Our Team

Limestone Capital comprises a strong team of investment partners, professionals and advisors who have a deep and vast experience in creating value for clients. Having sourced, diligenced and closed over $10bn of investment deals, the team has a proven track record in deal execution and company development. As respected corporate leaders, advisors and Dax 30 board members they bring decades of experience to our clients and investment funds.

Benjamin Habbel

CO-FOUNDER & CEO

Benjamin Habbel is the Founder and CEO of Limestone Capital, a global investment firm specializing in hospitality and lifestyle assets. Since founding Limestone, Benjamin has been involved in all aspects of the firm’s development, overseeing its portfolio of branded platforms, including Aethos Hotels. Under his leadership, Limestone has expanded into key international markets, creating innovative concepts that deliver exceptional guest experiences and strong investor returns.

Before founding Limestone, Benjamin held leadership roles at Google, where he focused on scaling Android and Google Maps, and at Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, where he contributed to operational and strategic initiatives in the hospitality sector as a Board advisor. He also co-founded Voyat, a travel-tech platform that transformed direct bookings for hotels, which was acquired by Intent Media in 2015.

In addition to his responsibilities at Limestone, Benjamin serves on the boards of portfolio companies Emerald Stay, Myne Homes, and other ventures, where he provides strategic guidance on growth and operations. His career reflects a deep expertise in combining innovation, operational excellence, and long-term value creation, positioning Limestone as a leader in the evolving hospitality investment landscape.

Jeff Coe

GENERAL PARTNER & CO-FOUNDER

As a Founding General Partner Jeff leads a team of acquisition and development professionals and is in charge of the real estate assets of Limestone’s international fund portfolio. He is also the co-founder of Aethos Hotels, Limestone’s first brand incubation, where he played an instrumental role in creating a next generation, tech-enabled luxury brand. Jeff also spearheaded the international expansion of the brand into Spain, Portugal, France and Italy and successfully oversaw the transformation and refurbishment of such iconic hotel openings as Aethos Ericeira and Aethos Mallorca.

Previously he operated as a pan European Angel Investor focused on the hospitality sector. As an investor Jeff was involved in the successful exit of Voyat Inc and the most recent IPO of Nustay.com, a booking platform for hotels. Jeff is an experienced operator having floated his first company himself in Australia and having built highly talented teams in various high growth technology companies across Europe.

Sebastian Angel

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Sebastian is an Investment Manager at Limestone Capital and focuses on acquisition, analysis and asset management in Souther Europe. Sebastian graduated from the International Master of Finance at Nova SBE and has years of multisector Investment banking and corporate finance experience for the Iberoamerican region.

Grazi Painelli

MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACQUISITIONS

Grazi is a Managing Director at Limestone Capital and leads Acquisitions for The firm and it’s investment funds. Prior to Limestone, Grazi was a partner at a boutique investment firm in Brazil with the responsibility to structure the funding strategy for its clients with a portfolio of €100m/year in funding. She has also developed a knowledge in the European retail market as person responsible for the EU credit risk management for Bose Corporation. Grazi has a master degree in Economics from Lisbon University and attended the Managerial Finance course at Harvard Extension School.

Matthew Zych

Vice President, Development

Matthew serves as the head of Development at Limestone. He oversees all capital projects across Europe, from asset acquisition to operator handover. With a background spanning architecture, construction, and management, Matthew’s drives value creation across Limestone’s portfolio by blending technical acumen and capital investment strategy. Prior to Limestone, he held senior management positions at top design studios and construction companies in the United States and Switzerland. He holds a masters diploma from Yale University, is a chartered architect, and has led development projects in over ten countries.

Fredrik Olssen

Vice President, Finance

Fredrik oversees financial analysis, reporting and performance of Limestone Capital AG. He has extensive experience and a proven track record from capital markets and setting up and managing finance organisations in various industries. Fredrik served previously as the CFO of a publicly listed investment company in Switzerland.

Christophe Thomas

Chief Operating Officer, Aethos

Christophe is Chief Operating Officer at Aethos Hotels, driving the strategic direction and operational excellence of the Aethos Hotels brand.

With a wealth of international experience, Christophe held key leadership roles with major hotel groups in the luxury space. Christope served as General Manager of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. Most recently, Christophe curated experiential travel adventures around the world after serving as the General Manager of Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris. Christophe also coordinated the openings of several properties in South America or boutique hotels such as the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City. Christophe is a graduate from the Hotel Management School of Strasbourg, France.

Zach Bayman

Portfolio Manager

Zach oversees Limestone's expansion to unique properties in high-growth markets outside of Europe. Zach is a lifelong hotelier. He worked with André Balazs and The Standard, first on the opening team of The Standard in Manhattan's Meatpacking District before becoming Balazs' SVP of Development. He oversaw operations across Balazs' portfolio, including Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles and Chiltern Firehouse in London. Zach has worked on hotel developments globally, from Los Angeles to Bangkok to Venice. In 2020, he opened the award-winning Maker Hotel in Hudson, New York. He holds an MBA from Columbia University. Zach lives in New York.

Markus Habbel

BOARD MEMBER

Dr. Markus Habbel is a partner in Bain & Company’s Zurich office. A proven expert in Financial Services, he leads the global wealth & asset management sector and helps shape the CFO agenda of his banking clients. Markus has more than 25 years of international banking and management consulting experience. Prior to joining us, he served as both CFO of Global Wealth Management and EMEA CFO of UBS Group.

Lorin Van Nuland

BOARD MEMBER

Lorin is the CEO of 029 Group, a lifestyle company listed on the German Stock Exchange. He is also a principal at Apeiron Investment Group, where we focuses on company incubation and building across biotech & deep tech. Prior to joining Apeiron, he was general partner at a seed fund, co-founded an events business in NYC and spent more than 10 years at top-tier Wall Street law firms. NYU graduate in business & law.

Christian Angermayer

Founding LP and Partner

Christian co-founded Coreo Real Estate, listed on German stock index (CORE). He also co-founded Ribopharma ($10bn+ market cap). Christian is currently CEO and Founder of his single family office Apeiron with €1.5B AUM. He is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a member of the Presidential Advisory Council of His Excellency President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and a member of the Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle.

Alexander Schütz