Germany-headquartered venture capital firm HV Capital has announced a €535m ($625m) eighth fund that, according to Sifted, featured publishing group Holtzbrinck among its limited partners.
HV Capital was founded in 2000 as Holtzbrinck’s corporate venturing unit before being spun off in 2010, and it said the latest fund brings its assets under management to about $2bn. The vehicle was revealed alongside its rebranding from Holtzbrinck Ventures.
The firm is expanding its investments through Fund VIII, which will allow it to back new companies at a later stage, primarily through series B and C rounds. It will also now look to supply up to €50m for later-stage portfolio companies.
In addition to Holtzbrinck, the fund was backed by institutional investors such as pension funds and university endowments in addition to private investors including the founders of several HV Capital’s portfolio companies.
The growth investments team will be led by general partner Christian Saller, who said: “The core of our investment strategy continues to be investing in the most promising digital startups in their early stages, ie. seed and series A, and then support them throughout their growth.
“In addition, Fund VIII also enables us to make new investments in series B and C rounds with investment sums ranging from €7m to €25m.”
Rainer Märkle, also a general partner at HV Capital, added: “The startup industry is different today than it was when HV was founded 20 years ago. We too have changed and steadily broadened our investment focus.
“Just how positively our commitment has been received within the startup scene is demonstrated by the fact that around 50 of the leading founders from the HV portfolio and network, including founders of Zalando, Flixbus and Trivago, are contributing a total of €20m to our new fund.”
