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
more than
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
Team GlassDollar
31. May 2023

GlassDollar connects leading corporations to cutting-edge startups to build the world of tomorrow

GlassDollar raises €2M (led by HTGF) to match startup solutions to corporate challenges and design the world of tomorrow. Through data, software and operational support, GlassDollar provides a Venture Clienting OS that helps corporate innovators use startup solutions to achieve tangible impact — on their organization and the world. Customers include leading innovation units at Bosch Siemens home-appliances, Volkswagen, A2A, LG, MTU and Infineon. In March, GlassDollar closed a
 
Press
30. May 2023

A European champion for fusion: Proxima Fusion spins out of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics

Munich, May 30th 2023 – Proxima Fusion, a fusion start-up that is designing fusion power plants based on the stellarator concept, completed its pre-seed fundraising of €7m. The fundraising is co-led by Plural and UVC Partners, and joined by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and the Wilbe Group. Proxima Fusion is the first spin-out from the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP). The startup was founded by former scientists and engineers from the Max Planck IPP, MIT, and Google-X. Th
 
Blog
Bild Simone Menne (c) Jim Rakete Klein
19. April 2023

Simone Menne in conversation: “We need to get back to basics again” 

Simone Menne is one of the most important voices on the subject of innovation in Germany. She has a really good understanding of the business landscape in this country. Having previously held roles as CFO of Lufthansa and Boehringer Ingelheim, today she is an active member of multiple supervisory boards and shares her expertise with a wide audience. She will also be the keynote speaker at High-Tech Gründerfonds’ Family Day taking place on 9 and 10 May in Bonn. Ahead of the event, we sat d
 
Blog
22. March 2023

HTGF’s 700th investment: How oculai is revolutionising the construction industry

Marking High-Tech Gründerfonds’ 700th investment, the start-up oculai is revolutionising the construction industry with its innovative AI technology. Four of Germany’s five largest construction companies are already working with the construction tech start-up. We sat down for a chat with oculai founder Constantin Kauffmann and HTGF Senior Investment Management Dominik Lohle. Constantin, congratulations on the successful financing round. Can you explain what oculai does exactly?
 
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
 

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.