# Jenny von Podewils

> Jenny von Podewils is the co-CEO and co-founder of Leapsome, the people enablement platform she launched in Berlin in 2016 with Kajetan von Armansperg. After bootstrapping the company to roughly $10 million in annual recurring revenue, the pair raised a $60 million Series A in March 2022 led by Insight Partners - their first outside money in six years. Trained at St. Gallen, Oxford, and Singularity University, she relocated from Berlin to New York in early 2023 to scale Leapsome's U.S. business, and was named Female Founder of the Year at the 2023 German Startup Awards.

- **Role:** Co-CEO & Co-Founder at Leapsome
- **Organizations:** Leapsome, Singularity University, DIE ZEIT (Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius), Younicos, First Climate, University of St. Gallen
- **Nationality:** German
- **Education:** Studies / M&A research (Institute of Management), University of St. Gallen, M.Sc., University of Oxford, Global Solutions Program fellowship, Singularity University
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Leapsome to ~140 employees and a global customer base, Bootstrapped the company to roughly $10M ARR before any outside funding, Raised a $60M Series A in 2022 from Insight Partners, Creandum and Visionaries Club

## Career timeline

- **pre-2016** — Researcher on M&A transactions at the Institute of Management, University of St. Gallen
- **pre-2016** — Analyst on CDM (clean development) opportunities in Africa at First Climate
- **pre-2016** — Sales & Business Development Director Europe for large-scale battery storage at Younicos
- **pre-2016** — Advisor to the CEO at DIE ZEIT (Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius)
- **pre-2016** — Global Solutions Program fellow at Singularity University, Silicon Valley
- **2016** — Co-founded Leapsome in Berlin with Kajetan von Armansperg
- **2022** — Raised $60M Series A led by Insight Partners - first outside funding
- **2022** — Opened Leapsome's New York City office to grow the U.S. business
- **2023** — Relocated from Berlin to New York to scale U.S. operations
- **2023** — Named Female Founder of the Year at the German Startup Awards

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Leapsome to ~140 employees and a global customer base
- Bootstrapped the company to roughly $10M ARR before any outside funding
- Raised a $60M Series A in 2022 from Insight Partners, Creandum and Visionaries Club
- Named Female Founder of the Year at the 2023 German Startup Awards
- Led Leapsome's U.S. expansion from a new New York headquarters

## Latest updates

- **2023-01** — Relocated from Berlin to New York to lead Leapsome's U.S. growth.
- **2023-06** — Named Female Founder of the Year at the German Startup Awards.
- **2024-04** — Spoke publicly on reciprocal, cross-generational feedback and AI-backed product enhancements.

## Links

- Website: https://leapsome.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennypodewils/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/leapsome
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/leapsome

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jenny-podewils
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-11