Axel Funhoff
Axel Funhoff is an accomplished business executive, educator, and financial analyst with nearly 30 years of cross-disciplinary experience spanning senior management, corporate finance, equity research, private equity, and management consulting.
Most recently, Axel served as General Director at Verhaert Masters in Innovation, a pioneering European innovation group that helps its clients build breakthrough products and services. Prior to this, he was CEO at Achilles Design, a premier Belgium-based design and innovation firm. His extensive leadership background also includes serving as CFO at Duval Union, an Antwerp-based investment and management firm, where he focused on building, scaling, and managing a growth portfolio of businesses within the marketing and digital sectors.
Axel's corporate career is rooted in a decade spent within international investment banking between 2001 and 2011. During this period, he operated out of major financial hubs for institutions such as Bear Stearns (now JPMorgan) in London, as well as Fortis Private Equity and ING Equity Markets in Brussels. As a prominent equity research analyst, his deep sector expertise earned him top-quintile rankings from international institutional investors, alongside being ranked among the top three analysts by C-level corporate management teams.
A dedicated educator alongside his corporate pursuits, Axel shapes the next generation of business leaders at the Antwerp Management School. He teaches Corporate Finance within the Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Master of Global Management programs.
Axel graduated with a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Maastricht in 1998. Based in Belgium, he speaks German, English, and Dutch.
He remains open to a further executive management mandate — CEO or CFO — for an organisation in meaningful transition.