High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) sells its shares in givve to the French Up group

HTGF is the first seed investor of Munich-based Fintech start-up givve to sell its shares to the French, internationally active Up group in an exit worth millions.

The startup, which was founded in 2010, will have much greater development potential in the area of financial services as a result of the sale. As the technological market leader, givve has been able to generate enormous value growth since 2016 and win well-known customers.

 

givve: More than 250,000 card users in Germany

Fintech givve is already established in the market of employee retention in Germany: More than 6,000 corporate customers use the givve cards. This works like a prepaid card with which employers can reward their employees and also enjoy tax advantages for benefits in kind. There are already more than 250,000 card users in Germany.

The Up group offers loyalty programs, incentive and payment solutions, among other things. The Up group employs more than 3,400 people. The parent company is a cooperative.

 

givve technology: machine learning and automated payment processing

The integration into the Up group offers givve greater development opportunities. The technology developed by givve itself includes automated payment auction matching processes that save employee capacity in payment processing. In addition, these processes are constantly improving through machine learning.

Until now, givve technology has only been used in the area of employee retention. The Up group offers a wider range of applications, as the company offers a much wider range of services.

 

Up goup: New strategic investor

The acquisition by the Up group will not change anything for givve’s customers for the time being. And the brand will also remain for the time being.

Patrick Löffler, Co-Founder and CEO of givve: “We could not imagine a better strategic investor than the Up group. They not only understand our business area very well, they are also active in many more business areas than we are. givve will benefit greatly from this large network and the expertise available as a result.”

 

HTGF: Seed investor recognizes the potential of the technology early on

The HTGF recognized the promising FinTech technology in givve early on and sees an increasingly important and growing market with high development potential in the future in the FinTech and Blockchain area.

Jens Baumgärtner, Investment Manager of the HTGF: “The founding team has always been convincing through the continuous pursuit of long-term and strategic corporate goals. The transaction comes at just the right time and opens up enormous opportunities for the team to grow even faster with its mature technology”.

 

About givve

The company was founded in 2010 by Patrick Löffler (CEO) and Alexander Klaiber (CTO). givve’s prepaid credit card is the most flexible voucher in the world and can be used at more than 30 million acceptance points around the globe.

As an additional benefit in kind from the employer, the prepaid credit card from givve is a wise way to increase your salary. Companies have the option of providing their employees with tax-free benefits in kind in the amount of 44 euros. With the givve card, which can be designed in the company’s corporate design, employees can use this amount as they wish. Thus givve offers companies an advanced and sustainable tool for employee retention and motivation as well as for increasing employer attractiveness and is employee motivation that pays off.

www.givve.com

 

About Up group

Up connects people, companies and regions through the development of management, relationship and transaction platforms. Up develops integrated solutions that meet the needs of different partners, customers and users. Up solutions facilitate access to food, culture, leisure, education, home care, social assistance, expense management and incentive and loyalty systems. With 3,465 employees and branches in 19 countries, Up is present in the daily lives of 26.6 million people worldwide. In 2017, total sales amounted to 494 million euros. Up is an independent group whose parent company is a cooperative and participatory company.

www.up.coop

 

About High-Tech Gründerfonds

High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-potential, tech-driven start- ups. With EUR 892,5 million in total investment volume across three funds (EUR 272 million in HTGF I, EUR 304 million in HTGF II and EUR 316,5 million for HTGF III) and an international network of partners, HTGF has already helped forge 500 start-ups since 2005. Driven by their expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts help guide the development of young companies. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in a range of sectors, including software, media, internet, hardware, automation, health care, chemicals and life sciences.

This group also includes a number of success stories, such as Mister Spex, Rigontec, 6Wunderkin- der, Next Kraftwerke and Cumulocity, as well as Juniqe, an online shop for art enthusiasts. To date, external investors have injected over EUR 1.8 billion into the HTGF portfolio via more than 1,300 follow-on financing rounds. HTGF has also successfully sold interests in more than 90 companies.

Investors in this public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs and Energy, the KfW Banking Group, and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e.V., as well as the companies ALTANA, BASF, BAYER, B.Braun, Boehringer Ingelheim, Robert Bosch, BÜFA, CEWE, Deutsche Post DHL, Dräger, Drillisch AG, EVONIK, EWE AG, Haniel, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, LANXESS, media + more venture Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG, PHOENIX CONTACT, Postbank, QIAGEN, RWE Generation SE, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Thüga, Vector Informatik, WACKER and Wilh. Werhahn KG.

 

Contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds
Jens Baumgärtner
Schlegelstraße 2
53113 Bonn
T: +49 288 82300 138
j.baumgaertner@htgf.de
www.htgf.de