#Interview
“For me, of course, the most exciting thing is what’s new,” says Alexander Kölpin from seed + speed Ventures. The early-stage investor’s portfolio includes well-known companies such as Enginsight, Finanzguru, Kertos, Orderlion, pliant and Prewave.
The Berlin early-stage investor seed+speed ventures just launched its third fund (90 million euros). The team around Carsten Maschmeyer and Alexander Kölpin would like to use the new fund to specifically invest in the “safe introduction and use of AI in everyday company life”.
Thematically, it covers topics such as security, data protection, governance, quality, cost control and productivity. So far, seed+speed has focused on the German-speaking region. With the new fund, the financier is opening up “to European startups outside the DACH region”.
seed+speed Ventures initially invests between 500,000 euros and 1.5 million euros. In the past few months, the team has already invested in 13 startups with the new fund – including Orq.ai, RIIICO, Optimuse and Eleven Dynamics. The early-stage investor’s portfolio also includes companies such as Enginsight, Finanzguru, Kertos, Orderlion, pliant and Prewave.
In an interview with deutsche-startups.de, seed+speed maker Alexander Kölpin speaks in detail about the current investment situation in Germany.
How would you explain seed + speed Ventures to your grandmother?
Many of the new technologies, many products and services, and society as a whole rely increasingly on computers and software. Many men and women are working to invent new things in this area and are setting up companies for this purpose. Our job is to find the best and then support them. We give them money that they don’t have to guarantee as with a loan, but we invest in the company’s equity and are therefore also co-shareholders in the end. The founders can use it to pay for offices and employees. Unfortunately, this also means that if the team does not manage to build a successful company, our money is irretrievably gone. They need the investment capital because they initially have no customers and little or no income, but they have to develop the product and pay for it. In return we give them money and get a small share in the company. If the founding team is successful and the company has become much more valuable than it was at the beginning, the startup is then sold and everyone, the founding team and the investment fund, gets their share of the success. Because we know how important selling is, we also provide you with a team of sales consultants free of charge who will work with you to find the type of sales, the software tools to use and the staff you need and advise you on everything. Because many of the founders are doing all this for the first time and can use support that they don’t have to pay extra for from us, because we have the same interest together with the founders: to make the company more successful.
How do you assess the current investment situation in Germany?
Sometimes when I look at other industries, such as automotive manufacturing or chemistry, I am happy to be able to work in the emerging area that startups symbolize in software and digitalization. All of this will continue to grow, the future is digital. I would also see the investment situation under this big motto. Our digital sector is growing and that’s good. However, the economic and political situation changes in recent years and the triumph of AI in all areas make investing more challenging. This is an effective incentive for me to stay on the ball and stay curious. I see a continuing gap between the extremes: the best startups can choose their VCs and others unfortunately fall by the wayside. So far, so normal. But the spectrum seems to be even wider: everyone who has credible and sustainable AI in their DNA continues to demand and receive high ratings, others don’t even come close to being the first VC. The situation is similar for the other side of the investment situation. The fundraising situation for funds has not become any easier, even if there is good news from us and other VCs. So it was good for us to be able to show what we do and how successful we are with Funds I and II. But in the end, people decide – the well-known entrepreneurial personality Carsten Maschmeyer with his large network and the infectious entrepreneurial spirit in his DNA was the catalyst that made such fundraising successes possible for our fund, even against the trend.
What expectations do you have for the coming months?
I’m actually very positive about the future of the industry I’m in. Of course, I see the multidimensional distortions that the startup scene is also struggling with. But not only the fact that digitalization as such is the future, but also that Europeans and Germans have recognized that they have to rely more on themselves, and that the effects of change are slowly but surely being recognized politically, gives me hope. In my view, it is inevitable that politicians will really reduce obstacles such as bureaucracy and regulation. This has hardly happened so far, at the European and German level, but I see that course corrections will have to come. If not, the failure of politicians at all levels, from the EU to the federal government and below, will cost us all dearly. My hope comes from the fact that I have the impression that the number of people who have understood this is growing.
What advice would you give to founders who are currently looking for capital?
When it comes to fundraising, it is of course crucial what you want to do, in which industry and what you can already show. But in the end, the fundraising process is the watershed at which the founders who can credibly and sustainably explain a clear vision of their company and can conclusively prove this, using whatever KPI, prevail. That’s what’s crucial for me: in the end, people talk to people, donors and those seeking money have to come together because they believe in the same vision and in the team that wants to implement it. If you internalize this as a motto, you will approach a fundraising process with the necessary seriousness and preparation. The founders are the ultimate deciding factor for us!
Which startups are you particularly excited about at the moment?
For me, the most exciting thing here is of course what’s new! This means, for example, our recent investments in umh, cerpro and eleven dynamics are topics that are completely new to us and exciting. Where we work together with the founders on the development of the company, find or improve product-market fit and do the exciting development work that has always excited me most about pre-seed and seed financing. It’s also nice that the portfolio of our funds I and II is developing further and, for example, founders like Malte Rau are now not only conquering Europe with pliant, but have also moved to America and are continuing to build the company there. These are companies that are already in a completely different phase and it’s nice to see what’s happening, even if other funds take over the baton from us with Series A and B.Startup jobs: Looking for a new challenge? In ours Job exchange You will find job advertisements from startups and companies.
Photo (above): Seed + Speed Ventures