Zentio raises 1.4 Million € pre-seed for AI-native production planning 

• Zentio raises €1.4 million in pre-seed funding, led by HTGF and supported by SI Ventures. 
• The AI-first platform structures and centralizes operational and machine data, enabling decision-makers to optimize production in real time, increase productivity, and minimize downtime. 
• Funding will accelerate team growth and technology development, including ML pipelines, mathematical optimization, and agent-based automation. 

Zentio announces a €1.4 million pre-seed funding round, a key step toward realizing the company’s vision of elevating European manufacturing through automation and intelligent decision-making. 

To deliver on this, Zentio enables AI-native production planning in real time. The system structures and centralizes the full range of operational, machine and production data through AI agents, creating a self-learning flywheel effect. This depth of data on shopfloor level provides decision-makers with the clarity and confidence they need to run operations with greater productivity.  

The round was led by HTGF (High Tech Gründerfonds), one of the most active early-stage investors in deep tech, industrial technology, and AI-based innovation. With more than 800 investments in technology-oriented startups, HTGF brings deep industry expertise, a strong industrial and manufacturing network, and extensive experience in building scalable industrial software. 

Additional support came from SIVentures, which brings deep experience in backing early-stage B2B technology startups. Together, the investors provide both strategic and operational support for Zentio’s next phase of growth. 

Why Zentio? 

European manufacturing is at a critical juncture. Every day, industrial companies face thousands of decisions, from small operational adjustments to major strategic shifts. Each choice creates cascading effects across the entire value chain: a change in shift scheduling affects machine utilization, which affects inventory levels, which impacts cash flow and storage costs. 

The reality is that these decisions are deeply interdependent. Yet no single person or existing system can oversee and simulate all these ripple effects in real time. Companies lack the resources to constantly calculate every scenario by hand, and the costs are staggering: millions lost to suboptimal planning, reduced productivity, excessive capital tied up in inventory, missed delivery deadlines, and underutilized capacity. 

European manufacturers need a new approach, one that doesn’t just digitize old processes, but fundamentally transforms how decisions are made.  

As Immo Polewka, co-founder and CCO at Zentio, explains, the best way to bridge this gap is by moving forward: “Our vision is to elevate the standard of decision-making in European manufacturing. By combining operational data with mathematical optimization and agentic automation, companies can plan ahead strategically and respond to disruptions with confidence.” This allows decision-makers to anticipate capacity needs weeks in advance, respond to machine breakdowns or material shortages with the best available options, and adjust shift schedules or machine settings in real time to increase output and minimize idle time. 

How Zentio Will Use the Funding 

The funding round will allow Zentio to strengthen existing partnerships and set the stage for long-term impact across European manufacturing. “Our main focus for the next months is to advance our core mathematical systems and ML pipelines and tie it all together with UX and agents. To achieve this, we’re expanding our team with ambitious engineers who want to join us on our mission to build the first generation of AI-native production planning.” says Christophe Kafrouni, Co-Founder and CTO of Zentio.  

Hendryk Hosemann, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF, adds: “Julian, Immo, and Chris showed us that Excel and other legacy tools still quietly run much of how the world works. Zentio turns messy ERP, MES and spreadsheet data into an AI-native planning layer that factories can trust. Their mix of AI-native thinking and deep manufacturing experience is exactly what we have been looking for in this space, and we are proud to partner with them on this journey.”

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About Zentio 
Zentio is a Berlin-based startup building an AI-powered production planning platform for manufacturing companies. Our mission is to empower factories to turn operational data into strategic advantage — improving productivity, adaptability, and decision quality at scale. Founded by Julian Rose, Immo Polewka and Christophe Kafrouni in 2025, Zentio is currently collaborating with a broad network of pilot customers and strategic partners across Europe to further accelerate their vision of AI-native production planning. 

Media contact Zentio 
Alexander Thiam 
+49 163 784 1991 
alexander.thiam@zentio.io 

About HTGF 
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.  
Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.  

Media contact HTGF 
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH 
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager  
+49 228 82300 121 
t.jacob@htgf.de  

About SIVentures 
SIVentures is a venture capital fund based in Leipzig that invests in early-stage technology startups across the DACH region. The fund focuses on B2B business models in the fields of energy, IT infrastructure, AI applications, and related sectors. Beyond providing capital, SIVentures actively supports its portfolio companies with hands-on strategic guidance, access to a broad network, and deep entrepreneurial expertise. 

FION Energy secures €1.4 million pre-seed round for AI-optimised battery systems, led by HTGF and Norrsken 

On average, European industry pays around 50% more for electricity than competitors in the US or China – a burden that puts production sites under pressure. The main reasons are fluctuating feed-in from wind and solar and a lack of flexibility on the consumption side in factories. 

Berlin-based cleantech startup FION Energy has developed a solution and closed a €1.4 million pre-seed funding round – led by HTGF and Norrsken Evolve, with participation from experienced business angels. FION uses battery storage systems to bring more flexibility to industrial energy demand – manufacturer-agnostic and AI-controlled for economically optimised operation. 

The fresh capital will accelerate roll-out, further development of the platform and team expansion in order to reduce energy costs and strengthen industrial sites. 

Industrial battery storage – simple, economical, intelligent 

Most industrial companies want to reduce their energy costs but run into technical complexity and high operational effort. FION offers an end-to-end solution – from site analysis and system sizing to procurement and installation of a turnkey battery system, all the way through to ongoing operations. 

The company’s proprietary AI dispatch engine learns consumption patterns, reads tariffs and market prices and controls the battery autonomously. This smooths load peaks, reduces grid fees and enables price arbitrage – without additional effort for the plant operators. 

The result: up to 50% lower electricity costs. 

Mission and outlook 

FION’s mission is to turn energy into a competitive advantage for industry – and make production in Europe economically attractive again. 

In the long term, FION is building a platform that connects industrial sites into an intelligent, decentralised energy network – where every factory not only consumes energy, but actively manages and markets it. 

Philipp Hamm, Co-Founder & Managing Director of FION Energy: “European industry is losing ground because of high electricity costs. With FION, energy becomes predictable and profitable again – our AI turns battery storage into a real competitive advantage.” 

Anne Umbach, Investment Manager at HTGF: “High energy costs are one of the biggest challenges for industry. FION offers a scalable solution that reduces costs and makes it easy to get started with battery storage. A strong team, a clear market – that’s why we are investing.” 

Rebecka Löthman Rydå, Partner at Norrsken Evolve: “We invested in FION Energy because their team combines deep energy-market expertise with a clear vision: making Europe’s industry greener and more competitive. Their battery and flexibility solutions reduce CO₂ and give industrial companies clear advantages in both cost and security of supply.” 

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About FION Energy 

FION Energy was founded in 2025 in Berlin. The cleantech startup makes industrial battery storage systems economical and easy to use – through manufacturer-independent project development and AI-optimised real-time operation. Target customers are industrial companies with an annual electricity consumption of more than 2 GWh. 
Several battery systems are already installed at industrial customer sites; further projects in Germany and across the EU are in the pipeline. 
Founding team: Philipp Hamm, Johannes Meriläinen, Dmytro Dzifuta 

Contact 
Philipp Hamm – Co-Founder | FION Energy 
Email: philipp@fion-energy.com 
Website: www.fion-energy.com 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds 
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of deep tech, industrial tech, climate tech, digital tech, life sciences and chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development on the way to becoming international market leaders. HTGF invests in the pre-seed and seed phase and can make significant follow-on investments in subsequent financing rounds. Since its launch in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF manages more than €2 billion in fund volume. 
The public-private partnership’s fund investors include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. Further information is available at HTGF.de or on LinkedIn. 

About Norrsken Evolve 
Norrsken Evolve is a pre-seed fund providing capital, world-class in-person sprints, and an outstanding network, to accelerate the founders who are building Europe’s future. 
We invest in founders and visionaries who will redefine how we generate energy, rebuild manufacturing, move goods, construct buildings, produce food, treat our sick, secure our information, protect democracy, and safeguard our societies from climate disruption. 
Europe stands at a defining moment. In the face of unprecedented risks, our economies, industries, and ways of living, must evolve. The founders we back will lead this evolution. 
Norrsken Evolve is part of Norrsken, one of Europe’s largest impact ecosystems founded by Niklas Adalberth, with houses in Stockholm, Barcelona, Brussels and Kigali. The latest Norrsken Evolve fund was 57m euros and backed by leading institutions like EIF, Saminvest and Smartcap. 

SereneDB Secures $2.1M Pre-Seed Funding to Challenge the Status Quo of Search and Analytics 

• Berlin-based database startup SereneDB has raised $2.1 million in a pre-seed funding round from venture funds Entourage and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). 
• The company is challenging the status quo in analytics by building a real-time search & OLAP database to power modern analytical and AI applications. 
• Committed to an open-source development approach, this investment will allow SereneDB to set a new industry standard, empowering data enthusiasts and businesses with faster, deeper, real-time data understanding. 

The database startup SereneDB has closed its pre-seed funding round, raising $2.1 million. The round was led by venture funds Entourage and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).  

The team is leveraging its expertise from creating the world’s fastest enterprise grade C++ search library to build the engine for next-generation data applications. The company will use the investment to pursue its core mission: building a dedicated database for real-time search and analytics, redefining current industry standards. 

Most search and analytics tools were built to find single, static items, not to analyze fast-changing, complex data. They struggle with real-time updates and deletions and they force teams to stitch together searches, caches and dashboards. The result is slow answers, brittle pipelines and insights that arrive out of date. 

SereneDB brings live data and deep analysis into one system. It fuses a powerful and versatile search engine with modern OLAP execution under the standard PostgreSQL umbrella, handles real-time ingestion with correct updates and deletes, and returns complex results in milliseconds. While people and AI agents can ask better questions on most recent data, companies reduce tooling, cost and operational risk by using simple and standardized SQL tools and APIs. 

This funding advances SereneDB’s commitment to open-source development, giving the data community a voice in shaping the technology while benefiting fairly from its progress. By enabling trustworthy, real-time insights at any point in the data life cycle, SereneDB aims to set a new practical standard for modern analytics. 

Andrey Abramov, Co-Founder at SereneDB, says: “We have grown from a personal project in 2014 into the exceptional team we are today. Our shared purpose has always been to make true real-time analytics a reality. Partnering with Entourage and HTGF gives us the resources to turn this goal into reality, and we appreciate their trust as we deliver on our mission.” 

Pieterjan Bouten, Founder and Managing Partner at Entourage, says: “SereneDB’s team has spent years in the trenches of information retrieval, where breakthroughs are rare. They’ve earned their position with core search technology addressing a critical layer of tech that is often overlooked. Unlocking this data foundation paves the way for a wave of new applications. SereneDB is building that infrastructure, and they have the grit to see it through.” 

Hendryk Hosemann, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF, says: “As AI becomes central to every software product, engineering teams need the ability to query, analyze, and understand live data in real time at scale. SereneDB is redefining AI-memory infrastructure with search and analytics accessible to everyone through PostgreSQL. It’s incredibly rare to find a team that is both able and daring enough to build at this depth, and we’re proud to back them as they redefine what modern databases can deliver.” 

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About SereneDB 
SereneDB is a German company founded in 2025 by Alexander Malandin, Andrey Abramov and Valery Mironov. SereneDB is building the open-sourced distributed, real-time search database bringing search and analytical processing together for fast performance and eliminating data duplication. SereneDB’s mission is to provide an easy-to-use unified search and analytics solution to change the way applications store and retrieve their data. 

For more information, visit www.serenedb.com, check the GitHub repository or follow SereneDB on LinkedIn. 

Media contact  
Alexander Malandin CEO, SereneDB 
T.: +49 152 – 28355 – 280 
m@serenedb.com 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds  
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. 

For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.  

Media contact  
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH  
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager   
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121  
t.jacob@htgf.de    

About Entourage 
Entourage is an early-stage investment fund founded by Pieterjan Bouten (co-founder of Showpad). It is dedicated to building and funding the next generation of B2B SaaS companies that drive enterprise growth and digital transformation.

Its portfolio includes Aikido (cybersecurity), Lexroom (legal tech), and Conveo (market research). 

Entourage is backed by a network of highly successful (unicorn) SaaS founders, including Jason Lemkin (SaaStr), Stijn Christiaens (Collibra), Matthias Geeroms (Lighthouse), Jan Hollez (Deliverect),… 

Media contact  
Entourage VC 
Evert Beeckman, Co-Founder and Partner at Entourage 
T.: +32 473 66 46 41  
evert@entourage.io  

AILOS Robotics raises €3.5 million seed round to become Europe’s gearbox manufacturer for modern, human-centric robots 

• AILOS Robotics secures €3.5M to bring lighter, safer, and more energy-efficient actuation to next-generation robots. 
• Spin-off from VUB’s BruBotics, supported by QBIC, HTGF, Wallonie Entreprendre, and finance&invest.brussels, uniting Belgian and German deep-tech investors. 
• Funding enables industrialisation and pilot projects around AILOS’ patented R2poweR gearbox for humanoids, cobots, exoskeletons and prosthetic devices. 

AILOS Robotics has raised €3.5 million to industrialize a new class of robotic gearboxes that combine the agility of  quasi-direct drives  with a far higher torque density. This breakthrough enables robots that are lighter, safer, more affordable, and more energy-efficient. 

The seed round is led by QBIC and High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), with participation from Wallonie Entreprendre and finance&invest.brussels, reinforcing Europe’s commitment to developing local, strategic component supply for the rapidly growing humanoid and collaborative robotics markets.  

“Modern robots demand a new category of actuation,” said Pablo López García, CEO and co-founder of AILOS Robotics. “We combine quasi-direct drive-like backdrivability with the high torque density of advanced gearing,  finally removing one of the main barriers to agile, lightweight, and safe robots that can operate alongside humans.” 

AILOS is a spin-off from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and its BruBotics research powerhouse. After a decade of research supported by VLAIO (Flanders) and Innoviris (Brussels), the company has built and validated its Minimum Viable Product (MVP) — the R2poweR gearbox. 

Designed for humanoids, cobots, exoskeletons, and prosthetic devices, the R2poweR architecture: 

• Enables smooth human-friendly interaction (low backdrive torque) 
• Provides extreme torque density for highly loaded joints 
• Reduces robot weight, energy demand, and noise 
• Supports low-cost industrialization and future scalability 
• Is ideally suited for high-volume robotics manufacturing 

AILOS is now moving from lab to factory, and actively engaging: 

• Robot manufacturers — seeking first pilot projects 
• Industrial partners — for joint manufacturing and supply chain scale-up 
• Investors — supporting EU leadership in strategic automation technologies 

“AILOS addresses one of the biggest bottlenecks in humanoid and collaborative robotics,” said Cédric Van Nevel, Partner at QBIC. “Europe needs strong hardware manufacturers, and this team has the technology, IP position, and industrial vision to deliver. We are happy to support the founding team in bringing years of academic research to the market.” 

Anne Umbach, Investment Manager at HTGF, said: “AILOS has the potential to become a new European tech champion – despite the challenge of entering the market as a component supplier within an established value chain. Their hardware-level innovation unlocks a unique combination of mechanical parameters, addressing key challenges faced by robot manufacturers in the future markets of cobots and humanoid systems. We’re investing in strong IP and a diverse, ambitious team with a clear technological vision.” 

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About AILOS Robotics 
AILOS Robotics builds the next generation of robotic actuators through its patented R2poweR gearbox — combining quasi-direct drive-like agility with class-leading torque density. Originating from the VUB BruBotics research group and backed by strong EU innovation programs, AILOS delivers the core component for safer, lighter, more sustainable and more affordable robots. 

Website: [www.ailos-robotics.com] 
Press contact: pablo@ailos-robotics.com 

This operation benefits from the support from the European Union under the InvestEU Fund 

About QBIC 
Qbic is a sector-agnostic seed and early-stage venture capital fund, focusing on creating impact through the transformation of technological breakthroughs into sustainable business. The fund’s goal is to support young innovative companies that valorize research from Qbic’s knowledge partners. The fund typically participates in the first external investment round of a company and continues to support and invest in these companies throughout their growth. Across 3 funds, Qbic has close to € 200M in AUM. For more information, please visit www.qbic.be. 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds  
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros. 

Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.    

About finance&invest.brussels 
finance&invest.brussels is a Brussels public limited company that supports the creation and growth of businesses in the Brussels-Capital Region. It intervenes at strategic moments in their development by facilitating and complementing the financing chain of microenterprises, self-employed workers, spinoffs, start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs through loans, equity investments and guarantees. Its shareholding combines the Brussels-Capital Region, leading financial institutions and major Brussels corporates, ensuring both a strong public anchor and solid private support. The objective: to stimulate the Brussels economy, foster employment and support the transition towards more sustainable and inclusive economic models. 

About VUB 
Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an internationally oriented university in Brussels, the heart of Europe. By providing excellent research and education on a human scale, VUB wants to make an active and committed contribution to a better society. The Vrije Universiteit Brussel assumes its scientific and social responsibility with love and decisiveness. That’s why VUB launched the platform De Wereld Heeft Je Nodig – The World Needs You, which brings together ideas, actions and projects based on six Ps. The first P stands for People, because that’s what it’s all about: giving people equal opportunities, prosperity, welfare, respect. Peace is about fighting injustice, big and small, in the world. Prosperity combats poverty and inequality. Planet stands for actions on biodiversity, climate, air quality, animal rights… With Partnership, VUB is looking for joint actions to make the world a better place. The sixth and last P is for Poincaré, the French philosopher Henri Poincaré, from whom VUB derives its motto that thinking should submit to nothing except the facts themselves. VUB is an ‘urban engaged university’, strongly anchored in Brussels and Europe and working according to the principles of free research. www.vub.be/dewereldheeftjenodig 

Marble Imaging has raised €5.3 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round, powering its mission to become Europe’s leading source of very high-resolution Earth Observation data and insights. 

• Under the leadership of High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Marble has successfully closed its oversubscribed €5.3 million seed round, exceeding initial funding targets. 
• The funding supports Marble in scaling operations, accelerating product and technological developments for its upcoming satellite constellation. The first Marble satellite is scheduled for a 2026 launch. 
• This marks another major milestone for the company founded in August 2023, following more than €10 million in non-dilutive funding and the signing of Marble’s first anchor contract with ESA valued at €3 million. 

“Marble Imaging is addressing a critical European capability gap in the very-high resolution domain and I do not see any other company tackling it faster than Marble does. The need for independent, timely and VHR optical data will only increase in the coming years and I’m happy to support the founders building a European star for a global market”, says Koen Geurts, Senior Investment Manager at HTGF. 

HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe. Its fund investors include numerous corporations and family offices, as well as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and KfW Capital. 

In addition, Marble has attracted a strong group of further investors who share the mission, including BAB Beteiligungs- und Management-gesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM), Lightfield Equity, Oslo Venture Company, nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen, Sentris Capital, Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund and SpaceFounders. 

The investment will enable Marble to significantly scale its development team and accelerate completion of its intelligence, maritime, and trafficability tools – solutions that already serve early customers and are now being prepared for broad commercial rollout. It will also support the build-out of Marble’s end-to-end data-processing chain and customer data portal, ensuring a seamless experience for initial users. The funding positions Marble to finalize its rapidly growing pipeline of data customers and be fully commercial-ready at the launch of satellite number one. Additionally, it will allow Marble to expand its operational expertise and establish a dedicated operations center for its planned satellite constellation. 

“We’re very happy to welcome a strong European investor consortium that will help drive the growth of our dual-use Earth Observation solutions”, says Robert Hook, Chief Executive Officer of Marble and Co-Founder. “With this round, we can speed up the enhancement of our capabilities to keep pace with rapidly rising demand.” 

The first Marble satellite, which will deliver very high-resolution multispectral data, is scheduled to be launched in Q4 2026. Marble Imaging plans to gradually expand its own constellation to up to 20 satellites by the end of 2028. 

The demand for strong and innovative sovereign solutions from Europe now runs through nearly all major institutions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the fields of security and climate tech, where the need for timely, very high-resolution Earth Observation data and advanced AI-powered analytics has become immense. 

The company led by Co-founders Robert Hook, Dr. Gopika Suresh, and Alexander Epp has reached another key milestone with the successful closing of the round, attracting not only prominent business angels and institutional investors but also generating strong enthusiasm among leading venture capital firms. 

Earlier, the Marble team had already gained attention by securing more than €10 million in non-dilutive funding for the development and launch of its first satellite – financing obtained through the DLR Small Satellite Payload Competition and ESA InCubed. The company further validated the strong demand for high-quality European data and analytics with its first €3 million anchor contract under ESA’s Copernicus Contributing Missions program. 

Due to being oversubscribed, not all investors could participate in this round but to accelerate the build-out of the constellation, Marble is preparing a Series A – offering a new opportunity to become part of the company’s growing success story. 

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About Marble Imaging
Marble Imaging is a big-data EO company founded in August 2023 in Bremen, Germany, building its constellation of VHR satellites to provide up to hourly EO data and analytics for time critical insights of our planet. The data and derived EO-based analytics will be vital in supporting rapid decision-making with regard to defence, climate security, crises & disaster management, green and sustainable energy transitions, infrastructure and mobility and much more. Marble already offers advanced data analysis services, including object detection for situational intelligence, terrain analytics and trafficability assessment, coastal asset monitoring and land cover classification. 

Press contact: 
Alexander Epp
alex@marble-imaging.de 

For more information, please visit https://www.marble-imaging.de 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds 
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds.  Since  its inception in  2005,  HTGF  has  financed around  800  startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros. Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. 

For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn. 

About BAB Beteiligungs- und Managementgesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM) 
In order to promote the innovative strength of the Bremen economy, the Senator for Economics, Ports and Transformation has set up the “EFRE Beteiligungsfonds Bremen II” and commissioned BAB Beteiligungs- und Managementgesellschaft Bremen mbH (BBM) to manage it. The funding is granted in the form of open investments and additional subordinated loans. These include up to 40% funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). BBM is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bremer Aufbau-Bank GmbH (BAB). BAB – the promotional bank for Bremen and Bremerhaven – in turn supports the State of Bremen in matters of regional development, as well as structural and economic policy, and supports companies through all stages of their development. In partnership with local banks and Sparkassen, BAB focuses on all economic activities that are in the interest of the federal state of Bremen. 

For more information, please visit www.bab-bremen.de 

About Lightfield Equity GmbH & Co. KG 
Lightfield Equity GmbH & Co. KG is an entrepreneurial-led family office investing its own capital in innovative startups. Lightfield backs ambitious founders with patient, hands-on capital to turn strong technologies and business models into resilient, scalable companies. With a clear, disciplined investment approach and a long-term mindset, Lightfield focuses on real value creation. 

About Oslo Venture Company 
Oslo Venture Company partners with ambitious founders to build and back early stage ventures, combining hands-on strategic support with access to capital. We are entrepreneurs at heart, and our team brings experience in strategy, design, and technology to help founders increase value from day one. Through our curated network of angel investors, we also enable investments into high-potential startups, reflecting our commitment to backing teams and technologies that push industries forward. 

For more information, please visit https://osloventurecompany.com 

About nwk | nwu Beteiligungsgesellschaften der Sparkasse Bremen 
nwk | nwu are two investment companies wholly owned by the Sparkasse Bremen Group. Since 25 years, we have been acquiring minority stakes in companies in Northern Germany and across the country, without a specific industry focus. Currently, nwk | nwu’s portfolio comprises 26 companies. We provide equity capital without time limits, as well as mezzanine capital or a combination thereof, to medium-sized businesses, without any strategic interests. 

For more information, please visit https://www.nwk-nwu.de/ 

About Sentris Capital 
Sentris Capital is an investment firm focused on single- and dual-use technologies in resilience, defence, and aerospace. With a team joint portfolio of more than 20 investments, we actively source and evaluate VC and PE opportunities across these sectors on a pan-European scale. 

For more information, please visit https://www.sentriscapital.com/ 

About Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund 
Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund is Germany’s first gender-focused venture capital fund, investing in the next generation of female-(co-)founded companies driving systemic change. With €45 million in assets under management and 35 investments to date, Auxxo backs Europe’s most promising female-led startups at pre-seed and seed stage – combining alpha and impact to back tomorrow‘s category leaders. Auxxo drives equitable participation of women as founders and investors in venture capital – powered by network, experience, and wholeheartedness. 

For more information visit, please visit https://auxxo.de/ 

About SpaceFounders 
SpaceFounders is an acceleration program – a partnership between the French Space Agency (CNES), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and Bundeswehr University Munich and a platform to connect private and public sector pioneers shaping the future of space. As an investment activity, SpaceFounders is the venture arm of the French Space Agency (CNES). 

For more information visit, please visit https://spacefounders.eu/ 

HTGF portfolio company FMC raises €100 million to set new standards for memory chips 

Semiconductor pioneer FMC has closed one of the largest capital rounds in the European semiconductor sector: A total of around €100 million will flow into the commercialization of its highly innovative memory chip technology. The oversubscribed Series C round comprises €77 million in equity capital, led by HV Capital and the DeepTech & Climate Fund (DTCF), as well as €23 million in public funds. 

HTGF recognized FMC’s potential very early on and became the first institutional investor during the seed phase in 2017, strengthening its commitment in the Series A round in 2018 with the fund’s then-largest single ticket. Since then, HTGF has closely supported the company. FMC demonstrates how deep-tech innovations from Germany can reach international markets and strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty. 

With the fresh capital, FMC will accelerate the commercialization of its DRAM+ and 3D-CACHE+ memory chips and expand its global activities. AI data centers are expected to consume enormous amounts of energy in the future – FMC’s chips can significantly reduce this consumption by optimizing data transfer and increasing compute efficiency. System efficiency and processing speed for energy-intensive AI applications could improve by more than 100%. FMC’s memory chips have the chance to become the new industry standard in the €100+ billion memory chip market. 

Memory chips have become a strategically crucial technology that is currently being dominated exclusively by South Korea, the U.S., and Taiwan, with China rapidly catching up. So far, Europe has not had a significant presence in this critical semiconductor segment. With FMC, a credible player is now emerging in Silicon Saxony with the ambition to close this strategic gap from within Europe. 

Thomas Rückes, CEO of FMC: 
“We are working on the next generation of memory chips and system solutions that are not only more sustainable and energy efficient, but also faster and less expensive than the current industry standard. While bandwidth has so far been the dominant metric of AI compute, energy efficiency is now becoming the key factor for the next generation of AI. Memory chips are the main bottleneck in the AI stack. FMC’s DRAM+ and 3D CACHE+ technology addresses precisely this issue: Faster and more energy efficient than established products. Securing an equity financing of this magnitude emphasizes the significance of our technology, and we are grateful to have earned the trust of leading deep-tech investors for our vision.” 

Yann Fiebig, Partner at HTGF: 
“We are delighted that FMC has secured the resources to bring its highly innovative memory chip technology to global markets. As a seed investor, we have closely supported the company since 2017. FMC shows how German research can give rise to a global tech champion – a pioneering example of deep-tech innovation that strengthens technological sovereignty in Germany and Europe.” 

Romy Schnelle, Managing Director at HTGF: 
“Our mission is clear: Identify future industries early, finance the best technologies, and secure value creation for Germany and Europe. FMC is an excellent example of how deep-tech innovations from Germany can reach global markets. Memory chips are a key technology for the AI era – developing them in Europe is crucial to securing technological sovereignty. This requires strong networks, globally minded collaborations, and the mobilization of private capital through the leverage of public funding.” 

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About FMC 
FMC is a leading semiconductor and memory chip company based in Dresden, founded in 2016 to develop a revolutionary memory chip technology. Based on the thin-film material hafnium oxide, the company has created a new class of memory cells with its DRAM+ chip – more sustainable, faster, and cost-efficient. Thanks to its extremely low power consumption, the technology significantly reduces the energy demand of AI data centers, laying the foundation for their scale-up in Europe and worldwide. FMC is now a fabless company, meaning it designs, develops, and markets its own products while outsourcing production to contract manufacturers (chip foundries). FMC is backed by investors including HV Capital, the DeepTech & Climate Fund (DTCF), Vsquared Ventures, eCAPITAL, Bosch Ventures, Air Liquide Venture Capital, M Ventures (Merck), Verve Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Korean memory chip company SK hynix, semiconductor equipment manufacturer TEL, and other international investors. The company is led by CEO Thomas Rückes.  
For more information, visit ferroelectric-memory.com. 

Media contact FMC 
Torben Gosau, Kekst CNC 
torben.gosau@kekstcnc.com 

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds  
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.  
Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices.   
For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.    

Media contact  
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH  
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager   
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121  
t.jacob@htgf.de    

dotega receives million-euro financing for the expansion of its PropTech platform for homeowners’ self-administration of shared properties

Stuttgart-based PropTech start-up dotega raises €1.3 million in fresh capital: Together with HTGF, one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, and experienced PropTech investors, including the founders of casavi, the Stuttgart-based start-up is continuing to drive forward the digital transformation of self-administration of appartment owners’ associations in Germany (Wohnungseigentümergemeinschaft or WEG for short).

With the completion of the pre-seed financing round, dotega has received a boost for the further expansion of its PropTech platform for the smart self-management of homeowners’ associations.

“This financing is a strong signal for us – it confirms once again that we are solving a real market problem and have gained the trust of leading investors,” says Niklas Mocker, co-founder and managing director of dotega. “With the support of HTGF and experienced PropTech investors, we can accelerate our growth in a targeted manner, scale our product and establish self-management as a real alternative to traditional property management.”

Together with co-founder Lina Albert, Mocker is consistently driving forward the Germany-wide expansion and technological development of the platform – always with the aim of maximizing the automation of processes in WEG management and significantly reducing the administrative burden. “WEGs should have access to first-class management – at minimal monthly cost,” emphasizes Lina Albert, co-founder of dotega.

dotega is rethinking WEG management: digital, independent, legally compliant

Property managers refuse, owners despair—small appartment associations are left to fend for themselves. WEGs with 2 to 20 units are particularly affected. dotega achieves what the market refuses to do: a digital solution for self-management with backup. The intuitive web app gives owners access to all key functions: from automated annual statements and legally compliant draft resolutions to transparent business plans and digital owners’ meetings.

The focus is on three principles: legal certainty, user-friendliness, and independence from traditional property management companies.

Around 10 million residential and commercial units in Germany are organized in WEGs – a huge market that has hardly been tapped digitally to date. This is exactly where dotega comes in: as the first scalable platform for the complete and legally compliant self-management of small owner associations.

The solution takes care of all central commercial and technical administrative tasks – from billing to meetings – and expands these to include technical support for renovation, value preservation, and energy efficiency measures.

Max Bergmann, Investment Manager at HTGF, comments: “dotega addresses a key challenge in the real estate sector: small WEGs urgently need efficient and affordable digital solutions. We got to know the ambitious team early on and are convinced by the combination of their technological approach, strong implementation skills, and deep market understanding. This enables dotega to drive forward the transformation in this previously largely undigitized field and create real added value. We are delighted to be joining the team as lead investor on this journey.” 

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About dotega
dotega is the first provider of fully digitalized self-management for apartment owners’ associations. The PropTech company, based in Stuttgart, enables apartment owners’ associations to organize their administration independently, legally compliant, and efficiently—without a traditional administrator. With this approach, dotega aims to provide small and medium-sized appartment owners’ associations with up to 20 units—which today can hardly find a professional property manager—with access to a transparent and legally compliant administration solution. The platform is seen as a response to structural market failure in the property management industry and offers a digital, future-oriented alternative to traditional property management. 

For more information about dotega and the founding team, visit www.dotega.de.

Media contact
Niklas Mocker, CEO & Founder
presse@dotega.de
https://www.dotega.de/presse/

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros. Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.

Media contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH 
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager  
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121 
t.jacob@htgf.de    

The Next Battery Moment: BTRY Raises $5.7 Million to Industrialize Ultra-Thin Solid-State Cells

Swiss battery start-up BTRY AG has raised $5.7 million in an oversubscribed seed round. The funds will accelerate the industrialization of its ultra-thin solid-state batteries – a new category of energy storage combining fast charging, extreme temperature stability, and intrinsic safety in one of the world’s thinnest formats. They power next-generation devices such as connected labels, wireless sensors, and wearables — applications where conventional batteries could not fit or endure.

The round was led by Redstone VC, a European deep-tech venture capital firm, with participation from Bloomhaus Ventures, Linear Capital, Kickfund, Kick Foundation, and the CustomCells founders Leopold König and Torge Thönnessen as new investors. Existing investors HTGF (High-Tech Gründerfonds) and Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) renewed their commitment, reinforcing confidence in BTRY’s technology and market potential.

BTRY will use the funds to scale production to industrial roll-to-roll manufacturing, transforming its thin-film batteries into market-ready products. The company is now focusing on establishing its production set-up, advancing industrial processes, and securing offtake agreements for integration in next-generation devices.

“The oversubscribed round confirms strong investor confidence from experienced deep-tech and industrial backers. Working closely with this international consortium will enable us to transform world-class research into a scalable product,” said Dr. Moritz Futscher, CEO and Co-Founder of BTRY AG.

From Lab to Line: Solid State Redefines Li-Ion Battery Performance

BTRY’s thin-film solid-state batteries combine ultra-fast charging, temperature resilience, and non-flammable safety, outperforming today’s lithium-ion cells. By applying solid-state technology from semiconductor production to battery manufacturing, BTRY represents a leap in the global trend toward thinner, safer, and longer-lasting batteries that enable more reliable, compact, and connected devices.

“Potential customers are ready with their next-generation solutions, like active badges in logistics. What they need is a small, powerful, and safe battery – exactly what BTRY offers. We believe the company has not only the potential but the proof to set a new standard for high-performance energy storage and are excited to support its journey toward industrial scale,” said Mohamed Foulser, Investment Director at Redstone VC.

They operate safely at temperatures up to 150 °C, where conventional cells fail, swell, or catch fire. Starting at just 0.1 mm thickness, they charge within one minute, directly powering wireless transmissions without additional capacitors.

“BTRY is a perfect example of Swiss deep-tech at its best – science-driven, bold, and globally relevant. The founding team combines deep scientific expertise with entrepreneurial grit. Their combination of material innovation and industrial scalability makes them a frontrunner in Europe’s next generation of battery companies,” said Pascal Stürchler, CEO at Bloomhaus Ventures.

“In just two years, BTRY has moved from prototypes to repeatable production and clear customer use cases. The combination of deep materials science and manufacturing excellence is truly rare. We’re proud to have backed this exceptional team from the very beginning and are excited to continue supporting them as their scientific breakthroughs translate into real industrial impact and scale,” adds Timo Bertsch, Investment Manager at HTGF.

The Next Battery Moment: Small, Sustainable, and Strategic

Unlike large-scale energy storage for electric vehicles and grids, BTRY powers next-generation solutions such as smart connected labels, high-temperature industrial sensors, and light consumer electronics. For these high-value applications, miniaturization and longevity of the power supply matter most.

BTRY’s manufacturing approach also achieves high sustainability standards with its solvent-free production and low material waste. Backed by an international group of investors uniting deep-tech expertise and industrialization know-how, BTRY is driving the next Battery Moment: scalable, high-end energy storage developed in Switzerland and built for global impact.

“Asia has been leading the way in battery manufacturing for decades, but innovations like BTRY’s show that Europe can compete through advanced materials and precision processes. We see strong potential for collaboration between Asian manufacturing expertise and BTRY’s pioneering solid-state technology,” said Tianyi Zhou, Principal at Linear Capital.

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About BTRY
BTRY AG is a deep-tech spin-off from Empa and ETH Zurich developing ultra-thin solid-state lithium-ion batteries that operate safely at high temperatures, enable ultra-fast charging, and feature an exceptionally thin form factor for next-generation devices. Founded in 2023, the company has grown into a 14-person team combining deep battery expertise, industrial scale-up experience, and strong business acumen.

BTRY’s mission is to electrify applications previously limited by the battery such as active logistics tags, high-temperature industrial sensors, MedTech applications, and light consumer electronics.

Follow us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/btry-ag

Contact
Moritz Futscher
moritz@btry.ch

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in the pre-seed and seed phase and can participate significantly in further financing rounds, since 2024 with the HTGF Opportunity growth fund. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and successfully sold shares in 200 companies.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital and numerous companies are invested in the HTGF seed funds. Investors in the HTGF Opportunity growth fund include the ERP Special Fund and KfW with the resources of the Zukunftsfonds (“Future Fund”). Further information can be found at HTGF.de or on LinkedIn and on the Zukunftsfonds page. 

Media contact 
High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH 
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager  
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121 
t.jacob@htgf.de    

Reflex Aerospace Secures Record €50 Million Series A to Advance Europe’s Sovereign Space Capabilities

The largest Series A in European New Space will accelerate the development and deployment of ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) and communications satellites, closing critical gaps in Europe’s strategic autonomy.

Reflex Aerospace, a German manufacturer of high-performance satellite platforms, today announced the successful closing of its €50 million Series A funding round. The funding round is the largest Series A in the European New Space sector to date.

The funding, led by Human Element together with Alpine Space Ventures, Bayern Kapital, HTGF, Renovatio Financial Investments, as well as additional German and European investors, will accelerate the development, production, and deployment of sovereign satellite constellations providing Optical, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), Space Domain Awareness (SDA), and Signal Intelligence (SIGINT) capabilities. Part of the financing round will be used to expand existing manufacturing capacity in Bavaria to manufacture satellite constellations for intelligence and communications purposes. Reflex Aerospace aims to have all capabilities ready for deployment and demonstrated in orbit by 2027.

“Europe cannot afford to remain reliant on external actors for space-based intelligence,” said Walter Ballheimer, CEO of Reflex Aerospace. “We will invest our own capital, we will work with the best partners in their respective domains, and we will act now because in the current environment, there is no time to waste.”

From NATO and the EU to the German government, recent announcements across multiple political levels underline the strategic imperative driving Reflex Aerospace’s mission. As the EU plans to launch its European Space Shield Initiative in 2026, the German Federal Ministry of Defence (Bundesministerium der Verteidigung) announced in September that Germany will invest roughly €35 billion (approximately US $41 billion) in space-related defence projects through 2030. In his address, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized that satellite networks are an “Achilles heel of modern societies.”

Against this backdrop, Europe faces an urgent need for independent access to space-based intelligence. Global instability has exposed the risks of reliance on external providers for critical geospatial data. Reflex Aerospace aims to close these gaps by dramatically improving lead times, resilience, and sovereignty of Europe’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) infrastructure.

“While Europe is rebuilding its sovereign defense capabilities, Reflex is transforming how satellites are built, designing payload-centric buses that can be rapidly manufactured without costly megafactories,” said Christian Sullivan, Managing Partner of Human Element. “Their approach delivers the flexibility and speed needed to meet the growing ISR demand across Germany and allied markets.”

Reflex Aerospace’s first remote sensing satellite reached orbit in January 2025. Upcoming satellites will be designed and built using Reflex’s next-generation Praetora platform architecture developed specifically for critical ISR missions. The company is modernizing spacecraft manufacturing for faster design, production and deployment with a strong focus on maintaining sovereign control over supply chain, manufacturing and command operations in Europe.

Christian Ziach, Principal at HTGF, said: “Reflex is addressing exactly the capabilities Europe needs now—rapidly scalable, mission-critical satellite platforms. Against this backdrop, the largest Series A round in the European New Space sector is a strong signal for scaling up. We are proud to have supported Reflex since the seed phase.”

About Reflex Aerospace
Reflex Aerospace is a manufacturer of high-performance, payload-specific platforms for commercial and defense applications. Based in Berlin and Munich, the company specializes in applying modern manufacturing techniques to reduce lead times and improve performance for critically important space infrastructure. Reflex Aerospace is committed to enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy through innovation, speed, and sovereign capability development.

More information can be found at www.reflexaerospace.com

Sam Bender
Reflex Aerospace
Head of Marketing & Communications
Email: press@reflexaerospace.com

Scavenger AI Secures €2.5M to Let Every Employee Talk to Their Company Data 

• €2.5 million seed funding led by BMH, with participation from HTGF, Calm/Storm Ventures, xdeck, and a public innovation grant 
• The Frankfurt startup builds a tool that lets any employee query quantitative company data instantly no coding or analytics skills required 
• Built specifically for Europe’s SMEs with GDPR certification, data transparency, and customizable AI models tailored  to each business 

SMEs don’t need more tools, they need answers. Scavenger AI delivers them by closing the 70% business intelligence (BI) gap with a natural-language platform that makes data speak human. Across Europe, small and mid-sized companies sit on mountains of untapped data, but insights remain locked behind technical barriers and missing data talent. Scavenger AI has raised €2.5 million in seed funding to make company data as easy to access as asking a question.  

The round was led by BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH (BMH), with participation from xdeck, a public innovation fund, and existing Investors High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and  Calm/Storm Ventures. The company will use the funds to address a €2.45 billion European market opportunity, accelerate product development, expand across Europe, and make enterprise-grade analytics accessible to every SME. 

Making Enterprise Data as Simple as Asking a Question 

Founded by Felix Beissel and Maximilian Hahnenkamp (Forbes 30 Under 30), Scavenger addresses the biggest pain point of many companies: the gap between data availability and data usability. Many businesses rely on multiple systems (ERP, CRM, SQL databases) to store their information, but accessing this data requires technical skills or long waits from IT teams. Scavenger AI turns every employee into a data analyst. Across finance, operations, and sales, it’s replacing spreadsheets and dashboards with one simple interface. Teams no longer dig through systems or wait for reports; they just ask, “How are cost centers trending?” or “Which projects are off budget and why?” Scavenger answers in seconds, with full transparency. 

“Our goal is simple: any employee should be able to make smart, data-driven decisions without needing to write a single line of code,” says co-founder Maximilian Hahnenkamp. “We are the European counter-model to the U.S. tech companies. Europe’s SMEs deserve AI that’s secure, explainable, and built around their needs, not a black box,” adds co-founder Felix Beissel. 

Built for Europe’s Backbone: SMEs 

Scavenger already fuels data intelligence at leading companies, including Telekom, Mann & Schröder and Wangen Pumpen. Built in Europe for European businesses, Scavenger stands apart from U.S. BI tools. Designed for the 98% of SMEs in the DACH region, it combines enterprise-grade analytics with GDPR compliance, delivering a type of business intelligence that has never existed in the European SME market before. 

“With Scavenger AI, we are investing in a founding team with a strong understanding of the challenges faced by medium-sized companies. The solution enables the efficient use and protection of data, increases productivity and competitiveness, and thus plays a key role in the digital transformation of these companies, with clear scaling potential,” says Sebastian Schnell, Senior Investment Manager at BMH.

“Scavenger.ai sets a new standard for data-driven decision-making in industry, by taking the speed and reliability of data analysis to an entirely new level. As the lead investor in the previous funding round, we were convinced early on that Scavenger.ai could create substantial economic and social value for SMEs. We are excited to continue backing the team on this growth path,” says, Max Bergmann, Investment Manager at HTGF.

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About Scavenger AI 
Scavenger AI is a Frankfurt-based software company pioneering AI-powered business intelligence for Europe’s mid-market. Its proprietary semantic layer translates complex company data into precise, reproducible analyses through natural language queries, enabling decision-making without dashboards or code. Hosted entirely in Europe and fully GDPR-compliant, Scavenger AI serves leading mid-sized companies across Sales, Controlling, and Production.    

Website: www.scavenger-ai.com 
Software: app.scavenger-ai.com 

About BMH 
BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH is a medium-sized investment and venture capital company based in Wiesbaden. Founded in 2001, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba). Since its inception, BMH has invested in over 500 companies. The company’s investment focus includes the software/analytics, fintech/insuretech, life sciences, deep tech, IoT/industrial tech and cleantech sectors.  

Website: www.bmh-hessen.de 

AI-Powered Booking CRM from Germany: Zeeg Secures €1.1M Pre-Seed Funding

• Zeeg raises €1.1 million in Pre-Seed funding from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and Backbone Ventures to advance its Booking CRM platform
• European data sovereignty meets AI: The platform combines appointment booking with CRM functionality – built in Berlin, hosted on German servers
• AI-powered lead qualification in development: Zeeg is building intelligent assistants for pre-sales that improve lead quality, shorten sales cycles, and reduce customer acquisition costs

Berlin-based SaaS startup Zeeg has successfully closed its €1.1 million Pre-Seed funding round. Lead investor HTGF, together with Backbone Ventures, backed the company founded in 2023. The funding will accelerate development of Zeeg’s AI-powered booking CRM platform – a European solution with a clear focus on data sovereignty and seamless sales processes.

Digital Sovereignty Starts with Business Tools

The data sovereignty debate has reached German businesses: According to a recent BARC study, more than half are reconsidering their cloud strategy, driven by new regulations, geopolitical developments, and cybersecurity concerns. While hyperscalers still hold a significant innovation advantage in infrastructure, the picture looks different for business software: here, European providers can compete on technology.

Zeeg delivers exactly that: The platform combines appointment booking and CRM functionality in one tool. Every booked appointment automatically creates a complete CRM entry, including all contact data, company information, and interaction history. The solution is developed in Berlin and hosted on German servers, with no transfer to third countries.

AI-Powered Lead Qualification: More Deals from the Same Appointments

With the fresh capital, Zeeg is developing AI-based assistants for the pre-sales process. These AI agents qualify incoming leads at the point of booking, shorten time to close, and simultaneously reduce cost per acquired customer. The goal: sales teams should generate more deals from the same appointments through intelligent automation working in the background.

“European companies need solutions that take their technological and regulatory requirements seriously,” explains Mohammad Moghaddas, co-founder of Zeeg. “Our vision is a booking CRM that not only runs on German servers but also creates real value through AI.”

“We initially bootstrapped Zeeg completely and learned what matters: companies don’t want tool silos, they want seamless processes,” adds Florian Horbach, co-founder of Zeeg. “With this funding, we can now enter our next growth phase and realize our vision.”

The Berlin startup has already won major customers like Enpal, who coordinate hundreds of heat pump installations daily. Patricia Broilo, Director Venture Development at Enpal, says: “Our workflows between pre-sales and sales are complex, and different systems need to be integrated. What convinced us is that Zeeg builds solutions together with us and responds individually to our needs. The team understands how we work and implements changes directly. We really value this partnership approach.”

“Zeeg combines scheduling, CRM, and AI in a European, sovereign solution that can be deeply integrated into various workflows. The high relevance across all industries and within numerous teams demonstrates the enormous market potential – delivered by an excellent team,” says Björn Sykora, Principal at HTGF.

“Florian and Mohammad have an exceptional sense for what customers really need – their bootstrap phase already showed that. With Zeeg, they’re not just building a product, but a European alternative with a clear competitive advantage: data sovereignty without feature compromises,” adds Philippe Bernet, Managing Partner at Backbone Ventures.

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About Zeeg
Zeeg is a booking CRM platform from Berlin that seamlessly combines appointment scheduling and customer management. Founded in 2023 by Mohammad Moghaddas and Florian Horbach, the software enables companies to automatically create a complete CRM entry from every booked appointment, without manual data maintenance, switching tools, or data protection compromises. All data is stored exclusively on German servers. More information at www.zeeg.me or on LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Florian Horbach
media@zeeg.me

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros. Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices. For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Backbone Ventures
Backbone Ventures is an early-stage investor with offices in Zurich and Frankfurt. The firm supports ambitious founders across Europe who are building transformative companies across industries. With a strong founder-first philosophy, Backbone Ventures provides capital and strategic support to enable scalable, long-term growth. More information at Backbone.vc or on LinkedIn.

smartbax announces a €4.7 M Pre-Series A round to advance novel antibiotic compound through preclinical stage

• Lead antibacterial compound against a novel target in Gram-negative bacteria validated in infection models
• Progressing a platform of small-molecule enzymatic activators that induce self-digestion of bacteria as novel mode of action against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
• Funding round led by Anobis Asset and Bayern Kapital; second closing remains open

smartbax, a biotech company developing next-generation antibiotics against multi-drug resistant bacteria, today announced the successful first closing of its €4.7 M Pre-Series A financing round. The round was led by new investors Anobis Asset and Bayern Kapital, with participation from UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators as well as existing investors HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). A second closing of the round remains open to investors.

smartbax will use the funds to progress its proprietary pipeline of small-molecule antibiotics designed to overcome bacterial resistance with innovative approaches and novel mechanisms of action. The lead candidate is an inhibitor that blocks a previously unexplored step in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), key structural components of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria. This new inhibitor has already demonstrated in vivo proof of concept, including activity against multi-drug resistant strains, shows potential as an orally available drug, and will now be advanced through preclinical development.

In parallel, smartbax is advancing its platform of small-molecule activators of bacterial hydrolases. Rather than inhibiting bacterial functions like traditional antibiotics, these compounds stimulate hydrolase activity, causing bacteria to digest themselves from within. This innovative mode of action has not been exploited in commercial antibiotics to date and offers a promising strategy to overcome established resistance mechanisms. smartbax has identified two activator classes, effective against different targets in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, both of which display encouraging drug-like properties, are able to eliminate biofilms and show no development of resistance. The company will further develop these candidates toward lead selection and in vivo proof of concept using the current funds.

“Small-molecule antibiotics remain one of the most effective tools in combating the rapidly growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. smartbax is currently the only German biotech dedicated exclusively to developing these crucial tools, and we are proud to advance complementary approaches with both a classical inhibitor against a novel target and enzyme activators with a truly novel mode of action in the antibiotic realm,” said Dr. Robert Macsics, CEO of smartbax. “Our programs focus on WHO priority pathogens and aim to provide new treatment options for critically ill patients who currently have limited alternatives. We are delighted to have assembled such a strong consortium of investors who share our commitment to addressing this urgent public health threat.”

Martin Falk, managing director at Anobis Asset, said: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent medical challenges of our time, and there is a clear need for new therapeutic approaches. In Germany alone, nearly 10,000 people die each year as a direct consequence of infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria; many more are hospitalized and often face lengthy recovery times. We are proud to support a team focused on developing solutions that could help patients and protect public health worldwide.”

Monika Steger, Managing Partner at Bayern Kapital, commented: “Rising bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses an enormous burden on global healthcare. smartbax is tackling this problem with two novel drug approaches that are already showing great potential at their current stage. At the same time, the market for new antibiotics is opening up a highly attractive growth area with great economic opportunities. Our investment in smartbax is therefore a promising investment in the local biotech ecosystem and the resilience of our healthcare system.”

Inga vom Holtz, Director Investments at UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, added: “smartbax has grown from academic research into a biotech company with a clear focus on antibiotic innovation. We are pleased to join this financing round and to support a team that is advancing both classical inhibitors and entirely new antibacterial mechanisms with enzyme activators, and we are proud that such innovation has its origins at the Technical University Munich.”

Dr. Angelika Vlachou, Partner at HTGF, added: “We are delighted about the successful completion of the follow-up financing for our portfolio company and welcome the new investors. As an early-stage investor, we remain committed to supporting Smartbax on its journey to transform cutting-edge science into applied solutions. Their unique drug development approaches have the potential to unlock new therapeutic avenues against antibiotic-resistant bacteria – a challenge that demands bold innovation and long-term partnerships.”

About smartbax
smartbax is developing a new generation of antibiotics to address the increasing spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria. Their team of experts is advancing a complementary pipeline of small molecules against novel bacterial targets and with innovative modes of action to prevent resistance. Their lead program is a new inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, the company specializes in the tailored activation of enzymatic pathways that trigger bacterial self-digestion, as this approach is particularly promising in the context of difficult-to-treat biofilms. Two activators are in development, targeting both Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria individually.
Knowing that preventing a resistance crisis tomorrow means taking action today, smartbax was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the Technical University Munich (TUM) with the aim of making innovative research applicable in creating novel antibiotics that add true value for patients worldwide.
For more information visit our website: https://www.smartbax.de/

Media contact:
Dr. Regina Lutz, Katja Arnold
MC Services AG
smartbax@mc-services.eu

About Anobis Asset
As a Freiburg-based single family office with a background in the pharmaceutical industry, Anobis Asset is actively exploring investment opportunities across the healthcare and life sciences landscape, with a focus on innovation-driven ventures and long-term partnerships.

About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital is the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria and, with 700 million euros under management, investments of up to 25 million euros per company, over 110 active portfolio companies and 30 years of experience in the VC business, is one of the most active, financially strongest and most experienced investors in the DACH region. Bayern Kapital invests in a consortium with private investors in Bavarian high-tech and deep-tech start-ups and scale-ups with innovative business models from all sectors, from the seed and scale-up phase through to exit.
Since its foundation in 1995, Bayern Kapital has invested over 500 million euros of its own equity capital in more than 320 start-ups and scale-ups from sectors such as life sciences, software & IT, materials & new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology. This has created over 12,000 permanent jobs in sustainable companies in Bavaria.
Examples of numerous pioneering success stories that Bayern Kapital has supported from an early stage include Casavi, Catalym, commercetools, egym, EOS, Fazua, Immunic, Isar Aerospace, IQM, Parcellab, Proglove, Qbilon, Riskmethods, SimScale, Sirion, tado, Tubulis, Marvel Fusion, Proxima Fusion, plancq, Akhetonics and many more. bayernkapital.de 

About UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators
UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators is the pre-seed fund of UnternehmerTUM, Europe’s foremost center for innovation and business creation. It invests early – often as the first institutional investor – in deep tech founders building category-defining companies. The fund specializes in hard tech and the code that powers it, backing scalable B2B technologies with billion-euro potential and helping founders move breakthrough science from lab to market. UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators offers founder-friendly convertible loans and is committed to follow-on investments, ensuring its companies have the resources to scale their ambitions.
funding.unternehmertum.de 

About Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), established in 2010, is dedicated to investing in groundbreaking biotechnology companies that are at the forefront of therapeutic and digital innovations, aiming to advance biomedical research. With a commitment to revolutionizing the standard of care, the BIVF fosters long-term partnerships with scientists and entrepreneurs. The BIVF’s focus is on nurturing disease-modifying therapeutic concepts and facilitating their clinical application. The BIVF prioritizes the translation of first-in-class concepts that address significant medical needs in fields such as oncology, immunology, regenerative medicine, neurodegeneration, infectious diseases, and digital health technologies. These innovative concepts often encompass novel platform technologies designed to tackle targets and diseases that were previously considered untreatable.
With a fund volume of EUR 350 million, the BIVF operates as an evergreen fund, continually reinvesting to fuel its mission. The partners of the BIVF gain from the fund’s deep expertise in drug discovery & development, translational science, and management, along with access to a network of experts within the Boehringer Ingelheim organization. Currently, the BIVF supports a diverse portfolio of over 40 companies, leveraging its extensive experience to drive progress in healthcare.
For additional information, please visit boehringer-ingelheim-venture.com/

About HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds 
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.
Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices.  
For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.