a&o strengthens senior team with new CFO
a&o Hostels, one of Europe’s largest and fastest-growing hostel chains with approximately 30,000 beds under management, has appointed Markus Harder to the role of Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately. a&o will leverage Markus’ significant experience scaling technology and AI-led companies in Europe to support its digitalisation strategy.
Based in Berlin, Markus will work closely with CEO Oliver Winter and shareholders to drive the next phase of the a&o Hostels’ growth strategy. Markus will lead a&o’s digital agenda, which focuses on integrating cloud computing, AI, and mobile solutions to streamline operations further and enhance the guest experience. He will also be responsible for all finance, legal, organisational, business systems and processes, as well as risk management and procurement functions.
Markus previously spent four years as CFO and Management Board Member at DeepL, where he oversaw 10x growth, whilst also leading two unicorn funding rounds. Other past roles include CFO of Contentful (since acquired by Salesforce) and Finance Director at SoundCloud. Markus started his career in Real Estate investment banking with Morgan Stanley.
Capitalising on the compelling demographic tailwinds driving the rapid growth of what has become an increasingly institutional-quality asset class, earlier this year a&o Hostels completed an €874 million refinancing with Apollo. Along with equity commitments from Proprium Capital Partners and StepStone Group, this will support its strategy to double the size of its portfolio and expand its pan-European footprint. Over the past 24 months, the company has acquired approximately 11,500 beds, both operational and being developed/refurbished, in line with its mission to bring its budget-friendly offering, targeting families, school groups and backpackers, to more European cities. In 2025, a&o welcomed a record 2.8 million guests and had 6.6 million overnight stays.
Oliver Winter, CEO of a&o Hostels, commented: “Markus’s depth of experience spanning strategic and financial planning, financial analysis, as well as debt and equity fundraising, will be invaluable as we continue scaling and optimising the platform. In particular, his background driving growth at technology and AI-led companies will support our near-term focus on adopting automation to further drive innovation and efficiencies and deliver even stronger operational and financial performance.”