Participated · Equity · Feb 2026

Founded in 2021 by Johann Ahlers, Dr. Christopher Eilers and Julian Trautwein, Raus operates a platform that places carefully designed, mobile cabins on unused rural land, offering guests short, uncomplicated escapes from urban life. Beyond accommodation, the company layers on extras such as alpaca walks, farm visits, guided meditation and local food packages, creating a holistic nature experience. Raus partners closely with land-owners, helping them monetize idle acreage while expanding its own inventory; within two years it has hosted thousands of guests across more than 50 cabins in nine German states. In 2023 the startup reports 500 % year-over-year revenue growth, a five-fold increase in guest numbers and a more-than-tripled volume of new bookings. The firm recently opened its first upscale nature resort, the Lodge am See in Lenzen, inside a UNESCO biosphere reserve. With fresh capital, Raus plans to launch a technology-enhanced “Cabin 2.0”, optimise its proprietary booking system and expand beyond Germany, starting with Austria, while adding more community sites and supplementary products to its platform. Distinguished backers from Airbnb, HomeToGo, TIER Mobility and others underscore strong investor confidence in the model.

Led · Equity · Jul 2018

Xara develops Xara Cloud, a 100% browser-based drag-and-drop editor that helps non-design professionals produce designer-quality documents and marketing assets. The product includes pre-made templates for social graphics, flyers, brochures and presentations, plus reusable custom templates. Features include smart grid alignment, collaboration tools, and automated brand application (logo, fonts, colours) across templates. Xara Cloud can generate colour schemes from uploaded images and provides professionally created palettes to speed design. CEO Matt Bolton frames the product as closing the gap between basic document editors and professional design software, and cites brand-consistency research (23% average revenue impact) to justify the business case. The company is Berlin-based and has disclosed outside funding support.