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.
Find more information here.