Maxburg Capital Partners takes over High-Tech Gründerfonds portfolio company metoda

April 8, 2020

High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), together with co-investors Bayern Kapital (the venture capital company of the State of Bavaria) and TEV, has successfully sold its stake in Munich-based software firm metoda. metoda is one of the leading providers of software-as-a-service solutions for real-time market analysis in online retail. The company’s new owner is Maxburg Capital Partners. The three early stage investors had taken up a stake in metoda together with several business angels as part of a seed funding round in 2013. In 2015, they reinforced their commitment to the company as part of a series A funding round.

metoda GmbH is one of the world’s leading providers for real-time market analysis in the e-commerce sector. Online retail is an especially dynamic industry, with market participants relying on automated tools to gain an overview of the market situation and their competitors. To this end, metoda offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that can be used to record and analyse the product data (prices, availability, shipping costs and delivery times) of online retailers worldwide, including Amazon, in a manner that conforms with data protection regulations. The former start-up’s service allows retailers to respond to market developments in real time, adjusting their prices and product ranges as appropriate. metoda also offers Amazon Automated AI, an easy-to-use solution for the automatic creation and analysis of advertising on Amazon. With its team of 50 employees, metoda currently works with more than 200 blue-chip companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), coordinates roughly 50,000 advertising campaigns per month and processes more than one billion e-commerce data points from 28 countries every day.

The company’s new majority shareholder is the fund “Maxburg Beteiligungen III” (“Maxburg”). The fund is advised by Maxburg Capital Partners, a private equity company focused on German-speaking countries with €600 million in capital commitments from the RAG-Stiftung foundation. Maxburg pursues long-term investments in companies with the aim of achieving a sustained increase in value. It has already taken up stakes in several software and technology firms.

Right from the get go, High-Tech Gründerfonds has guided metoda on its journey from start-up to significant industry player, quickly identifying the potential behind metoda’s business concept. It’s impressive to see what the metoda team has achieved under the leadership of Stefan Bures and Robert Schmidtke. We are convinced that Maxburg is the right partner to help the company achieve further growth.

Romy Schnelle, Partner at High-Tech Gründerfonds.

Stefan Bures, Founder and CEO of metoda GmbH, believes that the transaction represents another major milestone in the company’s development:

In Maxburg, we are confident of having found a partner with the long-term focus and business credentials to support us on our future journey. At the same time, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our previous investors, without whom our company would have been unable to enjoy its current successes. We’re now excited for a new phase of growth, which we will achieve together with Maxburg.

Stefan Bures, Founder and CEO of metoda GmbH

About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital GmbH, based in Landshut, was founded on the initiative of the Bavarian government in 1995. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Bavarian LfA Förderbank . As the venture capital organisation of the State of Bavaria, Bayern Kapital provides equity capital financing for the founders of young innovative technology companies in Bavaria. Presently Bayern Kapital manages eleven investment funds with a total volume of around €385m. So far, it has invested roughly €310m in more than 275 innovative companies in the fields of technology in various sectors including life science, software & IT, materials and new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology. In this way, more than 7500 long-term jobs in sustainable companies have been created in Bavaria.
www.bayernkapital.de

Contact
IWK Communication Partner
Andreas Klein / Dominik Neumüller
+49. 89. 2000 30-30
bayernkapital@iwk-cp.com

About TEV (Tengelmann Ventures)
TEV (Tengelmann Ventures) is one of Germany’s leading venture capital investors and has invested in over 50 companies over the past 10 years, many of which have become global players and market leaders in their particular segment. TEV focuses on early-stage investment in startups in the fields of Consumer Internet, Digital Services and Emerging Technologies. Among the most well-known investments of TEV are companies such as Zalando (IPO), Delivery Hero (IPO), Klarna, Scalable Capital and data Artisans.
www.tev.de

Contact
Tengelmann Ventures
Koen Lensson
klensson@tev.de

About High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF)
High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is a seed investor that finances high-potential, tech-driven start-ups. With around EUR 900 million in total investment volume across three funds and an international network of partners, HTGF has already helped forge almost 600 start-ups since 2005. Driven by their expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion, its team of experienced investment managers and startup experts help guide the development of young companies. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital business models, industrial technology, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected over EUR 2.5 billion into the HTGF portfolio via more than 1,600 follow-on financing rounds. HTGF has also successfully sold interests in more than 100 companies.
Investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, KfW Capital, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and 32 companies. Our Fund Investors
www.htgf.de/en

Contact
High-Tech Gründerfonds Gründerfonds
Romy Schnelle, Partnerin
T.: +49 228 823 00 – 135
r.schnelle@htgf.de