Marek Socha

Managing Director, Global Markets (Member of the Management Team) at 21X I The First EU Regulated Trading and Settlement Infrastructure for Digital Assets

Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

About

• Corporate Development, Business Development, M&A and Investment Professional with over 17 years of experience across Financial Services (Digital Securities, Crypto, Financial Market Infrastructure, Fintech) and Life Sciences (Biotechnology, Chemicals) in Switzerland and globally • Over 12 years of experience working directly with Executive Boards, Boards of Directors, Shareholders, Institutional Clients, Regulators and Investors • Over 5 years of leadership track record serving as an Executive Committee Member of FINMA-regulated Digital Securities Exchange in Switzerland, Chairman of the VC Investment Fund and Shareholder Representative in the MAS-regulated Crypto Exchange in Singapore • Extensive experience in building new regulated financial market operators (AsiaNext, SIX Digital Exchange) in Digital Assets space

Experience

  • 21X (7 mos)
    • Managing Director, Global Markets (Member of the Management Team)
      Mar 2026 - Present · 5 mos

      Overall responsibility for Business Development, Sales, Customer Success, Marketing and Communications Teams for Global Markets

    • Independent Strategic Advisor
      Jan 2026 - Feb 2026 · 2 mos

  • Advisor and Consultant at TVL Capital
    Jan 2026 - Present · 7 mos

  • SIX Digital Exchange (Zurich, Switzerland · Hybrid)
    • Head Of Corporate Development at SIX Digital Exchange (Member of the Extended Executive Committee)
      May 2021 - Oct 2025 · 4 yrs 6 mos

      • Full responsibility for corporate and ecosystem development around recently established, regulated financial market infrastructure/exchange • Overall responsibility for developing and executing company’s acquisitions, strategic investments, joint ventures and partnerships • Supporting commercial function in establishing collaborations with leading financial institutions (mainly large sell-side banks, brokers and buy-side institutions) in developing client relationships and future revenue streams • Reporting to the CEO of SIX Digital Exchange

    • Director, Senior Mergers & Acquisitions Manager at SIX Group
      Jun 2018 - May 2021 · 3 yrs

      • Full leadership of entire lifecycle of Group’s priority M&A transactions (incl. origination, financial modelling and valuation, transaction structuring, negotiations, full contracts accountability, early integration/separation planning, management of internal and external stakeholders, functional stream leaders and external advisors) • Full responsibility for multiple strategic minority investments in innovative companies • Active landscaping and origination of M&A targets across all Business Units with special focus on digitization and emerging technologies (DLT/Digital Assets, Alternative Data and Analytics) • Coordination role for SIX efforts in the areas of M&A (Transformational and strategic minority investments), SIX Fintech Ventures (Corporate Venture Capital Investment Committee Observer) and F10 Incubator & Accelerator • Supporting build-up of SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) and Digital Assets ecosystem around Securities and Exchanges Business Unit from its creation in 2018 • Creation of SIX’s Corporate Investment Management Process (Strategic minority participations oversight for Group’s Executive Board and Board of Directors)

  • Chairman Of The Board Of Directors at F10 Investment AG
    Nov 2020 - Oct 2021 · 1 yr

    • Venture Capital Investment Fund investing into the best startups from F10 Fintech Incubator & Accelerator's Incubation Program in Switzerland • Overall responsibility for fund strategy and governance • SIX Group AG and HITS (House of Insurtech Switzerland, innovation subsidiary of Generali) as founding shareholders and sponsors • Fund already invested in over 10 promising start-ups since its creation in Q4 2020

  • Syngenta (Basel Area, Switzerland)
    • Mergers & Acquisitions Project Leader
      Jan 2018 - May 2018 · 5 mos

      Responsibilities: Origination of acquisition targets in China and wider Asia Pacific region; Leading entire M&A transactions; Management of M&A Managers, M&A Analysts and functional project streams; Management of key internal and external stakeholders; Management of due diligence processes; Preparation and presentation of investment opportunities to “M&A Committee”; Leading negotiations and full contracts accountability; Cooperation with internal Merger Integration team to develop 100 day plans; Management of external advisors: Investment Banks, Tax, Accounting and Legal firms

    • Mergers & Acquisitions Manager
      Apr 2014 - Dec 2017 · 3 yrs 9 mos

      Responsibilities: Market landscaping and origination of potential acquisition targets as well as industry scanning for promising new technologies; Leading entire, mostly medium-size, M&A transactions; Management of M&A Analysts and functional project streams; Management of key internal and external stakeholders; Management of due diligence processes; Preparation and presentation of investment opportunities to “M&A Committee”; Leading negotiations and full contracts accountability; Cooperation with internal Merger Integration team to develop 100 day plans; Management of external advisors: Investment Banks, Tax, Accounting and Legal firms

    • Mergers & Acquisitions Analyst
      Mar 2011 - Mar 2014 · 3 yrs 1 mo

      Responsibilities: Valuation of acquisition targets; Coordination of due diligence processes; Coordination of various project streams on behalf of M&A Manager; Preparation of presentations for to the “M&A Committee”; Preparation of transaction reviews for the Board of Directors; Coordination of external advisors: Investment Banks, Tax, Accounting and Legal firms