Munich — Germany’s most successful founders, including Bastian Nominacher from Decacorn Celonis and Jochen Engert, Daniel Krauss and André Schwämmlein from the mobility platform Flixbus, are investing in the new fund from UVC Partners. The venture capital firm raised a total of EUR 255 million for its third fund, including an opportunity fund. In addition to the top founders, the investors also include established family offices, such as those of the Strüngmann, Klatten and Schörghuber families. With its unique ecosystem, UVC Partners aims to pave the way for the next generation of European Unicorns.
In addition to Bastian Nominacher from Germany’s first Decacorn Celonis and Jochen Engert, Daniel Krauss and André Schwämmlein from the mobility platform Flixbus, the founders of CANCOM and fos4X are among those who have invested in the new fund from UVC Partners. UVC Partners has been working with many of these top founders for years on a basis of trust. “Our own success story is closely intertwined with UVC Partners,” says Jochen Engert, founder of Flixbus. “Having benefited from the UVC ecosystem ourselves on a wide variety of levels in recent years, we know from our own experience how precisely UVC Partners can identify the gamechangers of tomorrow and lead them to success. That’s why we’re investing in the fund ourselves today and believe in the startups that will soon benefit from it.”
Bastian Nominacher, co-CEO and co-founder of Germany’s first Decacorn Celonis, has also been following UVC Partners’ success story for a long time. “It is admirable what UVC Partners has built together with UnternehmerTUM over the past years. Numerous startups have been able to benefit from UVC Partners’ experience in building their business and entering the market over the past years and I am proud to be part of this unique ecosystem in the TU Munich startup environment.”
Investing in the gamechangers of tomorrow
UVC Partners’ third fund builds on the success of its two predecessors, increasing the investment volume of the first tenfold. “The fact that founders we have known for a long time and some of whom we have invested in ourselves are now investing in our fund is a great confirmation of our work,” says Johannes von Borries, Managing Partner of UVC Partners. “With the new fund, we want to pick up right where we left off and once again invest in the gamechangers of tomorrow.”
In addition to successful founders, established family offices, such as those of the Strüngmann, Klatten and Schörghuber families, as well as experienced investors such as Ann-Kristin Achleitner, also rely on UVC Partners’ fund. “I have been observing and following the development of UVC Partners for many years and am convinced that they will play an essential role in a new European wave of start-ups that successfully bring fundamental innovations to market,” says Ann-Kristin Achleitner.
Unique ecosystem
One of the key reasons for UVC Partners’ success story: the unique ecosystem that the venture capital firm provides to its startups. With its direct connection to UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s largest center for start-ups and innovation, UVC Partners sits in the middle of an established network of research, start-ups, medium-sized companies, DAX corporations and family offices. At the same time, UVC Partners can draw on the resources of UnternehmerTUM: 5,000 course-participating talents from TU Munich each year, 100 corporate partners and 300 employees, including, for example, 30 highly specialized artificial intelligence experts at the Initiative for Applied AI. This enables UVC Partners to optimally support start-ups throughout Europe with market entry, recruiting, networking or technological issues.
Florian Biller, founder of Capmo, was also convinced by this special mixture of expertise, network and partnership. “Whether it’s recruiting, finding the best follow-on investors, or networking within the B2B SaaS community, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today without UVC Partners,” says Biller. “That’s exactly why we value UVC Partners’ advice as an experienced and founder-focused voice on our board.”
After the successful fundraising, the work for UVC Partners is just beginning. “Together with the gamechangers of tomorrow, we want to make the world more sustainable, more efficient and better,” says Dr. Ingo Potthof, Managing Partner of UVC Partners. “We have shown in the past that we can contribute intensively to this with our entire ecosystem, including investments in Flixbus, KONUX, Isar Aerospace, Capmo, TWAICE and many others. Now we want to continue our successful course with the next generation of top founders.”