Windeln.de raises €45m from Goldman Sachs et al.

Harriet Bailey
19 January 2015

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A consortium led by Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Deutsche Bank has invested €45m in windeln.de.

Existing investors DN Capital, MCI Management and 360 Capital Partners also participated in the round. DN is the largest shareholder in the business.

The fresh capital has been raised to finance the expansion of the company's product portfolio, its growth in the German-speaking region and internationally, as well as for potential acquisitions.

Previous funding
Windeln.de first received funding in September 2010, before its official launch one month later. DN Capital invested $3-4m, while High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and several business angels and company managers also provided financing.

A series-A round followed in May 2011, in which the existing investors were joined by Acton Capital Partners. The deal was said to be worth less than €10m.

February 2012 saw the existing investors inject a further €5-10m of growth funding in a series-B round. The series-C financing round was conducted a year later and earned the company both €15m in funding and new investors MCI Management and 360 Capital Partners. Seed investor HTGF exited the company.

Windeln.de acquired Swiss companies Kindertraum.ch and toys.ch at the end of 2013. In May 2014, DB Private Equity joined the company's existing backers in a €15m funding round.

Company
Founded by Konstantin Urban and Alexander Brand in 2010, windeln.de is a Munich-based online retailer selling baby and children's products in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It offers 85,000 products, such as baby food, baby monitors and car seats, from 1,000 brands on its website. The company has 100 employees and saw revenues of €130m in 2014.

People
Alexander Brand and Konstantin Urban are managing directors and co-founders of windeln.de. Martin Hintze is managing director and co-head of European corporate equity investing at Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division (GSMBD). David Reis is executive director and head of technology investments at GSMBD and will join windeln's advisory board. Francesco Rigamonti is director at Deutsche Bank.