Name: Caroline von Linsingen
Job title: Head of IPO & Growth Financing
Organisation: Deutsche Börse
1. Brief description of nominee’s role and job.
Caroline von Linsingen is Head of IPO & Growth Financing at Deutsche Börse, where she leads engagement with growth companies and prospective issuers across Germany and Europe.
In this role, she supports companies throughout their journey to accessing public capital markets – from IPO preparation to follow-on financings. Working closely with founders, management teams, investors and advisors, she helps position companies for successful listings, connects them with global investors and strengthens long-term capital formation in European public markets.
Since 2023, she has also been responsible for the Börsenplatz, Deutsche Börse’s historic exchange building in central Frankfurt. She positions the Börsenplatz as a platform connecting issuers with the global investment community and curates capital markets formats – including bell-ringing ceremonies – to enhance issuer visibility and foster dialogue across the ecosystem. She also oversees the Deutsche Börse Visitors Center, advancing financial education initiatives across the Group.
2. Short bio (career highlights, education, interests/hobbies).
An economist by training, Caroline began her career at Deutsche Börse in capital market regulation in Berlin, developing a strong foundation in market structure, transparency and trust. She later moved to London, where she spent seven years in cash equity trading, gaining commercial and international market experience.
Her career reflects a deliberate effort to understand public capital markets from multiple perspectives – regulatory, trading and issuer-facing. In 2025, she assumed leadership of the IPO & Growth Financing division.
Outside work, she values cultural exchange and dialogue fostered through the Börsenplatz community and remains passionate about strengthening financial literacy and capital market awareness.
3. What were your professional highlights and challenges of 2025?
2025 was a defining year, marking Caroline’s transition into the role of Head of IPO & Growth Financing.
The opportunity to operate at the intersection of capital markets, growth financing and economic transformation represented a major professional milestone. At a time when Europe is confronting structural challenges – from climate transition to digital transformation and pension sustainability – the role of public capital markets is increasingly strategic.
The central challenge, however, lies in Europe’s historically limited equity culture. Unlike the United States, where public markets are widely recognised as a core growth engine, Germany and parts of Europe have underutilised equity financing. IPOs are often viewed cautiously rather than as a natural step in scaling.
In 2025, a core priority was therefore driving knowledge, confidence and cultural change. This included addressing misconceptions about public markets, strengthening financial literacy and reinforcing trust in equity financing as a long-term tool for value creation.
Encouragingly, momentum is shifting. Public discourse increasingly recognises that efficient, liquid and trusted capital markets are essential to financing innovation, transformation and resilience. Contributing to this shift – rebuilding a growth culture in which IPOs are seen as opportunity rather than exception – was both the most demanding and most rewarding aspect of the year.
4. Tell us about a few of your key achievements throughout your career?
A defining thread in Caroline’s career has been the conscious effort to view capital markets from multiple angles.
She began in regulation, gaining deep insight into governance, transparency and systemic resilience. She then moved into business development in cash equity trading, where success required translating regulatory complexity into commercially viable solutions while balancing diverse stakeholder incentives.
Today, as Head of IPO & Growth Financing, she brings together regulatory expertise, trading experience and strategic engagement with issuers.
Across her career, she has consistently embraced courageous transitions – stepping into new environments and roles even when outcomes were uncertain. This willingness to take considered risks continues to shape her leadership style and conviction in the societal importance of strong public markets.
5. What and who inspires, and has inspired, you to achieve your professional success?
Caroline draws inspiration from excellence in everyday work. At the Börsenplatz, she is inspired by colleagues who demonstrate pride and professionalism in every task. She believes excellence is an attitude, not a title.
She is equally inspired by senior leaders who combine expertise, preparation and integrity with humility and trust-building. Observing leadership that creates space for others while maintaining clarity and conviction has strongly influenced her own approach.
6. How have you overcome setbacks, and what advice would you give to others dealing with setbacks?
A formative setback in her career involved losing a project she had strongly advocated for. The disappointment prompted reflection and self-doubt.
With encouragement from her manager, she revisited the opportunity with deeper preparation, anticipating critical questions and refining her arguments. The project was ultimately entrusted to her.
This experience reshaped her understanding of setbacks. They are not endpoints but accelerators of growth. They expose gaps, sharpen thinking and build resilience.
Her advice: analyse setbacks carefully, extract the lessons and return stronger. Growth often occurs precisely when success appears most distant.
7. What advice do you have for other women who aspire to be in leadership positions? What is the biggest takeaway you want to leave with the reader?
Caroline emphasises that hard work and perseverance are essential, but timing and opportunity also matter.
Her guidance:
Remain open to opportunity, even outside traditionally high-profile areas.
Influence can be built where visibility is lower but substance and credibility matter.
Choose leaders carefully – work for those you admire and can learn from.
Success is rarely linear. Combine preparation with openness, invest in relationships and be ready to demonstrate excellence when opportunity arises.