Despite the restrained mood on the market, the investor has already co-financed the first start-ups with his new fund.
Berlin In the midst of the mood crisis in the German start-up industry, the news from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) should provide a ray of hope. The early-stage investor has closed its largest fund since it was founded 18 years ago, with a total volume of almost half a billion euros, it said on Tuesday.
Traditionally, the Federal Ministry of Economics and KfW Capital participated in what is now the fourth fund. There were also 45 private investors, including large corporations such as Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post and Evonik, but also the Fraunhofer Society.
Despite the extremely difficult environment, the number of private investors has increased significantly, says HTGF Managing Director Alex von Frankenberg. The investor base reflects the strengths of the German economy. Together with the fourth fund, the HTGF now manages assets of 1.4 billion euros.
News of new venture capital funds has become rare. The boom is over, the business climate on the German market has become extremely gloomy at the end of the year. The investor barometer drawn up by the KfW development bank and the BVK industry association fell by 25.6 points to minus 42.9 points in the final quarter. Apart from the corona shock at the beginning of 2020, the mood among investors investing in young growth companies was last worse around 20 years ago.
The semi-public HTGF is a classic early-stage investor that accompanies start-ups right from the start and supports them with their network. Since it was founded in 2005, the investor has invested in almost 700 technology start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences and chemistry. Shares in more than 160 companies were sold again.
High-Tech Gründerfonds can now invest more per start-up
According to the company, the most successful investments include the biotech company Myr, the virtual power plant operator Next, the software company Quentic, the e-bike drive system manufacturer Fazua, which was taken over by Porsche, and the visualization tool Enscape. The HTGF has also accompanied companies such as NFon, 6Wunderkinder and Mister Spex on their way.
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According to Frankenberg, the new fund now makes it possible for larger sums to be invested per start-up. “This is a significant change in this market phase,” says the second HTGF Managing Director, Guido Schlitzer. Specifically, up to one million euros can now be spent in so-called seed rounds. Overall, the HTGF can invest up to four million euros in a start-up across all financing rounds.
Despite the restrained mood on the market, the investor has already co-financed the first start-ups with his new fund. These include the satellite start-up Reflex Aerospace, the company Phialogics, which researches biologicals for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, and the POS system developer Visiolab.
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