Participated · Seed · Jul 2023

subdron GmbH is a German maritime start-up developing autonomous underwater technology to inspect underwater infrastructure, including port facilities and ship hulls, for biofouling and structural integrity. Its core product aims to provide cheaper, faster and more accurate biofouling data to optimise hull maintenance. The company plans to develop and deploy its system and to open a Portuguese office in Porto to gain access to Leixões port and local marine robotics research centres. The Porto presence is intended to support collaborations with maritime transportation companies and initial commercialisation of services. subdron raised €1.3 million in a pre-seed round to fund development, deployment and expansion. Management says the system will enhance efficiency, reduce costs and help improve sustainability by enabling hull-cleaning plans that lower fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Participated · Seed · Dec 2021

Pliant offers a B2B payments platform that combines physical and virtual credit cards with automation tools and a cards-as-a-service (CaaS) model enabling businesses to launch branded card programs. The platform targets corporate spending use cases and has gained traction in travel, fleet management, and banking. Pliant’s CaaS product aims to enhance customer retention and create new revenue streams for partners. The company recently partnered with Commerzbank to extend customer reach and payment use-case support. Pliant is expanding into the U.S., planning to establish a local team, infrastructure, and broaden its partner network. Financially, the company has raised over $100M to date following its latest $40M Series B. Pliant provides a cards-as-a-service (CaaS) product that lets partner businesses launch their own credit card programs to add revenue streams and increase customer retention. The company has early partnerships with tech firms such as Candis and mobilexpense, as well as relationships with banks. Pliant holds an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license passported to 25 countries across the European Economic Area, enabling card issuance and additional regional financial services. In 2023 the company more than doubled its annual revenues and entered 2024 with continued strong momentum. Product development and go-to-market expansion remain priorities, including multi-currency capabilities (now supporting 11 currencies) to better serve customers with non-EUR transaction volumes. Management, led by CEO Malte Rau, plans to use recent funding to accelerate expansion into the UK and markets outside the EU. Pliant provides app- and API-based solutions that allow companies to issue physical and virtual credit cards, automate payment processes, track spending, and integrate those data into their finance stack. Led by CEO Malte Rau, the company has operated since 2020 and is based in Berlin, Germany. Pliant raised an €8M Series A extension and also secured a €100M debt facility. With the extension the company's Series A totals €33M, making it the largest Series A in Germany in 2023. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach. Pliant provides Visa credit cards to businesses via a B2B credit-card platform. It issues physical and virtual cards that integrate into companies' existing financial processes and software stacks to optimize payments and enable worldwide acceptance and premium-card benefits. Pliant also enables partner financial software companies to embed its B2B credit-card proposition into their products; the first partners to launch card programs are Candis and Circula. The company was founded in 2020 in Berlin by Malte Rau and Fabian Terner and recently entered seven additional European markets. Pliant reports a sixfold growth of its customer portfolio and plans to use its new funds to expand operations and broaden its business reach. pliant is a Berlin-based fintech that provides a corporate credit card solution designed for seamless integration with existing company processes, notably accounting, travel expense, and invoice management. The company differentiates itself through easy-to-implement software integrations, high limits, premium card perks, attractive cashback services, and connections to other SaaS offerings. Since August, pliant reports it has increased revenues fivefold, indicating rapid early traction. The startup has closed a seed funding round totaling €18 million, an extension on an initial €5.5 million announced in August with an additional €12.5 million added. Management says the funding will be used to fuel growth and support expansion into new European markets. CPO and co-founder Fabian Terner framed the round as validation that the company is on the right track as it enters a new phase of its growth plan.