GROPYUS appoints Dr. Jan Bartels as Chief Operating Officer
- Apr 14
- 2 min read
Berlin / Vienna, April 14, 2026 – GROPYUS is strengthening its operational leadership with the appointment of Dr. Jan Bartels as Chief Operating Officer (COO), a role he officially assumed on April 1. In this position, he is responsible for operations, logistics, and sales at GROPYUS. The Executive Board now comprises Co‑CEOs Markus Fuhrmann and Philipp Erler, CFO Mirjam Stolz, CAO Dr. Michael Menz, and Dr. Jan Bartels.
Bartels brings more than 20 years of experience in building and scaling both digital platforms and physical infrastructure. This expertise is critical to the current growth phase of GROPYUS, as the company ramps up production and systematically scales the parallel execution of a growing number of construction projects in Germany and Austria.
Daniel Riedl, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of GROPYUS, says: “Jan Bartels brings the experience needed to successfully put complex systems into operation. He combines technological understanding with operational depth, logistics expertise, and a clear focus on sales and customers. This is exactly the combination we need to drive our next phase of growth efficiently and reliably.”
Jan Bartels adds: “When I first entered a GROPYUS building a year ago, it was immediately clear: this is what technology-based construction in the 21st century looks like. The consistent digitalization of the value chain—from the first line of code in planning to digitally operated buildings—convinced me right away. My first visit to the Smart Factory demonstrated what can be achieved when robotics are consistently applied to individualized production at an industrial scale. I am thrilled to bring my experience in digital scaling and physical infrastructure to the construction industry and to work with this highly professional team to shape the company’s next phase.”
Most recently, Bartels was at Zalando, where he played a key role in shaping the company’s growth for more than a decade. During this time, he helped build more than one million square meters of logistics space across Europe, served as Senior Vice President Customer Fulfillment with responsibility for logistics, customer service, and the technology platform, and most recently grew the profitable B2B business to revenues of more than one billion euros. Before joining Zalando, the industrial engineer with a PhD worked at McKinsey & Company, advising industrial clients on technology and operations. He began his career at Tiba Technologieberatung as a project manager and consultant.