WE INVEST IN PEOPLE.
VENTURE CAPITAL FOR HIGH-TECH FOUNDERS.
MADE IN GERMANY.

Seed investor for high-tech start-ups

HTGF is a venture capital investor for innovative technologies and business models. We successfully support the best founders whose ideas can revolutionise entire industries and improve people’s lives – from seed to exit.

more than
160
exits & IPOs
 
700
investments
about
1.4 B
Under management
more than
45
fund investors

As a seed investor, we have financed 700 start-ups in the industrial tech, digital tech, life sciences and chemicals sectors. We have overseen more than 160 exits, including IPOs. When founding your company together with us, you benefit from an experienced partner at your side.

We are a public–private partnership that works closely and successfully with companies from a wide range of industries. Our fund investors include medium-sized companies, family businesses and corporations. We provide them with access to innovative start-ups and technologies insights into deal flows and connections to our global network.

Our HTGF IV fund investors 

In addition to the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and KfW Capital, the investors in our fourth fund include 45 companies from a wide range of industries. Medium-sized companies in particular are strongly represented, along with many large corporations and family offices.

Our portfolio

Our investment companies are the heart of HTGF. We are proud of each and every one of them. Our investment managers have a direct line to the founders and are on hand with support and the entire HTGF network.

We see ourselves as a platform that offers young startups important added value in addition to flexible financing as part of the #HTGFFamily, tailored to their very individual needs.

HTGF shares its experience with us in matters of reporting, for example. That helps enormously when it comes to optimizing processes on the one hand and remaining transparent on the other. However, the investor never intervenes more deeply than necessary, so that our start-up momentum is maintained.
Dipl. Ing. Miriam Haerst Co-founder and managing partner
HTGF has developed a very rational and scientific approach to addressing problems in start-ups. I like that. The experience and the breadth of the portfolio make that possible.
Pierre Baqué Co-Founder / CEO – Neutral Concept Ltd.
Participating in HTGF’s network as a start-up cannot be overstated. We met our first customer at an HTGF event, even though we weren’t even in the portfolio at the time.
Philipp Bürling Founder Numaferm GmbH
HTGF has supported us unconditionally for many years. On the journey of a startup, many things develop differently than expected. We entrepreneurs therefore need a partner who supports us with advice and peace of mind to get up anew each time and make things better.
Philipp Roesch-Schlanderer Founder and managing director eGym
HTGF was the first investor who understood our idea and vision and invested pre-product.
Julia Bösch Founder and managing director OUTFITTERY
We really enjoy being at the HTPC every year. This is where we meet corporate champions from large industrial companies who pass us on to the relevant contacts. That’s worth its weight in gold for our business development.
Dr. Tim Pohlmann Founder and managing director IPlytics GmbH
At Family Day, we found a strong investor for our follow-on financing.
Felix Brand Founder and managing director CardioSecur

Insights

Press
17. March 2023

Covalo raises fresh capital to further drive sustainability and transparency in the consumer goods industry

Covalo is currently one of the world’s largest Personal Care ingredients platforms with over 70,000 listings from more than 1,000 suppliers. Covalo is already used by formulators from more than 5,000 brands such as Lush, L’Oréal or Drunk Elephant across 140 countries. Covalo has established strong ties with key industry associations such as COSMED in France, SKW in Switzerland, the leading fair organizer (Reed Exhibitions), as well as some of the major PLM (product life-cycle man
 
Press
16. March 2023

Successful exit for HTGF: Miltenyi Biotec acquires biosensor company lino Biotech

Zurich, March 16, 2023 – lino Biotech, a leading biosensor company and the world’s only provider of Focal Molography®, announced today it has been acquired by Miltenyi Biotec, a global biotech company based in Germany, on February 22, 2023. Since its founding in 2020, lino Biotech has made significant advances in developing new biosensors to facilitate quality control in bioprocessing, measuring viral load in cell & gene therapy manufacturing, and testing for off-target responses i
 
Blog
22. February 2023

Start-up Stories: From student to CEO

Get started. Just do it. Don’t let the possible consequences put you off. These are important first steps when transforming your idea into a business model. This is something Julius Harling knows all about. Julius is the CEO and founder of Graswald, a start-up that specialises in the digitalization of plants, trees and other natural elements. For example, game developers and programmers can reproduce entire ecosystems in detail – for movies, for games and for the metaverse. Julius came
 
Blog
22. February 2023

Space for new ideas: investment in new space

In his earlier career, Christian Ziach used to work on space missions. Now, he’s investing in start-ups taking off into space. The HTGF Principal is viewed as an expert in the field of new space. In this interview, he talks about his latest investment, sheds light on the commercial use of space, highlights opportunities for start-ups, and he also reveals how he once helped to bring a rock sample from space down to Earth. Christian, where does your fascination with space travel com
 
Blog
12. January 2023

MedTech Pitch Day 2023: Connecting Startups with Industry Leaders, Investors, and Decision-Makers

The MedTech Pitch Day, organised by HTGF, Dräger, B.Braun, Techniker Krankenkasse and the Health Innovation Port, is just around the corner. What can founders expect at the event and why should they definitely apply? We spoke to Anke Cassing, Principal at HTGF, and Jakob Lilienweiss, Investment Analyst at HTGF, to find out. The MedTech Pitch Day will take place on March 29th in Berlin. Can you tell us more about the event and what founders can expect? Anke: The event has develop
 
Event
9. May 2023
Family Day 2023
“New times, new heroes, building new champions” – this is the motto of this year’s Family Day on May 9 and 10 in Bonn. The event offers a wide range of new topics and formats and, with plenty of space for networking, is the perfect platform for cooperation and investment opportunities. Register now!
 

Our Exits

Finding a promising Start-up is our expertise, then leading it to a successful exit is our job. We are very proud of every sale, in most cases to grow further with even more energy.

We work as a team. Our investment managers contribute a great deal of experience and expertise. They are not only financing experts, but many of them have also founded their own companies or bring years of industry experience or specialized scientific know-how with them.

Our start-ups become part of the #HTGFFamily, one of the strongest networks in the high-tech venture sector, where we use our expertise to actively support growth, customer acquisition, hiring, co-investment and follow-up financing.

Become Part of the HTGF Family

Are you the founder of a high-tech start-up? Does your company match our industry focus and meet our investment criteria? Then we look forward to getting to know you and your company! Send us your pitch deck – we’ll be in touch.

Sector focus?

We invest in start-ups in the fields of industrial technology, digital tech, life sciences, chemistry or related areas.

Investment criteria?

Your start-up is less than three years old and is headquartered in Germany or – in the case of start-ups from other European countries – has a German base of operations.

Financing?

We invest flexibly according to the needs of the start-up.

Investment volume?

In the seed round up to 1 million euros. In total we can invest up to 4 million euros in a start-up.

Added Value?

We are sparring partners in all questions regarding the development of start-ups and will open doors for you.