+++ neoteq ventures +++ EKK & Co. +++ The Vibe VC +++ Evantic Capital +++ Cologne Startup Summer Night +++
What’s up New? In ours #StartupTicker we provide a compact overview of the most important startup news of the day (Thursday, May 28th).
#STARTUPLAND
STARTUPLAND: Founders. VCs. Visionaries
+++ Our fourth STARTUPLAND Conference will take place on March 10, 2027 at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. A fascinating journey into the startup scene awaits you again – with lectures from successful founders, educational interviews and pitches that inspire. More about STARTUPLAND
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neoteq ventures
+++ A new pot full of startup money! The Cologne-based early-stage investor neoteq ventures, which launched in 2020, announces the first closing of its second fund. There is now over 25 million euros in the pot (target size: 50 million). In the past few years, the team around BJ Park and Simon Schneider invested with its first fund (worth 40 million) in 17 startups – including Jumingo, Detechgene and OMMM. neoteq invests throughout Germany, but the Rhineland is and remains a focus. Around 80% of the current portfolio companies come from the Rhineland. As a rule, neoteq ventures initially invests between 250,000 euros (pre-seed) and 1.5 million euros (series A). The team relies on startups “that, regardless of their industry, are able to solve a relevant customer problem with their product and have the potential to become market leaders in their market segment.” A good signal for aspiring startup teams and a particularly good signal for all teams that are at home in the Rhineland. More about neoteq ventures
EKK & Co.
+++ Millions for successful scaleups! The Stuttgart investment company EKK & Co. announces the first closing of its third fund (EKK & Co. III Early Growth). There is currently 15.1 million euros in the pot (target volume: 75 million). “The closing confirms for us that our approach – the combination of ‘Success Stories – of People’ and a clearly focused early growth capital approach – works. With our third fund, we are consistently sharpening this strategy and investing in companies in the scalable growth phase that do not pursue a classic VC model, but are looking for structured capital and active sparring for their next development step,” says the team. Most recently, EKK & Co. invested in smartvillage. The Munich-based company, founded in 2018 by Lukas Koppitz and Gerd Krohn, is all about spaces and the services around them. The profitable company, which previously operated completely without investors, currently employs around 50 people. More about EKK & Co.
The Vibe VC
+++ Vibe coding meets venture capital! With The Vibe VC A micro-VC for vibe-coded startups is launching in Zurich. “We invest at the point where a vibe-coded startup starts to show real signal. The ticket is intentionally small and early, so we can back momentum while it is still forming,” says the team. Behind The Vibe VC are serial founder Oliver Flueckiger, former Apple employee (engineering manager) Marcel Germann and Gbanga founder Matthias Sala. What’s exciting about The Vibe VC is the process involved in an investment request. “Founders connect their agentic engineering environment to our MCP server. This allows the AI agent to submit the project to us and transmit relevant information,” the team writes. “Our thesis: In the age of Vibe Coding, not only is how startups are built, but also how early-stage investing has to work,” the Vibe VC makers continue. The team invests four or five-digit sums for the first “market validation”. If everything goes well, another investment will quickly follow. More about The Vibe VC
Evantic Capital
+++ A new star in the VC sky! Former Sequoia partner Matt Miller has been building Evantic Capital in London since last year. “I’m looking for companies that are growing quickly and for founders that I would work for myself. We’re also looking for opportunities where the starting price at which we can invest really allows us to dream of a return in the tenfold range at the end,” says Miller in an interview with Handelsblatt. The portfolio of the young financier, who relies particularly on his 150-strong network of experts (Legends) for his investments, already includes international high-flyers such as Lovable, Elevenlabs and Harvey. In Germany, Evantic will be with the Berlin startup at the end of 2025 n8n got in. Miller’s model for Evantic is Index Ventures. The team around the experienced investor has big plans. A real enrichment for the VC and startup scene in Europe. Hopefully many investments in Germany will follow. (Handelsblatt) More about Evantic Capital
Precision
+++ In recent years, around 100 million have already flowed into the busy MedTech Precisis, which is developing brain stimulation for people with epilepsy. Now the team from Heidelberg, which has been working on its idea since 2015, is moving to the USA. More about Precisis
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Cologne Startup Summer Night
+++ Make a note now: The event will take place again on July 8th Cologne Startup Summer Night instead of. The event, which is organized by KölnBusiness, Web de Cologne, the Gateway Universities Cologne and the Gateway Factory, is one of the most important networking events for the Rhenish start-up scene. Founders, investors, entrepreneurs and representatives from politics, the press, associations, NGOs and economic development are expected. To register for the Cologne Startup Summer Night
#DEALMONITOR
Investments & Exits
+++ ESG software provider Planted and Code Gaia merge +++ Energy harvesting startup REPS receives 23.6 million +++ Restaurant software allO receives 14 million +++ LegalTech nu:legal collects 1.3 million. More in the deal monitor
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