1928
Established 1928 · Niedersachsen, Germany

Jakob Schmidt & Sons

A third-generation German house of strategic advisory, capital, and venture — built for the parts of the world where deals are won by judgement, language, and the long memory of a family that has been in industry since before the war.

Global Strategy Energy & Capital Special Situations Ventures & AI
The Three Pillars

One house. Three disciplines.

We do three things, and we do them in concert — because the deals that matter rarely sit inside a single discipline.

I.

Consulting

Strategy, advisory, special situations, capital markets and commodities. Lender-grade feasibility, cross-border structuring, sovereign-level access, conflict resolution and restructuring. The house practice since the founder's first mandates in the late 1990s.

Visit Consulting →

II.

Capital & Ventures

Project finance and ECA-backed debt structuring through Capital. Venture investment in artificial intelligence, downstream energy technology and frontier-market infrastructure through Ventures. Direct, principal positions through Investments.

III.

Energy & AI

A dedicated Energy practice covering oil & gas, refining, petrochemicals, bitumen and asphalt — and an AI practice built around enterprise-grade Claude workflows and a proprietary intelligence and strategy platform.

100+ countries
Operational footprint to date
30+ years
Founder track record
III. generations
Continuous family practice
11 languages
Direct counterparty fluency
Geographies

Where the house operates

We do business where Western advisory firms struggle to send a partner — and we do it in the local language, with the right introductions, and inside the law.

Sub-Saharan & North Africa

Refinery and downstream programmes, road infrastructure, sovereign and PPP work, commodity flows. Long-standing presence across the continent.

Latin America

Brazilian downstream and asphalt heritage. Argentine, Colombian and Mexican deal access. Spanish/Portuguese working language.

United States

U.S.-side counterparties for commodity, capital and venture flows. ECA-aware structures. Wholly compliant with OFAC and applicable export-control regimes.

CIS & Russian Federation

Operational base in Moscow. Direct partnership with leading Russian downstream engineering teams. Decades of project structuring across the former USSR.

Middle East & Caspian

Persian/Dari/Arabic working capacity. Tehran, Dubai, Baku, Astana axes. Deep relationships with industrial families and sovereign entities.

European Heritage Corridor

Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Hungary — the family's home market and the spine of the house's European industrial network.

The Doctrine

The Schmidt – Nexus Doctrine.

Every action of Jakob Schmidt & Sons is governed by a written corporate philosophy and constitution — the Schmidt – Nexus Doctrine. It begins with a personal letter from the founder, runs through eighteen articles, the Stakeholder Compact, the Doctrine of Influence, the Engineering Disciplines, the Project Lifecycle, the Country Compact, and closes with the Bani Adam of Sa'di. It is the most demanding internal standard the house holds.

Enter the Doctrine → Read the Constitution

The House Network

Adjacent vehicles.

The house operates alongside two related vehicles that share the founder's stewardship.

·

The Schmidt Foundation

The house's philanthropic arm. Women's rights & protection, anti-trafficking, microfinance, arts and music, mentorship, humanitarian fundraising. Operated with the same discipline as the commercial mandates.

Visit the Foundation →

·

Vitus · A Private World

A private hospitality and lifestyle ecosystem founded by HH Leyla Issa Abuzaid. Dr. Bernd R. Schmidt serves as Global Ambassador in a personal capacity. Influence without exposure. Felt, never advertised.

Visit Vitus →

A Word From the Founder

In a world of specialists, the polymath who connects the dots wins.— Dr. Bernd R. Schmidt, Founder

Read the House History → Office of the Founder

Compliance. All mandates are accepted and conducted in line with applicable EU, UK, US (OFAC), and UN sanctions frameworks. Reconstruction and post-licence mandates are undertaken only under licensed regimes. KYC/AML and source-of-funds verification precede every engagement.