HTGF Blog

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

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?

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

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

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

Their first pitch deck didn’t contain a business slide. And there wasn’t any information on market potential. These were things that Dr Isabel Schellinger and Dr Uwe Raaz simply hadn’t thought of. After all, their focus was on their research, on the amazing opportunities made possible thanks to science, and on a medical solution to an aortic disorder in humans that they had developed. This is their passion and their field of expertise. Pitching to investors and founding a start-up were

We’d like to begin this end-of-year review by saying thank you to all those who support us, enable us to do our work and place their trust in us. This particularly applies to the founders, numerous co-investors and shareholders of our portfolio companies as well as our fund investors. This year saw the launch of our fourth fund, HTGF IV, which more than 40 private companies have invested in alongside the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and KfW Capital. Among t

What opportunities and challenges did we face in 2022? And what trends and technologies can we expect to see next year? Our three investment teams – industrial tech, life sciences & chemistry, and digital tech – reflect on an eventful year and look ahead to 2023. Industrial tech The effects of the climate crisis continue to place huge challenges on society. HTGF aims to be part of the solution. Since 2005, we have invested in around 60 climate tech companies and are well-placed

What have you learnt? This is a question we're putting to company founders from our portfolio. Because if you found a start-up, run a company, make investments or work in management, you are learning something new every single day. You also have to deal with new situations. And continue to develop new skills. To cover the latter aspect, we expanded the HTGF Academy this year to offer a comprehensive programme for company founders. And because we firmly believe in the power of peer-to-peer le