New investor Fond Of contributes to HTGF III

The firm's third vehicle, High-Tech Gründerfonds III, held its final close on €316.5m in May 2018, above its target of €310m. The fund has reopened for a new investor, Cologne-based manufacturer of ergonomic backpacks Fond Of, which has contributed €3m to the fund, raising the fund's total to €319.5m.

Fond Of has made the investment in conjunction with the launch of its growth accelerator XDeck, which will open at the beginning of 2020. HTGF has agreed to join as a partner to the accelerator.

HTGF III makes initial investments of €1-3m in Germany-based technology startups. It focuses on hardware-related engineering, life sciences, the chemicals industry, material science, software, media and the internet. Its portfolio companies include Kiutra, 8Sense and Iconiq Lab.

Like the firm's previous funds, HTGF III is a public-private partnership. Public investors include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. Private-sector investors include Altana, BASF, B Braun, Robert Bosch, Büfa, CEWE, Deutsche Post DHL, Drillisch, Evonik, Haniel, Hettich, Knauf, Körber, Lanxess, Media + More Venture Beteiligungs, Phoenix Contact, Postbank, Qiagen, SAP, Schufa, Schwarz Gruppe, STIHL, Thüga, Vector Informatik and Wacker.

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• Topics
• GPs
• DACH
• High-Tech Gründerfonds
• Germany
• Venture