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Markus Kahlbetzer
Co-Founder & General Partner @ Side Stage Ventures | Seed Investor
Markus Kahlbetzer is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Side Stage Ventures, an early-stage venture firm that backs Australian founders.24 He also serves as the Founder and CEO of BridgeLane Group, a privately-owned asset management firm established in 2009.34 Kahlbetzer has over 18 years of investment experience across agriculture, venture capital, and real estate.46
Background and Education::
- Born in the U.S. but raised in Argentina, Kahlbetzer moved to Australia in 2001.48
- He completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Sydney.18
- His father and brother were entrepreneurs, which inspired him.4
Career Highlights::
- Early Career: He joined the family business as an Executive Director in 2004.8
- BridgeLane Group: Kahlbetzer founded BridgeLane Group in 2009, utilizing funds from the divestment of water entitlements and Australian agricultural assets.48 BridgeLane is a single-family office that scouts investments in private capital markets, venture capital, and growth-stage companies.4
- Venture Capital Investments: Kahlbetzer's early venture investments include Amaysim and Airtasker.4 He founded Tenshi Ventures with members from Airtasker.4
- BrickX: In 2016, Kahlbetzer founded BrickX, a prop-tech innovator.1245
- Side Stage Ventures: Kahlbetzer co-founded Side Stage Ventures with Ben Grabiner. The fund focuses on backing entrepreneurs in their early stages.245
Side Stage Ventures::
- Side Stage Ventures aims to support founders by providing experience and insight to help them navigate challenges.5
- The firm has a team of venture partners, including Alex and Anthony Zaccaria from Linktree, Matt Allen from Tractor Ventures, and Jaddan Comerford from Unified Music.57
Philanthropy::
- Kahlbetzer is involved in philanthropy through the BridgeLane Foundation, which allocates a proportion of its profits to environmental conservation and youth projects.4
Highlights
Today BridgeLane Group announced its divestment of its agricultural assets in Argentina and the sale of its subsidiary company LIAG Argentina S.A.
My father founded LIAG Argentina 40 years ago and we are proud to have built a world class agriculture business that has flourished, even in often tough political and economic circumstances. It was an incredibly difficult decision to say farewell to Argentina and I would like to personally thank everyone at LIAG Argentina that contributed to four decades of success in the region.
Our people drove our success and under the guidance of CEO Santiago Harriague as well as Guillermo Sanchez, Guillermo Belottini, their teams, and many others, we have built a business that reflects our passion for the industry. I would also like to thank Mariana Werner and Andrés Sanguinetti for their representation on LIAG's board of recent times.
We are confident that the new owners will be able to build on the legacy that was built by my father and the Kahlbetzer family over all these years.
Argentina will always have a special place in my heart and while I will miss LIAG and its people, I look forward to exploring the opportunities this has created for our growing venture capital, agriculture and commercial real estate business in Australia.
