Siemens, a Germany-based engineering and electronics conglomerate, has established a $100m venture capital fund to support startups in very early stages of development.
The Industry of the Future Fund, launched by Siemens’ industry sector division together with the venture capital unit of Siemens Financial Services, aims to invest up to $1m individually in very young startups with promising industrial technologies. The fund is intended to complement Siemens’ existing venture capital funds, which predominantly invest in more mature startups and are directed to the four sectors of the conglomerate – industry, energy, healthcare and infrastructure & cities.
The Industry of the Future Fund has already made two investments: in Lagoa, a Canada-based technology startup which provides a cloud platform for 3D visualization and rendering, and which raised $5.3m series A funding In December 2013; and in CounterTack, a US-based cybersecurity firm which raised $12m in October 2013.
Siegfried Russwurm, CEO of the Siemens Industry Sector Fund and member of the managing board of Siemens, said “As digitization and software are becoming increasingly important for manufacturers to compete in the global marketplace, the Industry of the Future Fund will support Siemens’ ‘Industrie 4.0’ strategy by providing capital to those companies whose innovative technologies and vision have the potential to change the landscape of manufacturing and industrial automation”.
Dr Ralf Schnell, CEO of Siemens Venture Capital, said: “Investments in very young companies involve a high risk. This will certainly be reflected by the failure of some of these companies. In order to counter this heightened risk, we plan to invest smaller amounts between half a million and one million US dollars in the respective companies. This will enable us to support many more individual startups and more effectively spread the risks.”