Ex-Rocket Internet employees raise own Euro 170m DeepTech fund
Berlin — 468 Capital is a new heavyweight among German venture capitalists. The focus of the new fund is on young deep-tech companies. The fund, with a volume of 170 million euros, plans to support startups from the machine learning, open source and automation segments. 468 Capital is backed by ex-Rocket Internet founders Alexander Kudlich and Ludwig Ensthaler as well as Mesophere founder Florian Leibert. The capital raised comes from institutional investors, successful founders and larger family offices. 468 Capital received comprehensive legal, regulatory and tax advice on the structuring of the fund from a team led by SMP partners Helder Schnittker (photo: SMP) and Stephan Bank. 468 Capital has also already relied on SMP’s expertise on the transaction side.
468 Capital’s first investments include Enerige platform Frequency, Karlsruhe-based graphics app Vectornator — an investment Leibert likes to talk about as a competitor to top dog Adobe — and veterinary mediator Felmo. The focus of the fund is to be on highly technical investments in Europe.
“The launch of this fund is forward-looking for the deep tech industry.” says Helder Schnittker. “468 Capital is advancing important topics such as machine learning, open source and automation through this fund.”
About 468 Capital
468 Capital is a Berlin-based investment firm specializing in investment management and financial services. The company focuses on investing in companies that specialize in providing energy platform frequency and high-tech investments. 468 Capital was founded by Alexander Kudlich, Ludwig Ensthaler and Florian Leibert.
About SMP
SMP is a specialist tax and commercial law firm operating in the core areas of corporate, funds, litigation, tax and transactions. SMP attorneys and tax advisors represent a wide variety of clients. These include emerging technology companies and family-run medium-sized enterprises as well as corporations and private equity/venture capital funds. Since its foundation in 2017, SMP has become one of the leading addresses for venture capital, private equity and fund structuring in Germany. The firm and its partners have been recognized nationally and internationally by JUVE, Best Lawyers, Legal 500, Focus, and Chambers and Partners. Today, SMP employs over 50 experienced lawyers and tax advisors in three offices in Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne.
Advisor 468 Capital: SMP
Helder Schnittker (Lead), Partner, Stephan Bank (Lead), Partner, Benjamin Ullrich, Partner , Lennart Lorenz, Partner, Jens Kretzschmann, Partner, Matthias Enge, Associate Partner, Adrian Haase, Senior Associate, Niklas Ulrich, Associate, David John, Associate, Mirco Zantopp, Associate, Florian Wilbrink, Associate.