA advisory board
Prof. Dr. Sabina Jeschke is a member of the board of management at Deutsche Bahn, where she is responsible for “Digitisation and Technology”. She is also chair of the supervisory boards at DB Systel GmbH, DB FZI GmbH and DB Systemtechnik GmbH, and a member of the supervisory boards at Körber AG and Schenker AG.
After studying Physics, Computer Science and Mathematics and obtaining her doctorate at the TU Berlin, as well as research stays in the USA, Jeschke was appointed Junior Professor for New Media at the TU Berlin in 2005. In 2007, she took up a full professorship in Electrical Engineering at the Institute for IT Service Technologies at the University of Stuttgart. In 2009, she was appointed to the RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. She was director of the Cybernetics Lab here until 2017.
In 2017, Sabina Jeschke supported the establishment of the think tank “Strong artificial intelligence” at Volvo Cars in Gothenburg. Other guest professorships that she has held include HKUST in Hong Kong (2014) and SUTD in Singapore (2016).
In 2014, Jeschke received the “Germany’s Digital Minds” award from the Society for Computer Science, and, in 2015, the Nikola Tesla Medal from the International Society for Engineering Education. She works with the Federal Government on their High-Tech Strategy, the BNVI scientific advisory board, the AKK economic advisory board, the Innovation Council of the Minister of State for Digitisation, the Digital Circle of the Federal Environment Ministry and the Digital Council of the BDA. She is also senator of the Helmholtz Association.
Our team
Dr Mark Misselhorn
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Dr Mark Misselhorn, founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of CAPHENIA, has dedicated his life and work to the topic of alternative fuels. He set up CAPHENIA’s predecessor company, CCP Technology GmbH, back in 2012 and was also its managing director. Under his leadership, CCP Technology concluded cooperation agreements with Lufthansa and other renowned development partners.
After studying Economics in Munich, Misselhorn completed his doctorate at the University of Göttingen. He went on to work as a consultant for the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO and the World Bank.
In 2007, Misselhorn founded his first company, the Maschinenwerk Misselhorn MWM GmbH. He succeeded in acquiring investments of one million euros for his start-up. Misselhorn also won the 2010 Munich Business Plan Competition. In 2012, he sold his company shares and began devoting his work to CCP Technology GmbH. Thanks to his efforts, investors invested a total of around eight million euros in the development of the technology for recycling CO2.
In 2018, Misselhorn founded CAPHENIA GmbH, together with the majority of CCP shareholders. With it, he and his partners are continuing the successful work of CCP.
Dr Andreas Waibel
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Dr Andreas Waibel is Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at CAPHENIA. He was in charge of the development of CAPHENIA technology at Lufthansa and holds a doctorate in Atmospheric Research. Waibel has been combining his passion for flying with research work on the environmental impact of aviation since early on in his career.
Waibel studied Physics in Freiburg, Edinburgh and Heidelberg. In 1993, he graduated from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics as part of a research group on Atmospheric Physics. He went on to research the mechanisms of ozone depletion in the northern hemisphere at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz together with Nobel Prize winner Paul Crutzen. In 1997, he received a doctorate for his work.
In 1998, after completing his doctorate, Waibel began his career with Lufthansa, where he helped shape the group’s environmental concepts as a consultant. In 2007, he began working intensively with alternative fuels. He first came into contact with the CAPHENIA process in 2012. Waibel was immediately convinced by the process, as it provided a way to free Lufthansa from its dependence on oil.
After Lufthansa’s withdrawal from the project, Waibel decided to continue along the path of alternative fuels. In 2019, he moved to CAPHENIA as Chief Technology Officer.
Christian Freese
Technology & Analysis
Christian Freese is in charge of the worldwide patents owned by CAPHENIA and CCP Technology. His interdisciplinary approach involves engineering, law and economics.
After graduating from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as a mechanical engineer, Freese founded an engineering firm. Later, 2003 Freese has founded a water sports facility which he sold to an investor in 2007. Freese is expert in heavy machinery, material science and process engineering.
Freese is closely connected to CAPHENIA GmbH and its predecessor CCP Technology since 2013.
Dominique N. A. Barbier
Forward Thinking
Dominique N. A. Barbier brings extensive know-how from the media industry, HR consulting and as an entrepreneur. He has excellent contacts and networks.
After completing his studies in electrical engineering, Dominique Barbier began working for the Munich-based ProSieben Group in 1994. From 1999, Barbier worked for other broadcasters and international companies. His concepts, trailers and spots helped countless projects to success. In 2006 he receives the lectureship at the HFF Munich and in 2007 at the Bavarian Academy for Television. From 2011 - 2017 he takes over the management at CB & Partner in Munich. Barbier has been involved with sustainability since 1998 and gained experience as an investor in wind energy.
Barbier is a shareholder of CAPHENIA since February 2019.
Our shareholders
Prof. Dr Christoph Franz
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the Roche board,
Ex-CEO of Lufthansa AG
Prof. Dr. Christoph Franz, CAPHENIA investor, is chair of the board of directors at Roche Holding AG, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. He also held the role of chair of the executive board at Deutsche Lufthansa AG until 2014.
In 1990, Franz completed his studies in Industrial Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Darmstadt including a doctorate. He then began his career at Lufthansa, where he worked in strategic group planning, amongst other things. In 1994, Franz moved to Deutsche Bahn AG, where he was appointed chair of the management board at DB Reise & Touristik AG and DB Regio AG in 1999. He was also a member of the Deutsche Bahn Group board of management for passenger transport.
In 2004, Franz returned to aviation and became CEO of Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. After a successful restructuring and sale to the Lufthansa Group, he was appointed deputy chair of the executive board at Lufthansa in 2009 and took over the Passenger Division. In 2011, he succeeded Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber. In 2014, Franz was elected chair of the board of directors at the Swiss company Roche Holding AG.
Franz has been a shareholder and investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Simone Menne
CAPHENIA investor, former CFO at Lufthansa AG and Boehringer Ingelheim, member of the supervisory boards for the BMW Group and Deutsche Post DHL Group
Simone Menne, CAPHENIA investor, is a member of the supervisory boards at BMW, Deutsche Post, Johnson Controls International and Springer Nature. She also sits on the audit committee of the latter three companies. Prior to that, Menne worked for Lufthansa for 27 years, most recently as Chief Financial Officer.
After studying Business Administration at the Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel, Menne began her career at ITT Corporation in the internal audit department. From there she moved to Lufthansa, where she took over the management of finance and accounting after various stays abroad at Lufthansa Technik AG.
Subsequently she worked as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at British Midland plc in England. Following the successful sale of the airline to the International Airline Group, Menne was appointed CFO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. She then went on to become CFO at Boehringer Ingelheim.
Menne has been involved with CAPHENIA since 2018. She has held a stake in CCP Technology GmbH, CAPHENIA’s predecessor company, since 2017.
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board,
Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Kay Kratky, CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board, is also a member of the SAS and Klagenfurt Airport supervisory boards. Furthermore, he advises the EU Commission on mobility issues, runs his own company, Kay Kratky Global Consult, and is involved with aireg e. V. Kratky can look back on decades of experience in the aviation industry, most recently as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Austrian Airlines.
After studying Mechanical Engineering in Darmstadt, Kratky began his career as a pilot with Lufthansa in 1979. From 1996 he flew for Lufthansa Cargo, where he also took on a management role. After thousands of miles in the cockpit, Kratky moved completely to the management sector in 2008 and became CEO of the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo International Ltd. From 2011, he was Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the Lufthansa Group and CEO of Hub FRA. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of Austrian Airlines, where he remained until 2018.
Kratky has been engaged as entrepreneur and financier in the area of synthetic fuels since 2012. At CAPHENIA, he has been active since its foundation in 2018. Moreover, Kratky is co-founder of Cargo Human Care, a humanitarian aid organization.
Peter Gerber
CAPHENIA investor, CEO Brussels Airlines
Peter Gerber, CAPHENIA investor, is CEO of Brussels Airlines.
From 1983, Gerber studied Law and Business Administration in Gießen and Hagen. In addition, he completed a senior executive program at Columbia University in New York in 2008.
In 1992, he began his career with Lufthansa, where he held various positions. From 2001 to 2004, he took over responsibility for the group-wide “D-Check” earnings assurance programme. He was also responsible for strategic group development. From 2004 to 2009, Gerber was in charge of Lufthansa’s collective bargaining policy and social security, before being appointed to the executive board of Lufthansa Cargo AG in June 2009. There he was responsible for Finance and Human Resources. In June 2012, Gerber moved to the executive board of Lufthansa Passage Airlines, where he was responsible for Human Resources, IT & Services. In May 2014, he returned to Lufthansa Cargo AG’s executive board as chairman. On March 1, 2021, Peter Gerber took over the management of Brussels Airlines.
In addition to his work at Lufthansa Cargo, Gerber is chair of the supervisory board of Albatros, member of the supervisory board of Fraport AG, member of the executive board of Bundesvereinigung Logistik e. V. (BVL), member of the executive board of the Federal Association of German Airlines e. V. (BDF), member of the executive board of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Luftverkehrswirtschaft e. V. (BDL) and chair of the IATA Cargo Committee.
Gerber has been an active investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Dr Roland Busch
CAPHENIA investor, chair of the supervisory board of Delvag Versicherungs-AG and chair of the board of directors of Yonder AG in Switzerland
Dr Roland Busch, is a CAPHENIA investor and chair of the supervisory board of Delvag Versicherungs-AG and chair of the board of directors of Yonder AG in Switzerland. In addition, Busch sits on the supervisory boards of the SML Solutions Group and several Lufthansa subsidiaries, namely: Lufthansa Service Holding AG, Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Leasing GmbH. Busch is also a member of the board of directors of Swiss Global Air Lines Ltd. and Lufthansa Pension Trust e. V. He is also a member of the investment board at Lufthansa Malta Pension Holding Ltd.
Busch studied Business Administration in Münster until 1987 and then completed his doctorate in Osnabrück. In 1991, he joined Lufthansa as a management trainee. Until 2018, he held various positions in the group, including Head of Corporate Finance, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lufthansa Cargo and Lufthansa Airlines, and Chief Financial Officer at Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. He served as Executive Vice President Finance at Deutsche Lufthansa AG until 2018.
Busch has been an investor in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Dr Peter Malanik
CAPHENIA investor, President of the Austrian Aviation Association and Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Dr Peter Malanik, CAPHENIA investor, is president of the Austrian Aviation Association and chair of the Klagenfurt Airport supervisory board. Malanik has almost 30 years of management experience in aviation, including as CEO of Austria Airlines.
Malanik completed his Law degree in Vienna in 1984 with a doctorate. For most of his professional career to date, Malanik has held various management positions at Austrian Airlines – for example, as Executive Vice President for Global HR, Secretary General, member of the board/Chief Operation Officer (COO) and most recently as Joint Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
After leaving Austrian Airlines, Malanik became a shareholder of Neumann & Partner. As Senior Client Partner of Korn Ferry, he advised numerous supervisory boards from blue chip companies in Austria from 2016 to 2019. He has been president of the Austrian Aviation Association since 2018.
Malanik has been a shareholder in CAPHENIA since 2018.
Our advisory board
Prof. Dr Manfred Aigner
CAPHENIA advisory board
Prof. Dr Manfred Aigner is Head of Institute at the Institute of Combustion Technology at the German Aerospace Center / Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR). Aigner develops together with around 100 researchers different concepts for the combustion engine of the future. Its combustion processes are expected to be more reliable, more efficient and more sustainable.
A further research focus lies in the development of synthetic fuels.
Furthermore, Aigner acts as president for science and research at the Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy in Germany (aireg e. V.).
Kay Kratky
CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board,
Ex-CEO of Austrian Airlines
Kay Kratky, CAPHENIA investor and chair of the advisory board, is also a member of the SAS and Klagenfurt Airport supervisory boards. Furthermore, he advises the EU Commission on mobility issues, runs his own company, Kay Kratky Global Consult, and is involved with aireg e. V. Kratky can look back on decades of experience in the aviation industry, most recently as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Austrian Airlines.
After studying Mechanical Engineering in Darmstadt, Kratky began his career as a pilot with Lufthansa in 1979. From 1996 he flew for Lufthansa Cargo, where he also took on a management role. After thousands of miles in the cockpit, Kratky moved completely to the management sector in 2008 and became CEO of the Chinese cargo airline Jade Cargo International Ltd. From 2011, he was Chief Operation Officer (COO) of the Lufthansa Group and CEO of Hub FRA. In 2015, he was appointed CEO of Austrian Airlines, where he remained until 2018.
Kratky has been engaged as entrepreneur and financier in the area of synthetic fuels since 2012. At CAPHENIA, he has been active since its foundation in 2018. Moreover, Kratky is co-founder of Cargo Human Care, a humanitarian aid organization.
Prof. Dr Sabina Jeschke
CAPHENIA advisory board
Prof. Dr. Sabina Jeschke is a member of the board of management at Deutsche Bahn, where she is responsible for “Digitisation and Technology”. She is also chair of the supervisory boards at DB Systel GmbH, DB FZI GmbH and DB Systemtechnik GmbH, and a member of the supervisory boards at Körber AG and Schenker AG.
After studying Physics, Computer Science and Mathematics and obtaining her doctorate at the TU Berlin, as well as research stays in the USA, Jeschke was appointed Junior Professor for New Media at the TU Berlin in 2005. In 2007, she took up a full professorship in Electrical Engineering at the Institute for IT Service Technologies at the University of Stuttgart. In 2009, she was appointed to the RWTH Aachen University, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. She was director of the Cybernetics Lab here until 2017.
In 2017, Sabina Jeschke supported the establishment of the think tank “Strong artificial intelligence” at Volvo Cars in Gothenburg. Other guest professorships that she has held include HKUST in Hong Kong (2014) and SUTD in Singapore (2016).
In 2014, Jeschke received the “Germany’s Digital Minds” award from the Society for Computer Science, and, in 2015, the Nikola Tesla Medal from the International Society for Engineering Education. She works with the Federal Government on their High-Tech Strategy, the BNVI scientific advisory board, the AKK economic advisory board, the Innovation Council of the Minister of State for Digitisation, the Digital Circle of the Federal Environment Ministry and the Digital Council of the BDA. She is also senator of the Helmholtz Association.
Sustainable
Affordable
Scalable
Our partners
Our work in constructing the world´s first Power-and-Biogas-to-Liquid plant
is supported by a number of renowned partners.
The history of CAPHENIA
Our name
CAPHENIA is derived from the phrase “CARBON PHOENIX arising from the ASHES”. In the mythology of numerous peoples, the phoenix burns at the end of its life in order to emerge again from its ashes.
The process of passing away and arising can also be found in CAPHENIA: Fuels burn and become carbon dioxide. We produce new synthetic fuels from the CO2. CAPHENIA thus stands for the sustainable cycle of new energy and new life.
2011
The beginnings
The pre-development phase of the CAPHENIA process began under the umbrella of CCP Technology GmbH, which was founded by Dr Mark Misselhorn.
2012
Cooperation with Lufthansa
In 2012, Lufthansa AG signed a cooperation agreement with CCP Technology GmbH to develop the new technology.
- Comprehensive feasibility study of the new technology
- Development of plasma technology – a key component of the approach – under the leadership of Prof. Dr Laurent Fulcheri from MINES ParisTech
- Acquisition of developed and tested plasma technology from Norwegian technology group Kvaerner
- Numerical reactor simulations by TU Munich and ETH Zurich
- Development of an expert network of well-known companies and partners
- Completion of the basic process design, basic engineering and detailed engineering of a test reactor by MAN Diesel & Turbo
- HAZOP safety study conducted by TÜV Süd
2018
The foundation
At the end of 2017, Lufthansa AG withdrew from the technology project due to a change in management and strategy. Dr Mark Misselhorn then founds CAPHENIA GmbH as the successor company of CCP Technology – together with the majority of the CCP shareholders, including Kay Kratky (ex-CEO Austrian Airlines), Simone Menne (ex-CFO Lufthansa AG) Peter Gerber (CEO Lufthansa Cargo) and other private individuals from the project environment.
- Acquisition of the patent and trademark portfolio, as well as preparatory work from CCP Technology
New investors come on board
A number of new investors join CAPHENIA, including the former CEO of Lufthansa, Prof. Dr Christoph Franz, the former CFO of Swiss, Dr Roland Busch, and the President of the Austrian Aviation Association, Dr Peter Malanik.
The presence
A team of skilled and passionate people make up the core of CAPHENIA and are supported in their work by a number of renowned experts and strong partners.
- The private investment amounts to more than 10 million euros
- Currently, more than 150 patents and another 70 patent applications in all relevant market regions protect different aspects of the CAPHENIA process
Become part of the CAPHENIA team
Help us develop the fuel of the future. CAPHENIA is a start-up company committed to carbon-neutral mobility. To this end, we are developing a revolutionary process for producing synthetic renewable fuels.
What we expect
- A passion for energy system transformation and climate protection
- An interest in synthetic fuels
- Professional expertise
- English language skills
- Independent work and commitment
What we offer
- A highly motivated, inspiring and agile team (with many years of management experience)
- An exciting field: sustainable aviation, synthetic fuels, energy system transformation and climate protection
- Flexible working hours and locations: Frankfurt/HOLM (start-up incubator/House of Logistics & Mobility), remote working may be possible in some cases
