VC funds announced in 2020 from Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH)

We tracked a total of 29 announcements of new funds closed in 2020 for backing local and European startups.

We split the names by country, and then created an aggregated list sorted by the fund size.

 

 Austria (3)

Speedinvest - €190 million + €33 million

Speedinvest was founded in 2011 by Daniel Keiper-Knorr, Erik Bovee, Michael Schuster, Oliver Holle, and Werner Zahnt. It is probably one of the most active early stage investors from Europe and is involved at seed, series A, series B, and in debt financing.

In 2020 it made two announcements - one for its third flagship fund of €190 million and another for a €33 million one called Speedinvest x Fund 2, a specialist Networks Effects fund focused on marketplaces and platforms.

Apex Ventures - €50 million

Apex Ventures was founded in 2017 by Gordon Euller, a qualified doctor and radiologist who has previously worked at AKH. It is an early stage investor focused on seed in marketplaces, fintech, SaaS, digital media, ecommerce and digital health companies.

In the summer of 2020, it announced a €50 million fund, a second one, focusing on digital health startups and seed stage deep-tech companies with defendable IP.
 

Round 2 - €30 million

Round 2 Capital Partners was founded in 2017 by its CEO Christian Czernich as a provider of a non-dilutive revenue-based financing product by which repayments of the funding amount are directly linked to the revenue growth of the target until a pre-defined cap is reached. The company targets small and medium-sized businesses in DACH and Nordics and has a predominant focus on SaaS and hardware and software combinations.

On October 2020, Round 2 announced closing of another round of fundraising taking its assets under management to close to €30 million.

 

 

 Germany (19)

HV Capital - €535 million

HV Capital (formerly Holtzbrinck Ventures) is a German investment firm that was founded in 2000 by the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group as a corporate VC. It changed its name in HV Capital in 2020 and has been operating independently since 2010 from its bases in Berlin and Munich.

HV is one of the more active early stage investors from Germany and in 2020 it announced a new €535 million fund with a larger mandate covering also later stage deals in Germany and across Europe.
 

Target Global - €120 million + €300 million

Target Global was founded in 2012, is headquartered in Berlin and has offices in London, Tel Aviv, Moscow and Barcelona. The company normally invests 70% of its funds in Europe, 20% in Israel and 10% in ‘opportunistic investments’

Target Global invests out of five active funds, two of which were announced in 2020: a €120 million early-stage fund, dubbed “Early Stage Fund II" and focused on seed and series A round in Europe and Israel, and a €300 million fund aimed to be deployed in fintech, SaaS and wellness startups.

For the seond one, Target partnered with UBS, the Swiss wealth management firm, which introduced clients to the fund. In addition to UBS, Target secured commitments from a range of new LPs, including FERI, as well as European hotel companies and real estate businesses.

E.ON - €250 million

E.ON is a German energy company with a clear focus on three strong core businesses: Energy Networks, Customer Solutions, and Renewables.

In 2020 it launched a new fund and “venture capital platform”, Future Energy Ventures, with a portfolio already valued at €250 million. The fund focuses on scalable and asset-light businesses, seeking funding at Series A and beyond, that have shown evidence of a product-market-fit.. The portfolio of Future Energy Ventures consists of startups that E.ON and Innogy had previously, separately, invested in.

468 Capital - €170 million

468 Capital was founded by three former Rocket Internet executives - Alexander Kudlich and Ludwig Ensthaler, and Florian Leibert. The fund was announced in June 2020 at €170 million and and plans to back approximately 25 companies in total, focusing on machine learning, open-source and automation. 
 

Bitkraft Ventures - $165 million

BITKRAFT Ventures, led by its founding general partner Jens Hilgers, was founded in 2015 and later launched its first pre-seed fund in 2017, securing $18 million for esports in particular.

In August 2020 it announced launching Venture Fund I, a new fund at $165 million targeting series A level of startups active in esports, gaming and interactive media.

Vorwerk Ventures - €150 million

Vorwerk Ventures is an independent €150 million Venture Capital Fund grown out of the Vorwerk Group in late 2019. The company is headquartered in Berlin, is focused on consumer-centric businesses at seed/Series A investment level of €1 million to €10 million, reserving up to €15 million for upcoming financing rounds. 

UVC Partners - €150 million

UVC (Unternehmertum Venture Capital) Partners was founded in 2011 and is a venture capital firm headquartered in Munich typically investing between €500k and 3 million initially and up to €12 million in total per company.

In October 2020, it announced its third fund with a volume of €150 million, focused on B2B start-ups from Europe.

Elevat3 Capital - €125 million

Elevat3 Capital is the venture capital arm of serial entrepreneur and investor Christian Angermayer and his family office Apeiron Investment Group. The fund was announced in conjunction with Peter Thiel involvement as LP in the fund, which was announced to be closed at €125 million. The fund is incorporated in Malta and is operated by Thomas Hanke and Marlon Braumann.
 

Point Nine Capital - €100 million

Point Nine Capital was founded in 2011 by (then angel investor) Christoph Janz and Pawel Chudzinski and is mainly focusing on early-stage investments related to SaaS and digital marketplaces from Europe and US, with checks between €500k and €2.5M. It is one of the more active early stage investors from Europe, and in the seon part of 2020 it announced a fresh new fund of 100 million.

Cavalry Ventures - €80 million + €20 million

Cavalry Ventures Management was launched by Rouven Dresselhaus, Claude Ritter and Stefan Walter in 2016 and is a (pre) seed fund, usually investing alongside angels, both external and from within its network. In 2020 it announced Cavalry Ventures II, at €80 million, more than 3.5x the size of its maiden fund, as well as a €20 million Opportunity Fund, designed exclusively for follow-up investments in companies in which the Cavalry I fund already placed funds.

ECBF - €82 million

ECBF - The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund - is a €82 million growth-stage venture capital fund established in Luxembourg in 2020 and dedicated to growth-stage investments within the European Circular Bioeconomy, on a pan-European level. It has a target size of €250 million, to which the European Investment Bank (EIB) has committed €100 million.

ECBF is registered in Luxembourg and managed by Hauck & Aufhäuser Fund Services S.A out of Bonn, Germany.

Heal Capital - €80 million

Heal Capital is an venture capital fund from Germany which supports technology-enabled startups in the healthcare market with growth capital (Series A) and market access. At the beginning of 2020, it announced closing a €80 million fund from the German Private health insurance companies, led by Christian Weiß out of Berlin.

DvH Ventures - €60 million

DvH Ventures - Dieter von Holtzbrinck Ventures GmbH - is a venture company of the publisher Dieter von Holtzbrinck, which announced in November 2020 a first closing of around €60 million euros to deploy investments in digital healthcare solutions. DvH Ventures has offices in Cologne and Vienna, and invests in young technology companies, building successful investment clusters in areas such as digital health, education, and fintech.

La Famiglia - €50 million

La Famiglia was launched in 2017 by Jeannette zu Fürstenberg and Judith Dada, with a first fund of €35 million out of Berlin.

In the summer of 2020, it announced a €50 million fund for B2B tech startups, out of which it will make initial investments of up to €1.5 million with a vertical focus on logistics and supply chain, industrial tech and insurance. Approximately half of the fund will be used for these first cheques, while the rest is reserved for follow-on rounds.

Greenfield One - €50 million

Greenfield One was founded in 2018 and invests in blockchain-based business ideas and models accessible to a broader group of investors as an independent asset class in Europe. In 2020 it announced a second fund targeting €50 million.

Neoteq ventures - €30 million

neoteq ventures is an early stage venture company founded in 2020 by B.J. Park and Simon Schneider. The company is based in Cologne and announced closing a €30 million fund in September 2020.

Merantix - €25 million

Merantix was founded in 2016 by Adrian Locher and Rasmus Rothe and is a venture studio that builds companies that have an artificial intelligence focus. They are based in Berlin and announced a €25 million fund at the beginning of 2020.

 

BonVenture - €20 million

BonVenture was founded in 2003 and is a provider of social venture capital in the German-speaking countries out of Munich. In December 2020, it announced securing a first closing of a new fund at €20 million, with a target of 40 and opern by mid 2021. The fund's investments are based on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations, with a focus on, for example, the areas of education and equal opportunities, ecological agriculture, renewable energy and mobility, inclusion and equal opportunities, health, resource conservation and climate protection measures.

BitStone Capital

BitStone Capital was founded in 2018 in Cologne by Kai Panitzki and Manfred Heid and invests in digital construction and real estate business models.

In 2020 it announced a first closing of BitStone Real Estate & Construction (RECO) Tech Fund, aiming to invest in start-ups from “Seed” to “Series A” phases and actively supports its portfolio companies in further development, market entry and follow-on financing rounds.

 

 Switzerland (4)

Lakestar - $735 million

Lakestar was founded in 2012 by Klaus Hommels and has the reputation as one of the best venture capital firms in Europe for its high return on investment.

At the beginning of 2020, Lakestar announced a $735M new fund, dedicated mostly to European startups, at early and growth stages. The fund will invest one-third of the commitments to its Early Stage fund and two thirds to its Growth Stage fund as venture investing in Europe achieves increasing scale.

UBS - $200 million

UBS Group AG is a Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company founded and based in Switzerland.

In October 2020 it announced UBS Next, a $200 million fund that targets investments in the fintech and broader tech ecosystem. In addition to direct investments, UBS enters a strategic collaboration with Anthemis. UBS Next is to be funded exclusively by UBS and will be managed by a dedicated tech venture investment team with market-proven capital expertise.

CSS Insurance - CHF 50 million

CSS Insurance is a Swiss health insurer that announced in 2020 setting up its own venture fund to invest in startups in the health market. The fund is built up with surpluses from the supplementary insurance business and amounts to 50 million francs.

Tomahawk.VC - $20 million

Tomahawk.VC is an early-stage venture capital firm founded by Cédric Waldburger in 2020 and investing in global-first companies in Pre-Seed, Seed and Series A rounds.In April the company announced a fund of $20 million.