Management Team

Managing Directors
Jeronimo Folgueira
Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer & Director of the Board
Jeronimo Folgueira

Jeronimo Folgueira has been Chief Executive Officer of Spark Networks (formerly Affinitas GmbH) since October 1, 2015. Before joining Spark Networks, Jeronimo held several senior management positions at a number of other companies, including as Managing Director, International at Betfair plc (now Paddy Power Betfair plc) from 2014 to 2015, Managing Director at Bigpoint S.a.r.l. from 2011 to 2014 and Senior Strategy Executive at RTL Group from 2008 to 2011. Jeronimo started his career as an investment banking analyst for Lehman Brothers (2003 – 2005) and also worked at Citigroup (2005 – 2006). He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Navarra, Spain.

Gitte Bendzulla
Managing Director & General Counsel
Gitte Bendzulla

Gitte Bendzulla has been the General Counsel of Spark Networks since November 2018. Before joining Spark Networks, Gitte held several senior legal positions on a European and global scale with Juniper Networks, APM Terminals, Eaton Industries and the SITA Suez group. Gitte started her career at the German-based law firm Graf von Westphalen in 2004. She is admitted to the German bar and holds a master’s degree from the University of Bayreuth, as well as a bachelor’s degree obtained in Berlin.

Bert Althaus
Managing Director & Chief Financial Officer
Bert Althaus

Bert Althaus joined Spark Networks in September 2019. In his previous position, he served as Senior Vice President Finance for Berlin-based home24 SE, the leading home and living e-commerce platform in continental Europe and Brazil. A data-driven technology company, home24 is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (H24.DE). Prior to joining home24, he spent over eight years at Ernst & Young. Bert holds a bachelor's and master's degree in business administration from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Thuringia, Germany, and brings great international experience having also worked and lived in the USA, Argentina and Russia.

Senior Management
Benjamin Hoskins
Chief Technology Officer
Benjamin Hoskins

Benjamin Hoskins has been Chief Technology Officer for Spark Networks (formerly Affinitas GmbH) in Berlin since January 2017. Prior to joining Spark Networks, Ben worked with OLX (registered as PT Tokabagus) in Indonesia as Chief Technology Officer and Acting Chief Product Officer from May 2015 until December 2016. Ben served as Head of Product Development Europe for eBay UK Ltd. from February 2012 until April 2015. He was previously an Principal Agile Consultant, and, in parallel, as Head of Product Development at Emergn, where he worked from January 2008 until February 2012.

Luciana Telles
Chief Marketing Officer
Luciana Telles

Luciana Telles started at Spark Networks as Chief Marketing Officer in January 2019, having earned her stripes through a variety of managerial and strategic marketing roles at Rocket Internet’s Westwing Home & Living (2012-2014), WorldRemit (2014 -2017), and Uniplaces (2017-2018). Her experience spans a broad spectrum of Marketing, Communications and Sales expertise, including brand building, integrated marketing strategy, business development, and strategic partnerships. Luciana has international exposure to global markets, having worked in both developed and developing countries, and for a variety of tech companies; from FinTech to RecTech to PropTech – and now in Online Dating.