The German venture capital industry, which has fallen into a gloomy mood, offers two small rays of hope. After a good two years and more than two dozen investments in Germany, the financier Antler is expanding its presence here: As Antler partner Christoph Klink told the F.A.Z., the company is opening an office in Munich – as a second location next to Berlin, where it entered the German market at the end of 2020.

Klaus Max Smolka

Editor in business.

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The venture capitalist Matterwave Industrial announces – also in the F.A.Z. interview – the first milestone for a new technology fund with a target volume of 130 million euros. More than 75 million euros in capital commitments have already been collected, said Matterwave partners Robert Gallenberger and Benedikt Kronberger. The investor emerged at the beginning of 2022 from the industrial technology team of venture capitalist btov.

Almost unknown frustration

The news comes at a time of near-unmatched frustration based on the industry's business climate. The industry association BVK and the promotional bank KfW regularly survey investors, and their sentiment barometer shows a low last seen twenty years ago, apart from the brief corona shock at the beginning of 2020. The two organizations cite as reasons for this, among other things, the reluctance of investors from the United States, the insolvency of the crypto exchange FTX and the temporary expiration of public subsidies.

The flow of funds is also slowing: According to data from the statistics service provider CB Insights, investment companies and other investors invested 1.7 billion dollars in a total of 183 transactions in the fourth quarter after an interim high in the summer. Both figures were the lowest for a quarter since the end of 2020.

Munich next to Berlin

Nevertheless, Antler, founded in Singapore in 2017, is now opening its Munich office. The investor invests in start-ups in their early phase – with start-up capital at the very beginning up to the third major financing round. The focus is on companies that serve other companies (business-to-business, B2B). Climate, financial and health technology are focal points.

Since 2021, the venture financier has made 27 investments in Germany. "I expect for 2023 that we will do another thirty," Klink said. "Maybe a little more in 2024." So far, the spectrum ranges from the car sales platform Gomoto to the carbon dioxide storage company Neocarbon to the fintech Tapline, through which companies raise capital.

The investor currently operates 26 locations around the world. According to his own statements, he chose Munich because of the rich entrepreneurial and university environment, with the associated high concentration of specialists with technical skills. The declared goal is to track down future "unicorns" in the technology sector in Munich, i.e. companies with a valuation of billions.

In early phase

Matterwave is also targeting early-stage companies with its second generation of funds, the "Matterwave Industrial Technologies II" pot. It is intended to feed investments in industrial technology companies throughout Europe. Gallenberger cited the segments of 3D printing and robotics as examples. The investors include large institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund, the LfA Förderbank Bayern, the NRW-Bank, as well as foundations, family office managers and industrial companies; ZF Ventures, Zeiss Ventures and a unit of the Montan-Stiftung-Saar have pledged money. The ten-year fund is expected to make its first investments in the first half of this year and feed a total of 20 to 25 investments. The predecessor fund with a volume of EUR 100 million has invested in 21 companies over the past four years, including in France, Benelux, Ireland and the German-speaking countries.