No trace of crisis! The capital pots of many German investors are filling up again! In the past few weeks, both young and established venture capital companies have again launched new funds.
Former Cherry Ventures partner Thomas Lueke recently officially launched the investor futurepresent. futurepresent’s first fund is worth $300 million. The young investor’s investments include Afori, encentive and General Intuition. The Munich-based early-stage investor UVC Partners, which has invested in emerging startups such as Flix, Aleph Alpha and Isar Aerospace in recent years, also raised another 150 million for its fourth fund. The Berlin financier amberra, the corporate venturing studio of the Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken cooperative financial group, recently announced the final closing of its first fund (100 million euros).
Here is a quick overview of all new and established donors as well as incubators and incubators that have recently announced new funding pots or their launch.
New and old VCs with big pots of money
futurepresent
+++ The former Cherry Ventures partner Thomas Lueke recently officially started the investor futurepresent. The partner team also includes David Meiborg (most recently First Momentum Ventures), Johnson Yang (General Catalyst) and Locarta founder Jan Rettel. “futurepresent is a venture capital firm investing in AI platforms and infrastructure across the United States and Europe,” said the investor about the orientation. The team has been investing in emerging startups for around a year and is now officially out of cover. futurepresent’s first fund is worth $300 million. The young investor’s investments include Afori, encentive and General Intuition. More about futurepresent
UVC Partners
+++ The Munich-based early-stage investor UVC Partners, which has invested in emerging startups such as Flix, Aleph Alpha and Isar Aerospace in recent years, raised a further 150 million for its fourth fund. UVC Partners invests “in technology-based startups in Europe”. The focus is on B2B start-ups. UVC Partners initially invests between 1 and 10 million euros and up to 39 million in total per startup. “The new Growth Fund enables UVC Partners to invest more in existing portfolio companies while at the same time building investments in promising late-stage companies in Europe,” the team announced about the expansion. UVC currently manages around 750 million. More about UVC Partners
amberra
+++ The Berlin financier amberra, the corporate venturing studio of the cooperative financial group Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken, recently announced the final closing of its first fund (100 million euros). In recent years, the amberra team has already invested in emerging companies such as Impleco, Gardia, LillianCare, ubiMaster and nuuEnergy. In the coming years, the team would like to build a portfolio “of up to 20 bank-related and non-bank solutions”. More about amberra
Beiersdorf Venture Capital
+++ The Hamburg skin care company Beiersdorf (Nivea) recently launched its second corporate venture capital fund (100 million euros). “The new Skin Care Innovation Fund doubles the volume of the first fund launched in 2020 and underlines Beiersdorf’s claim to be a leader in skin care,” the company said. Beiersdorf Venture Capital (BVC) invests worldwide in all kinds of topics related to skin care (life sciences, biotechnology, sustainability, AI technologies and health solutions). Beiersdorf’s corporate venture capital arm initially invests between 500,000 euros and 5 million (seed to series B). More about BVC
backtrace capital
+++ The young Munich investor backtrace capital recently announced the final closing of its first fund. There are 50 million euros in the pot, which is more than the planned 30 million. Behind the pre-seed and seed investor backtrace capital are two well-known scene experts, Michael Münnix (Planet A, Target Partners) and Dominik Tobschall (Speedinvest). The team invests in so-called picks and shovels infrastructure technology, i.e. software and developer tools that run in the background. The duo invests between 750,000 euros and 2.5 million euros in up-and-coming startups. backtrace has already invested in Commutator Studios, KERYS Software and Platform Engineering Labs. More about backtrace capital
14 leaves
+++ 14leafs, a venture capital provider for “technology-driven startups in early phases”, is currently being built in Würzburg. The target volume is 50 million euros. The new donor was initiated by the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), the Sparkasse Mainfranken Würzburg and StellaVent Capital. Among others, Flip4New founder Michael Sauer (exit to Foxway) is behind StellaVent Capital. The 14leafs team initially invests between 100,000 and around 1 million euros (pre-seed phase up to Series A) in startups from the “Life Sciences, Health and Deep and Digital Tech” segments. The young venture capitalist not only invests in startups from Würzburg and the surrounding area (Lower Franconia and Main Franconia), but also in “national startups with an international perspective”. More about 14 leaves
Lucid Capital
+++ The young Berlin investor Lucid Capital, backed by Johann Nordhus Westarp and Srecko Džeko, recently announced the final closing of its first fund (36 million euros). The early-stage investor, which appeared on our radar in the summer of 2023, positions itself as an “AI Inception fund”. “Inception investing means conviction before incorporation. We back founders from day zero – often before a company exists – and help them move from 0 to 1. First believers. First check. First yes,” says the financier, who was intensively supported by Capnamic from Cologne during the development. In the past few months, the Lucid Capital team, which previously led the incubator Flash Ventures, has already invested in 15 emerging startups – including GeneralMind, Sonia and forward earth. More about Lucid Capital
Herbert Ventures
+++ With Herbert Ventures, a new early stage investor was launched in Zurich. The target volume is 30 million Swiss francs (32 million euros). “The fund is industry-agnostic by design and built around disciplined execution, transparency, and strong GP-LP alignment,” says the team. VAY founders Ben Simon and Luis Huber, most recently QBIT Capital, are behind Herbert Ventures. The duo is planning around 30 investments in the DACH region in the coming years. More about Herbert Ventures
Animal Syndication Company
+++ Lakestar partner Enrico Mellis recently launched Animal Syndication Company, an angel investment vehicle with a very special approach. And this is how the Animal Syndication Company works: “Founders choose the investors based on what they actually need: industry access, expertise, distribution, brand. Investors who want to pick their investments and instinctively get involved, not just passively deploy capital.” The special network, which sets up its own syndicate for each investment, has already invested in Peec AI. As a rule, the Animal Syndication Company invested between 100,000 US dollars and 3 million euros per investment. More about Animal Syndication Company
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