Marina Groenberg is a well-known top manager, investor and businesswoman. She has been living in Switzerland since 2008 and is a Swiss citizen. She heads Hemma Group and is involved in investment projects in Europe and America. Marina has been responsible for a start-up company that designed a high-tech helicopter prototype and has invested in Green Tech and alternative energy companies as well as cultural projects. How has her life path been unfolding?
Marina Groenberg — biography
Marina Groenberg was born into a family of aircraft engineers. Back in Soviet times, her father had a brilliant career — he was the head of the “Rybinskie Motory” factory and headed Aeroflot’s trade representative office abroad. Her mother worked as a chief accountant for a number of commercial and non-commercial organisations. Marina Groenberg inherited a talent for the exact sciences from her parents. After graduating from a French school, she easily passed exams for the Applied Mathematics Faculty of Moscow State University, where she excelled in her studies and won the Lenin scholarship. After graduating in 1995, she received another honours diploma in Finances and Credit.
Marina Groenberg then went on to study law at Kutafin Moscow State Law Academy and graduated with honours in 2001. Five years later, she completed a course at London Business School.
In 2008, Marina married a Swedish top manager, Henriс Groenberg, who at the time worked as a portfolio manager for a number of hedge funds. The couple is raising two daughters and successfully developing the family business, Hemma Group, which specialises in investing in innovative, environmentally friendly projects with positive social impact. Marina Groenberg is a Swiss citizen who currently lives and works in Zurich.
The businesswoman leads an active lifestyle and prefers spending her free time with her family, friends, travelling and doing sports. Her favourite sports include tennis, golf, yoga, off-piste skiing and figure skating, which she has practiced since she was a small child. Marina speaks several foreign languages and often spends her evenings reading French, English and Italian books. Marina’s husband enjoys golf, architecture and piloting aeroplanes and helicopters. Marina Groenberg’s husband spends a lot of time managing the family’s charitable and cultural projects in Italy.
Marina Groenberg’s major business projects
Hemma Group was founded in 2009 in Kilchberg, a municipality in the Swiss canton of Zurich. Today, its areas of interest include PE and VC investments in Europe, the USA and Latin America. Marina Groenberg holds the position of CEO at the company and is responsible for the strategic development of the group. Hemma Group’s investment portfolio includes:
- Nexwafe — German developer of innovative solar energy technology;
- Tallano — a French project working to reduce harmful emissions from the brake pads of cars and trains;
- OCSiAl — European manufacturer of carbon nanotubes;
- Watchers — developer of SaaS solutions for online shops and video platforms.
One of most successful projects which Marina led is Kopter Group, which she has managed since 2008. The company designed an innovative eight-seat SH09 helicopter with panoramic windows and an enlarged cabin. The large cargo compartment makes it suitable for transporting medical and rescue teams. In 2020, the start-up was purchased by Leonardo (Augusta Westland), Italy’s largest aviation holding company. The deal amounted to more than USD 185 million.
Charitable activities
Marina Groenberg is working with her husband Henriс Groenberg to restore Villa Reale di Marlia, a historic Italian villa that belonged to Elisa Bonaparte Bacocchi, Napoleon’s sister. The building was built in the 15th century as a fortress and the residence of the Duke of Tuscia. In 2015, the Groenbergs purchased the property, which was in a state of disrepair, and began funding extensive restoration work. The aim of the project is to restore the main buildings and the park, taking into account all historical eras since the construction of the building. Particular attention is being paid to the interiors of the building where Elisa Bonaparte once lived. The project is managed by Marina Groenberg’s husband. The Villa and Park are open to visitors from March to December.
