Participated · Series B · Jul 2025

EDURINO offers a platform that combines educational games, ergonomic input tools, animated characters and physical elements (figures and an ergonomic pen) to teach reading, logical thinking, coding and environmental knowledge. The product blends digital storytelling, age-appropriate interactive content and analogue play to create intuitive learning experiences for children aged four to eight. The company was founded in 2021 and has an interdisciplinary team of over 40 educators, game designers, psychologists and scientists; learning effects are evaluated with the University of Cambridge. EDURINO has sold over one million products and is used in more than 1,500 educational institutions. The company is developing a low-code system to enable content creation without manual programming. Future plans include new content such as video formats, hybrid digital-analogue products, integration with popular children’s brands, and international expansion including the UK. Edurino, founded in 2021 in Munich by Irene Klemm and Franziska Meyer, builds a hybrid learning platform combining a digital app, haptic play figures and an ergonomic stylus for children aged 4–8+. Its offering is used by more than 160 educational institutions and the company has sold over 100,000 products to families in the DACH region. Last year Edurino signed distribution agreements with over 10 major retail and online partners in the DACH region, including Media Markt, Saturn, Müller, Thalia and MyToys. The company employs a remote team of over 45 people. Edurino intends to use recent funding to accelerate international expansion within the DACH region. Edurino offers a hybrid learning system combining an ergonomic stylus, a toy fox named Mika and a learning app designed for preschoolers aged four and up. The product blends physical toy figurines with digital content so children learn through play while parents can track progress and regulate screen time. The app independently announces the end of play time and switches off when allotted screen time has elapsed, and the learning journey adapts to each child’s developmental stage. The company has tested integration in over 20 kindergartens and ran a crowdfunding campaign that exceeded its target by 60%. Founded by Irene Klemm and Franziska Meyer, Edurino is positioning itself to expand content beyond literacy into numeracy and to build a holistic learning system for preschool and older children. The startup plans to bring more figurines to market and launch its products in retail this year.

Participated · Series B · Apr 2025

Marvel Fusion develops laser-based nuclear fusion using inertial confinement, where ultra-short pulse lasers target nano-structured fuel capsules to initiate fusion reactions. The company positions its technology to provide clean, safe and reliable energy at commercial scale. In April 2025 Marvel Fusion extended its Series B by €50M, bringing the total raised in the round to $113M. The firm intends to use the funds to build a prototype facility by 2032 and aims to have a commercial fusion power plant operational by 2036. Founded in 2019 and led by CEO Moritz von der Linden, Marvel Fusion is based in Munich, Germany. Investors in the extension include EQT Ventures, Siemens Energy Ventures and the European Innovation Council Fund, with existing backers Tengelmann Ventures and Bayern Kapital participating. Marvel Fusion is developing an inertial confinement fusion approach that uses cutting-edge femtosecond lasers to ignite fusion in nanostructured targets. The company designs silicon-based targets manufacturable with standard semiconductor lithography at ~50–80 nm feature sizes, enabling production of roughly 5,000 targets per 300 mm wafer. Its fuel strategy is a mixed-fuel approach (mainly hydrogen and boron) and solid-room-temperature fuel to simplify handling versus cryogenic pellets. Marvel plans a demonstration facility in collaboration with Colorado State University to operate two 100-joule lasers by early 2027, with energy upgrades planned in 2028–2029. A commercial-scale prototype containing 10–20 two-kilojoule lasers firing ~10 times per second is targeted for around 2032–2033. The company emphasizes mass manufacturing and faster firing rates as core differentiators from legacy laser fusion systems. Marvel Fusion is developing fusion energy technologies that use short-pulse lasers and nanostructured targets to trigger non-thermal nuclear fusion reactions. The approach is based on 2018 Nobel Prize-winning work by Donna Strickland and Gérard Mourou and accelerates fuel particles through engineered nanostructures. The company aims for the development and commercial realisation of fusion energy using this laser-driven, non-thermal pathway. Marvel Fusion was founded in 2019 and its team includes experts in nanotechnology, plasma physics, computational science, optics, and short-pulse laser physics. It counts Siemens Energy, TRUMPF, and Thales as technology partners. Financially, the company has recently completed a €35 million Series A and has raised €60 million in total to date.

Participated · Series B · Dec 2024

Planet A Foods produces ChoViva, a cocoa-free, lower-carbon chocolate alternative made from sunflower seeds and other locally grown ingredients such as oats. The company currently produces about 2,000 tons of ChoViva per year and plans to scale capacity to over 15,000 tons (around a 7.5x increase) as it industrializes production. It supplies roughly 20 customers so far, including Lambertz, Lindt, Rewe Group and Deutsche Bahn, and targets mass-market snacking and confectionary applications rather than premium chocolate. Planet A claims a carbon footprint up to 80% lower for its vegan ChoViva and estimates large potential CO2 savings if bulk chocolate production switches away from cocoa. The team is developing a bio-identical cocoa-butter alternative via fermentation and exploring replacements for palm oil and other specialty fats, though some precision-fermentation versions will require novel-food approval in Europe. The company is a Y Combinator alum and is planning international expansion, including new production capacity in the U.S. and launches in the U.K. and France in early 2025. Planet A Foods develops ChoViva, a cocoa-free chocolate ingredient made via fermentation of locally sourced ingredients such as oats and sunflower seeds, available in milk, semi-sweet, and white varieties. ChoViva delivers a melt-in-the-mouth texture and full-bodied chocolate flavor while containing up to 30% less sugar. The company supplies food manufacturers and brands including Griesson-de Beukelaer, Peter Kölln, Lufthansa, REWE, and has been used by Lindt in a vegan chocolate product. Planet A Foods has scaled production to 750 kilograms of ChoViva per hour and employs a 50-person team in Germany. It expects to hit eight-figure revenue by the end of 2024 and plans international expansion beginning in the U.K., then other European markets, Asia, and the U.S. The company also intends to extend its fermentation platform to additional plant-based ingredients with further product launches expected in Q1 2024. QOA has developed a fermentation process that uses natural byproducts and proprietary microbacteria to create a vegan product that mimics the texture and flavor of chocolate without artificial additives. The company was founded this year by Drs. Sara and Maximilian Marquart, a food chemist and a material scientist, and was part of Y Combinator this year. QOA’s product aims to address sustainability and supply risks in the cocoa industry, including threats from pathogens, climate change, deforestation and child labor. The firm says its fermentation process will enable scaling by 2035 and expects to price products at parity with or below traditional chocolate. QOA already has a product test kit with nine options, expects a first product on the market in 2022, and is in talks with initial B2B customers. The new $6M seed funding will support building a pilot production facility in Munich to complement one in Switzerland, hiring, and preparation for a Series A to fund larger production lines.

Participated · Series A · Nov 2024

KUGU provides a proprietary technology platform that optimises and controls energy systems for real estate companies, with customer costs fully allocatable to tenants. The company manages over 12,000 buildings on its platform and serves more than 60 clients, including major housing companies, municipal utilities, and metering service providers across Germany. KUGU's product portfolio focuses on digital energy solutions to support customers in meeting emissions targets. The business has advisory support from industry experts Michael Lowak and Axel Müller, who have been actively involved since last year. With the new funding, KUGU plans to develop its digital product portfolio further and scale sales and operations. The company aims to optimise approximately 50,000 buildings on its platform and hopes to reach profitability.

Led · Equity · Apr 2024

Founded in 2021 by Max Renneberg and Dr. Constantin Weil von der Ahe, Kalia Lab (kalialab GmbH) runs clinics that combine aesthetic medicine, dermatological services and broader health offerings with health-tech standards. The company positions itself as a vertically integrated provider, delivering in-person treatments while embedding digital tools for therapy planning and skin coaching. Its model focuses on high-quality, technology-supported patient experiences, aiming to differentiate through standardized medical protocols and data-driven care pathways. Kalia Lab’s newly secured capital brings total external funding to €3.9 million, giving the firm fresh resources to accelerate expansion. Management plans to open additional clinics in new geographies and to roll out further digital treatment and skin-coaching products. More than 20 business angels complement institutional backers, signalling broad market confidence in the firm’s growth prospects.