EWE, a Germany-based local government-run energy and telecommunications utility, has provided a seven-figure euro sum (€1m = $1.2m) for public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds’ third seed stage-focused fund.
EWE serves about 3.9 million customers who are mostly situated in northern Germany. It hopes the move will provide information on digitalised services and potential growth in the energy, telecoms, mobility and IT sectors, with the aim of future-proofing its energy supply network by 2026.
HTGF is due to close its third fund, HTGF III, at an oversubscribed €310m ($367m), having reached a $275m first close in May 2017. The fund began investing in September, and each portfolio company could receive up to €3m in equity funding.
The fund’s 30 backers include Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy, development bank KfW, research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and 27 corporates including EWE and fellow energy supplier RWE, which made a seven-figure euro commitment last month through its RWE Generation subsidiary.
The fund’s other corporate backers include Altana, BASF, B.Braun, Büfa, CEWE, Dueutshce Postbank, Deutsche Post, Drillisch, Evonik, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, Lanxess, Phoenix Contact Group, Robert Bosch, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, Stihl Group, Vector Informatik and Wacker.
Guido Kühling, head of corporate development at EWE, said: “In HTGF, we have a partner at our side that will support our process of innovation and transformation through contact with startup companies and their solutions.”
Alex von Frankenberg, managing director of High-Tech Gründerfonds, added: “We are delighted to have EWE on board, an investor with years of experience and know-how in the key industries of energy, telecommunications and IT. We see great potential for synergy and collaborations with our portfolio.”
– The original version of this article appeared on our sister site, Global Government Venturing.