Chrono24 announces management change for 2024

New CEO Carsten Keller to join from Zalando in January.

KARLSRUHE, GERMANY, December 22, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- On December 18th, Chrono24 announced a change in leadership at the top of the company: On January 1, 2024, Carsten Keller will become CEO of the world's leading marketplace for luxury watches. The previous Co-CEOs Tim Stracke and Holger Felgner are thus handing over the baton to a successor with decades of experience in leading digital marketplaces and in strategic management. Over the past eight years, Carsten Keller has been instrumental in building Zalando's marketplace model, which contributes more than five billion euros annually to the platform's external sales*.

In the course of this, Keller founded Connected Retail GmbH within Zalando, which today enables more than 7,500 stationary retailers to connect to online retail. Tim Stracke and Holger Felgner will remain important shareholders and join Chrono24's Advisory Board. Founder Tim Stracke will lead the Advisory Board as Chairman from January.

Over the past 20 years, Chrono24 has developed into the world's leading marketplace for luxury watches and achieved "Unicorn" status** with the 2021 financing round. 35,000 private and professional sellers now offer over 530,000 luxury watches to more than nine million monthly active users from all over the world. Chrono24 is financed by renowned investors such as General Atlantic, Insight Partners, Sprints Capital, Bernard Arnault's Aglaé Ventures and soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo.

Founder and Co-CEO Tim Stracke is convinced that Chrono24 will continue to grow dynamically in the future: "Even though the decision was not easy, Holger and I always knew that we had to find a successor to lead Chrono24 into the next growth phase. Carsten's expertise in the luxury industry and his experience of running one of the largest online marketplaces in Europe as part of the management team of a DAX-listed company make him the ideal candidate for Chrono24's next chapter."

"The Advisory Board is deeply indebted to Tim and Holger for their outstanding leadership, which has been critical to Chrono24's success," said Deven Parekh, Managing Partner at Insight Partners and investor in Chrono24. "Carsten is undoubtedly the perfect successor to follow in their footsteps. He is an experienced leader, a great fit for the company culture, has a clear vision and a special ability to bring people together behind it. His perspective on the global future of the luxury industry is exactly what Chrono24 needs to inspire even more customers around the world through further product innovation."

Carsten Keller, who before joining Zalando spent more than ten years in management positions in the fashion & luxury goods sector at the management consultancy McKinsey, is looking forward to his new role as CEO: "Over the past two decades, Chrono24 has revolutionized the luxury watch market. Under the leadership of Tim and Holger, a true global market leader has emerged. I am honored to lead this global champion into a successful future. With Chrono24's unique global positioning and momentum in the secondary market for luxury watches, we are now writing the next chapter of our growth story. We will continue to deepen our relationships with customers and retailers through innovation and operational excellence. This is how we are approaching our long-term goal - to establish Chrono24 as a home for every watch enthusiast."

Ansel Glenewinkel-Meyer
Tonka GmbH
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