From backpack start-up to platform: The success story of HTGF fund investor FOND OF To some, FOND OF is simply known as the backpack start-up, but the Cologne company sees itself as a platform for development, unleashing potential and personal growth. So what does that mean exactly? To find out, we asked Dr. Oliver Steinki, founder and Managing Director of …

Accelerator activities at SAP.iO: “Creating a win-win-win situation” Alexa Gorman is considered one of the world’s leading experts on start-ups. She began setting up a start-up program at SAP in 2017, and since May this year has been responsible for the software company’s global activities in this area in her role as Senior Vice President and Global Head SAP.iO Foundries …

Full speed ahead in the same boat – A talk about Simplaex and Numaferm’s cooperation Let’s be honest, for a seed investor like HTGF, it’s great when portfolio companies connect and then go on to work together. And that’s exactly what happened with digital agency Ogno, a product of Simplaex, and life sciences company Numaferm. We sat down for a …

What HTGF has to offer for start-ups (besides financing) With over 600 seed investments in almost 16 years, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is Germany’s most active seed investor. Its investment teams have strong ties with business and science. HTGF has long seen itself as a platform that offers start-ups outstanding benefits alongside financing. In this interview, HTGF Partner Claudia Raber sheds …

Start-up meets corporate – an interview discussing the successful collaboration between Userlane and B. Braun You could say that Alexander Katzung and Hartmut Hahn met by chance – and you’d be right, but it was in an organised setting. And it’s this idea that underpins the networking activities of High-Tech Gründerfonds when it brings together fund investors and portfolio companies. …

When you start looking for product-market fit, the rule of "n = 1" prescribes that you should initially focus on exactly one single customer.

Why pivoting is a radically good move and fundamentally important After more than 600 seed investments, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) has conducted a study to see how founders can perform a successful pivot. Managing Director Alex von Frankenberg presents the results together with his colleague and Senior Investment Manager Gregor Haidl. In addition, the two experts explain why pivoting is also …

Challenges and highlights of 2020 and an outlook for 2021 Overall, 2020 was a successful year for High-Tech Gründerfonds despite the difficult circumstances. And the seed investor just recently signed off on the best exit in its history. Managing Director Alex von Frankenberg takes a look back at the challenges and highlights of this past year and provides an outlook …

How passion and expertise led to a billion-euro exit As a High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) partner, Dr. Bernd Goergen has just signed the most successful exit in HTGF history. US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences is set to acquire German biotech start-up MYR for roughly EUR 1.15 billion. In this interview, he speaks about the fight against Hepatitis D, drug development and his own personal …

Successful Internationalisation Markus Kurch joined Crealytics as Chief Operating Officer in 2013. He was given the important task of internationalising the online marketing specialist’s business. Today, Crealytics has offices in New York, London and Berlin. In this interview, Kurch and HTGF Partner Romy Schnelle talk about their successes and setbacks and explain how the analytical approach adopted by the search …