Ulrich Schmitt (HTGF Opportunity Fund)

Schmitt, Ulrich (High-Tech Gründerfonds 202406 Partner managing HTGF Oportunity Fund)

	Organisation	HTGF Opportunity Fund
	Group	High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) (Group)
	Product	HTGF Opportunity Fund
	Product 2	SEVERAL

High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH. (6/12/24). "Press Release: New Component for Germany’s Future Fund – HTGF Opportunity Fund Launches with €660 Million for Growth-phase Investments".

Tenth Future Fund component added – another measure taken by the German government as part of its start-up strategy, helping to strengthen the country’s profile as a start-up hub.

HTGF is one of Germany’s most active early-stage investors. Since its inception, it has invested in over 750 start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences and chemicals. With its four early-stage funds, HTGF is already regarded as one of the most successful investors in the German venture capital market.

Through the new fund, the German government is bolstering its growth financing efforts and implementing an additional measure as part of its start-up strategy. For this purpose, it will allocate funding from the Future Fund and the ERP Special Fund. The private fund investors participating in HTGF’s four early-stage funds will be able to take part in this initiative through a separate fund. The HTGF Opportunity Fund is launching with a fund volume of €660 million.

Robert Habeck, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action: “Since being initiated by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in 2005, High-Tech Gründerfonds has provided financing for over 750 start-up teams, and in doing so has played a key role in reviving German’s start-up scene. Now, with the help of the Future Fund, it will also be able to support the best start-ups in later-stage financing rounds through the HTGF Opportunity Fund, providing millions of euros in additional, targeted funding. This is a key element of our start-up strategy and will provide another big boost for the entire start-up ecosystem in Germany.”

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner: “Germany’s entrepreneurs are the engine of future growth. They shape our innovative power, and they create new jobs. So, it gives me all the more pleasure that the HTGF Opportunity Fund will now give us the ability to support selected companies in later growth stages too, by providing them with significant amounts of funding. Only if we manage to mobilise more private capital the financing conditions for start-ups in Germany will improve on a lasting basis. Now our task is to keep creating the right framework conditions, in order to achieve an economic turnaround and to ensure the long-term establishment of fast-growing and ambitious companies in Germany.”

Dr. Alex von Frankenberg, Managing Director of HTGF: “The HTGF Opportunity Fund will enable us to provide the very best HTGF portfolio companies with capital to help them become much bigger and secure market-leading positions. They will then ideally reach a size that enables them to launch IPOs and continue to grow as independent companies. The highly successful HTGF portfolio and German start-up ecosystem must – and in fact will – give rise to more international champions. We’d like to thank our fund investors for their confidence.”

The objective of the HTGF Opportunity Fund is to increase the volume of later-stage financing rounds as required, since Germany is lagging far behind other countries like the United States when it comes to growth financing.

Through the new fund, HTGF will be able to invest up to €30 million in selected portfolio companies – and up to €50 million in exceptional cases. All investments will be made together with one or multiple private investors. The HTGF Opportunity Fund is fully integrated into HTGF’s existing structure. The fund will be managed by HTGF Partner Dr. Ulrich Schmitt, and HTGF Principal Dr. Anke Caßing serving as Chief Investment Officers.

Background: The Future Fund

The German government’s Future Fund aims to significantly expand growth capital financing by 2030 and beyond – using public funding that is always invested alongside private capital. The various components of the Future Fund particularly benefit growth-stage start-ups requiring high sums of capital. The additional funding from the ERP Special Fund, the EIF, KfW/KfW Capital and private investors in particular will help leverage a substantial volume of additional capital. KfW coordinates the Future Fund on behalf of the German government, in close cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the Federal Ministry of Finance. To date, ten components of the Future Fund have been implemented (including the HTGF Opportunity Fund), with a total volume of over €10 billion. Additional components amounting to €1.75 billion are also being prepared.

More information on the Future Fund and its components is available here:
https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/EN/Artikel/Economy/future-fund.html
https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Standardartikel/Themen/Internationales_Finanzmarkt/zukunftsfonds.html
https://www.kfw-capital.de/Investment-focus/Zukunftsfonds-(Future-Fund)

About High-Tech Gründerfonds

The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances tech start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of its fourth fund, HTGF now has about 1.4 billion euros under management. Its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts support young companies with expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected about 5 billion euros of capital into the HTGF portfolio via more than 2,000 follow-on financing rounds. In addition, HTGF has already successfully sold shares in more than 180 companies. Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries.

Media contact

High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH
Tobias Jacob, Senior Marketing & Communications Manager
T.: +49 228 – 82300 – 121
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