HTGF and Seed Capital Dortmund back Comnovo

The company plans to use the funding to establish an international distribution network and to expand its product range and technology.

Both venture capital firms invest €500,000 at the seed stage, with the potential for a further €1.5m in subsequent rounds. Seed Capital Dortmund's backers include Sparkasse Dortmund, NRW.Bank and private investors. Corporate investors including Bayer, Braun, Robert Bosch and Deutsche Telekom have committed to HTGF's current vehicle.

Company
Dortmund-headquartered Comnovo span out of the Communications Networks Institute at the Technical University of Dortmund in 2013. It develops and distributes warning systems for vehicles in order to prevent collisions with pedestrians. The wireless technology is used for sensor data acquisition, distance measurement around vehicles and positioning.

Comnovo's product, which has been on the market since mid-2013, consists of a main unit installed on the vehicle and smaller "beepers" attached to workers. If workers approach the danger zone of a vehicle, both parties are alarmed. It is used predominantly in factories and warehouses, on wheel loaders and forklifts. A hundred systems are currently in use.

People
Andreas Lewandowski is CEO of Comnovo. Ron Winkler is investment manager at HTGF. Nico Hemmann is investment manager at Seed Capital Dortmund.

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• Topics
• DACH
• Expansion
• Industrials
• Germany
• High-Tech Gründerfonds