German public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) achieved the first close of its third fund at €245m ($275m) on Tuesday with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
Development bank KfW also contributed to the vehicle, as did research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and 25 corporations.
The companies include chemicals companies Evonik, Lanxess, Altana, BASF, Wacker and Büfa, medical device maker B. Braun, industrial group Robert Bosch, photography services provider Cewe, mail company Deutsche Post DHL and telecoms firm Drillisch.
Conglomerates Haniel and Körber, furniture manufacturer Hettich, insulation provider Knauf, electrical engineering manufacturer Phoenix Contact, retail bank Postbank, molecular diagnostics technology developer Qiagen, software developer SAP and credit bureau Schufa also injected cash.
Retail conglomerate Schwarz Gruppe, which owns chains such as Lidl and Kaufland, also contributed, as did chainsaw producer Stihl, utility Thüga and software tools developer Vector Informatik.
Media + More Venture, a joint venture of publishers Badisches Pressehaus, Druck & Medien Heilbronn and Verlagsgruppe Rhein Main, has also put in capital.
High-Tech Gründerfonds III will begin investing in autumn 2017, when it will put up to €3m into startups, though it may choose to invest more in promising businesses.
The number of corporations participating in the third fund marks an increase over the 18 contributors for Fonds I and 26 for Fonds II.
Fund III has a target size of €300m, as previously reported by Global Government Venturing.
Michael Brandkamp, managing director of HTGF, said: “In addition to our financial commitment we support technology ventures by providing our team’s expertise and our resilient, international network of investors, experts, and (multiple) founders.
“We have performed transactions with more than 1,400 investors, accounting for five transactions a week and acquired €1.4bn for our portfolio. We stay connected and engaged with our portfolio and team alumni. These intense networking activities involve all relevant players of the startup and investor community and help us consolidate the HTGF III.”
– This article first appeared on our sister site Global Government Venturing.