Our Leadership
Meet the Team
From just a handful of staff in our first office in Berlin to the global digital bank we are today, we’re on a mission to change banking for the better.
Building the bank the world loves to use
With a passionate team of 1,500 people of 80 nationalities based across five global offices, N26 is proud to have some of the best minds in the world working towards our vision to reimagine banking as we know it, and disrupt an industry that is ripe for change.
Our Leadership Team
Valentin Stalf, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
Valentin founded N26 in 2013 with his longtime friend Maximilian Tayenthal. Back then, both shared a vision of building a bank that the world loves to use. Today, he is the CEO leading the company that is redesigning banking for the 21st century.
A true entrepreneur at heart, Valentin has always been close to the startup community. Before N26, he was an Entrepreneur in Residence for Rocket Internet, an incubator and investor in online startups. There, he helped to develop several companies in the mobile payments industry, including payleven and Paymill GmbH.
His experience working in strategy consulting and investment banking, along with a passion for solving problems with technology, led him to found N26 and challenge an industry ripe for change.
Valentin has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management and a master’s degree in accounting and finance from the University of St. Gallen. He is also a member of the advisory board at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.
Maximilian Tayenthal, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer
Maximilian Tayenthal is co-founder and CFO of N26. Together with his business partner and friend Valentin Stalf, he has built one of the fastest-growing mobile banks in the world. Their vision is to create a bank that 100 million people around the world love to use, giving people the power to live and bank their way.
Previously, Max worked in a variety of consulting and financial roles at leading professional services firms, including CMS and Booz & Company.
Max holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics and business administration from the University of Vienna. He also has a master’s degree in economics from the Community of European Management Schools, as well as a law degree from the University of Vienna. Max is a CFA charterholder.
While Max is based in Berlin he enjoys skiing in the mountains of Austria and Switzerland.
Georgina Smallwood, Chief Product Officer
Georgie Smallwood is N26’s Chief Product Officer, in charge of defining, leading and implementing the company’s global product strategy.
Georgie joined N26 in 2018, and brings with her over 15 years of experience in global digital and software companies such as Xero, News Ltd and Scout24.
Having led teams at fast-growing companies across the globe, Georgie prides herself for her leadership skills, strategic thinking and operational effectiveness, as well as her ability to lean into the challenges of scaling a global business with a focus on communication and respect.
At N26, she oversees product, portfolio and design divisions, working closely with the CTO and her counterparts in the banking division to build a simple and intuitive banking experience that helps people live and bank their way.
A proud Australian, Georgie holds a degree in the arts from Deakin University, with majors in history and sociology.
Alexander Weber, Chief Growth Officer
Alex joined N26 in 2014 as Entrepreneur in Residence, and is today the longest serving team member after the founders.
He played an instrumental role in obtaining N26’s European banking license in 2016. After that, he assumed the role as Director of International Expansion, where he was in charge of making N26 available across 24 European markets.
In today's role as Chief Growth Officer, Alex is responsible for International Expansion, Marketing and European markets, focused on driving business impact and writing the next chapter of N26’s growth story.
Alex is an entrepreneur at heart, passionate about solving meaningful problems at a global scale. Alex studied at the University of New South Wales in Sydney and the Vienna University of Economics and Business from where he has a degree in international business administration.
Gino Cordt, Chief Technology Officer
As the Chief Technology Officer of N26, Gino oversees the firm’s Data and Technology divisions, with the important responsibility of bringing data and security together while building the digital bank the world loves to use.
With diverse experience in retail, private equity, capital markets and strategy consulting, Gino has always had a passion for data and all things technical.
He joined the company in June 2015 as Head of Data, before becoming Chief Data Officer two years later. He continues to bring a strong focus on data-driven insight and innovation to his role today.
Gino holds a degree in Accounting & Finance (M.A. HSG) from the University of St. Gallen.
Noor van Boven, Chief People Officer
Noor joined N26 as Chief People Officer in 2017, bringing with her over 15 years of experience in international Human Resources, specifically building, scaling and transforming organizations.
In her role, she is responsible for leading N26’s recruitment, talent development, employer branding, internal communications and diversity and inclusion teams.
Before joining N26, Noor was the VP People at SoundCloud; led the Recruiting, Talent and Organizational Development initiatives at TomTom and worked as a HR Business Partner for several international tech companies, including Dell.
Noor is a Dutch native with a passion for travel, and has lived and worked in New York, India and now, Berlin.
Thomas Grosse, Chief Banking Officer
Thomas joined N26 in 2019 as Chief Banking Officer, with the responsibility of overseeing N26’s bank entities and bank partnerships across the globe, as well as leading the group’s banking functions.
Thomas has a wealth of expertise and experience in the space where banking and technology converge. Before joining N26, he was Industry Leader Banking at Google Germany, responsible for partnerships with German banks and fintechs, and closely involved in the market rollout of Google Pay.
Previously, he was a member of the Board at Wüstenrot Group as well as a director at Deutsche Bank for their private and business clients. He started his career as a consultant at McKinsey serving the banking and insurance industry.
Thomas has a degree in business from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
Markus Gunter, CEO N26 Bank
Markus is one of the longest serving employees at N26 after the founders. Having played an instrumental role in helping to secure the firm’s European Banking License, he was appointed CEO of N26 Bank in 2016.
On top of being a key part of N26’s growth journey, Markus also has huge experience in building trust and innovation in banking. He pioneered the first internet platform of the German bank HYPO-BANK AG. As managing director of Activest, later rebranded as Pioneer Investments, he grew the company to one of the top five asset management companies in Germany.
However, it was during his time as CEO of stock exchange-listed DAB Bank AG where Markus realized that mobile banking was set to be a true gamechanger in the global finance industry - the very reason that led him to take on his current role at N26.
Markus studied Business Administration in Germany along with a banking apprenticeship that started him on his journey in the finance industry.
Richard Groeneveld, Managing Director, N26 Bank
Richard joined N26 in April 2019 as Managing Director of N26 Bank, and in his role, is responsible for the functions of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Risk Officer (CRO).
With decades of experience in the banking and FinTech industries, Richard has overseen operations and business processes, IT and digitization initiatives, and led the implementation of regulatory frameworks across multiple locations worldwide.
Prior to N26, he held the position of Chief Financial and Operating Officer at DVB Bank for 15 years, where he was also a member of the Group Audit Committee. Before that, he worked as a CPA and Consultant for KPMG as well as a Senior Advisor for Financial Advisory services at several leading consulting firms.
Richard is a Chartered Accountant and Master of Change, as well as a Board Member and Investor in Start-ups focused on business/process automation and new technologies.
Sarunas Legeckas, General Manager, Greater Europe
Sarunas joined N26 in 2019 as General Manager, Greater Europe, where he is responsible for 18 key markets across Europe, including BeNeLux, the Nordics, the Baltics, the CEE region as well as a number of Southern European markets.
Sarunas brings more than ten years experience in building and expanding growing tech businesses across diverse geographies.
He started his career as a project manager at global engineering leader Fima, before moving to Barclays Bank where he worked as Innovation & Customer Experience project manager for 5 years. He was the Co-Founder and CEO of PlaceILive.com, a platform connecting real estate buyers and sellers, where he was named as one of the TOP100 digital challengers in the CEE region by Google and Financial Times.
Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, he studied Telecommunication Physics and Electronics at Vilnius University and holds an MSc degree in Enterprise Management from the UK’s Newcastle University.