Butterfly & Elephant
Stolberger Straße 108 a, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, 50933, Germany
Overview
butterfly & elephant, serves as the Corporate Venture Capital arm of GS1 Germany, investing in early-stage startups . Our close link to GS1 keeps us at the forefront of six key themes: supply chain transparency, digital product passports, AI, customer experience, data for sustainability, and data for health. We invest across health, retail, consumer goods, e-commerce, and logistics. Smart Capital, Smart Connections: In addition to investment capital, our startups benefit from access to exceptional networks, concrete application opportunities, and the support of a trusted partner. The uniqueness of butterfly & elephant is the strong GS1 community from the consumer goods industry and retail, e-commerce and healthcare sectors - a network of over 97,000 companies in Germany and two million worldwide. We place great value on the entrepreneurial freedom of start-ups to further develop their product and growth strategy in a self-determined manner.
- Total investments
- 2
- Lead investments
- 0
- Investments · 12mo
- 2
- Active investors
- 2
Sector focus
- Consumer Goods
- E-Commerce
- Food and Beverage
- Health Care
- Logistics
- Retail
- Venture Capital
Investment portfolio
- Borro
Participated · Equity · May 2026
Founded in 2023 by Glenn Verhaege, Kasper Albers and Niels Willems, Borro has developed an intelligent deposit system for reusable cups that links each cup to a visitor's bank card and returns the deposit automatically at smart collection points. The system uses invisible codes readable by cameras rather than RFID, and the company emphasizes fraud prevention through unique payment-linked tracking and full traceability. Borro offers 24/7 live monitoring and analytics on return rates, stands, peak moments and system performance. It reports that millions of reusable cups have already been processed through its system and is active at Belgian football clubs including Club Brugge and KV Mechelen. The company joined PSG Labs at Station F and is preparing an implementation at Paris's Parc des Princes, while also seeing interest from concert venues, amusement parks and festivals. Borro aims to be the European reference for digital deposit systems as regulation and reuse initiatives spread across the event industry.
- Gardia
Participated · Series A · Feb 2026
Gardia has developed a healthtech solution centered on a lightweight wristband that automatically detects falls and triggers an emergency response for older adults whether they are at home or on the go, eliminating the need for a paired smartphone. All hardware, software, application components, and AI algorithms are built in-house to maximize detection accuracy and usability for seniors. The product already serves a five-figure active user base across the DACH region, boasting strong user retention and reimbursement agreements with German health insurers. By addressing the stigma and complexity associated with traditional emergency buttons, Gardia aims to increase everyday adoption and improve outcomes when falls occur. The company is positioning itself as an independent safety platform at a time when Europe’s aging population is creating significant strain on healthcare resources. Fresh capital will finance further geographic expansion within DACH and into other international markets, while also deepening B2B partnerships in the care and healthcare sectors. The Series A round underscores investor confidence in Gardia’s technology, traction, and scalable go-to-market model.