18th-19th OCTOBER
2017
ACTIVATING VENTURE CAPITAL for european innovation
Agenda Wed 18th October @ Die Gläserne Manufaktur 09.00 am
Thu 19th October @ Die Gläserne Manufaktur 09:00 am
@ Nockenturm
09:00 am
investors breakfast 10.00 am
Arrival
registration
11:30 am
12.00 pm
10:10 am
@ VW - Lounge
10:30 am
@ VW - Lounge
Welcome Note
Pitch session 4
@ VW - Lounge
11:30 am
Welcome Note 12:00 pm
Venture breakfast
Changeover to
10:30 am @ Orangerie
11.00 am
@ eVitrum
@ Orangerie
lunch & Exhibition
@ VW - Lounge
Pitch session 1 12:40 pm
01.00 pm
@ VW - Lounge
Pitch session 5 01:10 pm
@ Orangerie
Coffee Break & Exhibition 02.00 pm
01:50 pm
@ Orangerie
Coffee Break & Exhibition
02:00 pm @ VW - Lounge
Pitch session 2 02:40 pm
03.00 pm
@ VW - Lounge
Pitch session 6 03:20 pm @ Orangerie
Coffee Break & Exhibition 04.00 pm
03:50 pm
@ Orangerie
Coffee Break & Exhibition
04:00 pm @ VW - Lounge
Pitch session 3 05.00 pm
04:20 pm
@ Orangerie
04:40 pm
@ Orangerie
Coffee Break & talks 05:10 pm
@ Orangerie
Break & Exhibition Departure
06.00 pm Changeover Location to Palace at Grand Garden
06:30 pm @ Palace at Grand Garden
07.00 pm
Welcome note evening event
06:50 pm @ Palace at Grand Garden
Expert Interview 07:20 pm @ Palace at Grand Garden
08.00 pm
2
Best pitch award
Ceremony and Outlook 2018
Dinner & Networking
index
02 on innovation hotbed europe
08 european perspectives...
16 ON 3d-images of star wars
08 on business angel investments
22
24 ON disruption in materials
ON Kickstarting a technology startup
10
12
ON Technology Frontiers and Venture capital
ON venture capital in france
18
14
ON startups and incubation in italy
ON sustainable biotech dyes for textiles
20
26
ON startups in materials
ON sustainability
28 german perspectives...
28
30
32
on A better environment for venture capital
ON Saxony’s startups
ON dresden
34
36
38
40
ON avoiding legal pitfalls
on Capital, Contacts and a Coffee maker
ON laser startups
ON securing tax losses
42
43
44
46
48
press panel
investors / Venture breakfast
expert interview with guy ben zvi
ABOUT THE HIGHTECH STARTBAHN
Partners, sponsors & Media partners 3
on innovation hotbed europe
Innovation hotbed europe
"BRAIN GAIN" OR "BRAIN DRAIN"? Europe is a continent that provides outstanding opportunities to create attractive returns for global investors: Between 2014 and 2016, Europe counted 565 venture-backed exits totaling €90bn in value!1 There is a demonstrable healthy and growing pipeline of early-stage companies here in Europe. Last year, over 150 US funds found their fit for their investment portfolios in Europe. The number of unique active investors in European techcompanies grew over three times in the past five years.2 To keep quotes at this high level and grow even more, we need to provide the best conditions for our main source of competitive advantage: excellent Brains! Especially in the tremendously growing B2B-businesses, intelligence and knowledge are bundled in smart people. Europe needs to retain these experts, even more so as it already faces a strong decrease of companies' production facilities. High costs due to higher wages, missing production specialization or lack of applied capital often motivate founders to move their business to other regions like Asia or USA. Europe's future lies in competing at the cutting edges of research with quality and skill. So let us stick together to keep the best brains in Europe and gain international specialists instead of observing their relocation! Let us activate venture capital for European innovation to keep high-potentials within their European headquarters and enable them to cover high development costs and bridge their higher time to market here! We, at HighTech Startbahn contribute to this mission, i.e. with our annual European program HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS. In 2015 we observed that financing conditions for young innovative founders were getting better and currently we are still seeing a continuation of this trend. We observed in 2016 slightly increasing VC investments by amounts invested, a higher number of VC deals, a much higher exit activity than in 2015, and an increasing involvement of 4
Corporate Venture Capitalists as well as Business Angels. Albeit, with a trend towards smaller rounds and not one single unicorn coming-out. So is this the end of the raise from the ashes of the early 2000s? The statistics of 2016 and the first half of 2017 allow a cautious conclusion: Get ready for the comeback of the white horse with a horn on its forehead, for doubling VC-backed exit amounts, record CVC investments and unbeatable B2B business models that characterize the near future!
I MUST BE DREAMING, I THOUGHT I SAW A UNICORN! Some Numbers to warm up: European venture capital fundraising went up to €6,4bn in 20163, a 20% increase compared to 2015. This might be the result of more VC funds closed with volumes higher than €100m in 2015. First-time funds - above all, located in Asia - make somewhat of a comeback and should be considered as a positive sentiment regarding the VC asset class.
fundraising in europe
Fundraising in Europe
Source: Invest Europe / EDC Source: Invest Europe / EDC
In Europe, there have been 9 of those vehicles, only in the first two quarters of 2017, compared to a total of 3 in 2015
on innovation hotbed europe
venture Capital geographical investment flows
Source: Invest Europe / EDC
and 7 in 2016 (in comparison: worldwide we count 26 (2017 till Q2), 35 (2015), 39 (2016))4.5 In 2016, European venture capital investments increased only slightly by 2%, totaling $4,3bn venture funding that went to more than 3000 companies.6 However, in the first half of 2017, investments in European companies increased at a record pace: An amount of €5bn was invested in European ventures!7 Against the expectations arising from last year's trend where deals increased, the number of deals decreased less. In Germany, for instance, the number of deals have halved since 20148. VC investments of the recent past have been characterized by higher volumes. After a quiet year, 2017 is the year of the big global comeback for megadeals with more than €100m invested capital. LOOK, LOOK! A UNICORN! Today's world is so noisy with next biggest things that people get used to it and stop wondering. Startups now often implement a crazy, disruptive or breakthrough idea. Google Maps, Heck, Cortana, and in more recent years, Uber or Lyft made us wonder. Their approach seemed unbelievable, but they changed the way the world works and transformed parts of our societies. Last but not least, they got valuations beyond €1bn in less than 10 years. Unicorns, with valuations seemingly based more on magic than on revenue, can be found more often in the U.S. than in Europe, due to easier access to capital there. As this species' growth has recently
been slower, we started to wonder if they'd disappear (as the new kid on the block) before Europe even got the chance to become a new hedging ground for this sexy league. But watch out, there are numerous new unicorns emerging: in Europe alone, seven new Unicorns appeared in 20169 and worldwide, 16 new ones arose in only the first half of this year.10 Among the new unicorns were Improbable in the United Kingdom, the little outdated but still remarkable Otto Bock Healthcare in Germany, MoBike in China, Avoloq Group in Switzerland, and Outcome Health in the US. You may ask yourself: Who cares? In smaller, deeptech startup ecosystems, Unicorns usually don't evolve. High-tech ventures do evolve, but are often international niche players, specialized on complex B2B products and solutions, not scaling easily. Yet, they do matter in any startup ecosystems in terms of driving regional innovation and commercial ecosystems. Unicorns are sexy and attract investors; high-tech hidden champions instigate growth at their home base with a steady and un-bullish approach to revenue and jobs for talented specialists. We believe, that any first rate innovation ecosystem worth its salt needs to foster both species. Hence, let's keep working on getting these funding-flows up in Europe, both for deep-tech specialists and for Unicorns. AND UP WE GO! Though some analysts observed a short-winded Angel scene11, in Europe, Angel-investing has taken hold and is higher than ever - counting €711m in the first quarter of 5
on innovation hotbed europe
201712. Particularly in the U.S., syndication is becoming sexy. There has been an incredible growth of syndicate deals since last year because now, "civilians" are able to invest in VC deals due to changes in law*. American Corporates at the Gate Corporate venture capital (CVC) is reaching a new record level on the global scale with a particularly strong tendency in Europe. In Q4 2016, there were 27% of European deals
Corporate investing by number of rounds
might be insolvent before they can even start collecting the much needed revenue from slow moving industry tankers. Therefore, giants should not wait until economy downturns, but instead start fruitful partnerships rightnow! In the framework of the current variety of technologies and the confusion about applications and business models, it is hard to define one clear path. There are crazy technological inventions addressing problems that do not even exist yet. Which verticals will drive new business models? And, which countries activate venture capital and create best-of-class conditions for fruitful innovation and startup ecosystems in Europe?
% of total European rounds Corporate direct Corporate venture fund
16,1%
*Trend based on own estimation
873 *
Compared to 2012 the amount in 2016 grew by factor 8.
12,2%
1,099
545 6,276
7,5% 5,3%
69 2012
314
5,6%
104
2013
30% of corporate investors are u.s. based
160
2014
2015
2016
2017
Source: Dealroom.co / HTSB
with CVC participation13. American investors are currently driving this trend: This group represents one third of European CVC deals. The number of corporate rounds nearly increased eightfold in the last 4 years. Meanwhile, one cannot turn a blind eye on the unequal distribution between corporate direct investments into companies and investments through their venture fund vehicle. This clearly shows pre-exit appetite in terms of corporate involvement. If we assume a steady growth for those two investment types, it is not be a daring prediction that in 2017, the amount of corporate venture capital invested in the last five years would have decupled: €7,74bn compared to €0,68bn in 201214. Regarding the cooperation activities with young innovation drivers, there are large companies like TRUMPF or ENGIE that see the importance of inter-linking approaches, expertise, and technologies, in order to secure competitive advantages. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of untapped potential! And times are still hard for young high-tech companies, as they are competing for scarce, highlyskilled workers, need to cooperate with lead customers that often do not (yet) feel the need to collaborate with the young pioneers in speedy processes. These brave pioneers
And the Winner is... The big winner within European ecosystems currently is… France! Dealroom observes convincingly: “France is firing on all cylinders: seed rounds tripled, early stage doubled, in a countrywide Phenomenon.”15 The French development in 2016 was tremendous! It ranks now second behind the paragon on tech investment activity, the UK. Deals within French tech will achieve record results in 2017: analysts forecast an increase by over 40% from 508 in 2016 to 716 deals in 201716. French companies also made 34% more acquisitions in 2016 than the prior year, reaching 63.17 And, as if this wasn't powerful enough, the Grande Nation is now on the forefront in terms of collaboration and open innovation! Large French enterprises – like ENGIE, an engaging global energy company – discover more and more advantages when joining forces with young innovation leaders - supporting them as partners with their business development, growth strategy, or interims management. According to KPMG, there has been a big push to invest in the tech ecosystem in France and to make the country more welcoming for entrepreneurs and investors.18 France is expected to continue to grow its importance on the radar of investors. Also, Ireland and Scandinavia are attractive European investment target regions. In terms of total numbers, UK, Israel and Germany will probably continue to be leading, as these hubs keep on growing exponentially.19 B2B BEATS B2C Fundings are concentrating increasingly on B2B opportunities. B2C markets are apparently saturated: these deal numbers dropped from 2015 to 2016 by 43%. The focus in 2016 significantly changed to execution and value propositions that gain traction across industries over time.20 We expect a further increase of B2B-focused transactions in the next quarters. The explicit winner within the top verticals in Europe is Fintech. Apart from the euro region, this sector shows a global impact on the very foundation of how businesses work and has the potential to reach every market sector. Globally, Blockchain, Healthtech, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality are predicted to remain hotbeds for investor's activities, too. In Europe, the
*The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) has considered a change to the definition of "accredited investor" to create a new class of potential investors: "accredited natural persons". This opened up to all individuals in the USA the opportunity to e.g. crowd-invest into startups or syndicate with other angel investors.
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on innovation hotbed europe
Key takeaways European Exits 2015 vs. 2016
Source: Tech.eu Visualisation: Anna-Marie BalckeA
top five verticals include, moreover cybersecurity, gaming and content.
are companies like the robotic manufacturer KUKA or Krauss Maffei.25
LOOKING FOR AN EXIT? Europe is one of the increasingly active exit regions worldwide. The number of unique active investors in European tech companies grew over three times in the past five years.21 The total value of European and Israeli venture-backed tech companies that were the target of an acquisition, merger or IPO in 2016 totaled €40.4bn, a 10.5% increase over the €36.5bn in 2015. Germany continues to lead exits, while U.S. is still the top acquirer.22 Surveyed fund managers believe there will be greater activity in the global venture capital exit market in 201723. Remarkably, the share of exit value in Europe seems to converge with the decreasing U.S. share. The proportion of exits in Asia is increasing as well. That might be due to the all-time peak of U.S. VC investments-to-exit ratio.
EUROPEANS, SQUEEZE YOUR BUTTOCKS! In the light of highly motivated US and Chinese investors, spending a lot of money on European innovation, we have to recap and reassess our potential and align to the following take away: The key for our global competitiveness is the mix of: (1) highly skilled specialists (2) working in permeable competence networks (3) embedded in supportive and infrastructure-prone beneficial ecosystems that (4) enable the establishment of new businesses and the growth of established ones!
The Chinese at the Gate The year 2016 showed a continuation of the shift in venture capital activity from North America to Greater China. Chinese investors have a European strategic approach seeking for technology leadership and market expansion: In the Western part of Europe, investments target particularly modern technologies, while in Eastern Europe, the approach is an increasing market presence and the expansion of infrastructure. Transactions are mostly mergers and acquisitions of European high-tech companies. In the previous year the Chinese purchased 56 German firms for $13bn.24 The capital amount invested in 2016 was 14 times higher than in 2015! Prominent targets
Activating venture capital for European Innovation serves as a catalyst to provide the necessary finances for all phases of startup development. In this context, much remains to be done for European high tech regions and yes, we all can contribute!
HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS (HTVD) – THIS FORMAT IS WORKING! Within our mission to activate VC for European innovative companies, the HTVD program is manifesting its success every year. Since 2013, the quota of successful fundings initiated through the annual highlight event is about 15%. The latest example is the double-digit investment of the Hong Kong-based Family Office Henderson into the logistics game changer Benjamin GmbH – and where else could they have met than at #HTVD 2016! 7
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FROM THE IBERIAN PENINSULA TO THE BALTICS: 40 VENTURES FROM 14 COUNTRIES Since 2015, this international program achieves an increasing traction of matching successfully European “It was a very well organized event, in fact, one of the best events I have attended this year. I especially appreciated how the staff connected investor/startup during the event. I was able to connect with interesting prospects with the help.” MARI SETO, NISSHA (JAPAN)
high-tech startups and growth companies, with international investors that look for exciting investment opportunities, and large industry corporations that aim for collaboration partnerships. Within the shortest possible time, the format managed to sharply increase its number of venture applications, its global scope of sourcing promising companies, and records an increase in the “A great selection of interesting advanced technology companies – only a few formats in Europe offer that.” CHRISTIAN REITBERGER, WELLINGTON PARTNERS (GERMANY)
earliness of international investor registrations. This year, the organizers have received 221 serious applications (+38%) from 31 European countries (+63%)! The capitalseeking companies for this year's HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS stem from the Iberian Peninsula to the Baltics. Besides the 40 best European startups, we display eight growth companies with revenues of €5m to €40m. More
than 100 international VCs, Family Offices and Corporates join us regularly for the highlight event in October. This growing trend is continuing! The need for the capitalization of European high-tech innovation systems does not diminish. If we want to strengthen our competitive advantage in research- and knowledge-intensive industries, we have to provide their drivers with the best conditions to keep or build their company headquarters here in Europe. That is why the organizers of the HTVD took a deep breath, and with a lot of enthusiasm, decided to establish strong partnerships with strong European hightech areas to join forces for the first pan-European Annual program for high-tech ventures and investors. The mission is clear: keep qualified specialists and young companies' head offices with their decision makers in Europe and help them to explore international markets to grow their businesses. The HighTech Startbahn GmbH, as strong partner for hightech startups and growth companies, acts as a specialist in terms of fundraising, for new business set-ups and their expansion. It accompanies industry partners in innovation management and corporate venturing. The organization helps investors in their search of investment opportunities and public sector clients in transfer and economic development projects. At this point, we would like to express our special thanks to all the contributing authors for taking the time to join our mission with their support, enthusiam, and their articles, despite professional challenges and time constraints. This is how you, dear guest, can look forward to insights, opinions,
Concentration of Exit Value by Region
Source: Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2017 / HTSB
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#HTVD2017: Applications-statistics
[ 159 appl. #htvd 16]
Source: HighTech StartbahnA
and suggestions from experts concerning questions about how to develop and finance inventions, turning them into successful innovations from-and-in Europe? Listen into our VIP-On-Stage evening interview with one of the highly experienced entrepreneurs and investors as the special guest for our October 2017 event: Guy Ben Zvi – A Man on a Mission! We wish you all an exciting event with many inspiring conversations, new contacts and, of course, countless term sheets.
Warmly,
Warmly,
bettina vossberg
Silvia Grätz
Chairwoman of the Board of Directors Hightech Startbahn
Head of Business Development Hightech Startbahn
Sources: Dealroom, 2015 European Venture Capital Report https://blog.dealroom.co/number-active-unique-investors-europe/ 3 Invest Europe / EDC 4 KPMG Venture Pulse Report Q2 2017 5 own research 6 Invest Europe / EDC 7 Dealroom European2017 Q2 Venture capital report 8 KPMG Venture Pulse Report Q2 2017 9 GP.Bullhound: European Unicorns 2016 10,11 KPMG: Venture Pulse Report 12 Dealroom 13 CB Insights: Global CVC Report 2016 14 HTSB (Estimation based on trend) 15 Dealroom: 2016 European Venture Capital Report 16 CB Insights // La FRENCH TECH: Tech Funding Trends in France Q2 2017 17 Tech.eu: Exits Report 2016 18 Guillaume Cauchoix, Partner KPMG France 19 KMPG: Venture Pulse Report 20 Dealroom: 2016 European Venture Capital Report 21 Blog.dealroom.co/ 22 Tech.eu: Exits report 2016 23 Preqin: Global private Equity and Venture Capital Report 2016 24 Bloomberg, Ginkgo Tree Advisors 25 www.welt.de A some vector-graphics designed by Freepik 1 2
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european perspectives | ON business angel investments
How do Business Angels experience follow-Up investments in own portfolio companies?
Difficulties, bottlenecks, etc.
When the best, most experienced and successful Business Angels invest in a startup, they usually do the following things: 1. They invest in the team. 2. They look at how they will exit before they make the investment. 3. They hold back "dry powder" to invest in the "followon" rounds. 4. They make certain and have a portfolio of investments. 5. Investing to make positive change in the world. Today, Business Angel Investing has become an Asset Class. One need only to look at EBAN's Business Angels of the Year, Tom Schulz (2017), Dr. Johann Hansmann (2016), Ari Korhonen (2015), Brigitte Baumann (2014), Duťan Stojanović (2013) to understand that their systematic application of the principles of angel investment above have stood them well. Many times, Angel Investors are confronted with the question - Do I invest in the horse (i.e, the technology/ market), the coach (other angel investors) or the jockey (the entrepreneur)? Increasingly, in the latter half of the second decade of the 21st Century, the answer is to invest in the "jockey", the entrepreneur. This is because today's investors anticipate that a company will need to "pivot" or change directions more than once in their journey and the 10
need for the entrepreneur to be flexible, to consider various options and to then lead the team to success is crucial. Of all our EBAN Business Angels of the Year, I think Dr. Johann Hansmann is the master of choosing and then backing teams to the hilt. Just as the Angel Investor will look closely at the team, she or he will also from the start look at what type of exit the company will have. This due diligence will be done before the investment and can include contacting likely trade sale candidates. Whereas some angel investors shy away from this, I am actually a big proponent of it because not only does it let you know if the company is interested in eventually acquiring the target company but also what the KPI's are for them to translate that interest into a real acquisition. For holding back "Dry Powder", I would say that Ari Korhonen and Brigitte Baumann are real proponents of this and I learn from them every time I co-invest with them. I am always an eternal optimist and tend to believe the entrepreneur when they tell me that they will have raised enough money in this round to carry them to an exit. Time and time again, I have been proven wrong and end up having to invest in another round, when I had not anticipated doing so, even though Ari and Brigitte had! I would also like to cite the legendary Howard Morgan, one of the great Angel Investors from the USA who has also been one of the first Angel Investors,
Candace Johnson CEO President PILI european business angel network Candace Johnson isPILI, a co-founder SES, theinworld's Before founding Jeremie of worked pre-eminent satelliteon group andcapital the architect Investment Banking equity market of SES Global. is also the founder companies in Paris.She During this period, he of getvarious involved in as Loral Cyberstar-Teleport Europe, Europe's a biohackerspace called La Paillasse where first independent private trans-border he met its future associates. They started tosatellite communications network, and2014. Europe Online, the work on a business plan in July Initially world's online service and launchedfirst as a Internet-based workshop adapted to children aand founding investor andbeing Member of thein Board neophytes, PILI has recognized of Kacific, 2014 the high-throughput Satellite December by the Genopole's YoungInternet System the Pacific. Biotechfor Award. In January 2015, Jeremie started to work full-time on the company Under set-up.her presidency of EBAN, she has co-founded MBAN, the Middle East Business Angel Network and ABAN, the AfricanBusiness Network. Graduated in CorporateAngel Finance from Toulouse Business School, Jeremie acquired Ms. Johnson and is also the President of three his biology chemistry foundations investment funds and is the founder of PILI the Global through discussions with scientists from Telecom Women's Network (GTWN), Global Board and elsewhere. Ready Women (GBRW) and the VATM, the German Association of Private Telecom Operators. Outside of PILI, Jeremie is involved in a jazz collective to support project creation and Ms. Johnson has by the Government management. Hebeen grewdecorated up in Aix-en-Provence of Luxembourg theHorn Commander of Merit and where he playedwith French for 10 years. the Officer of the Oak Leaf Crown for her work in founding and building SES to become one of the world's largest satellite systems as well as being decorated by the Federal Republic of German with the Officer of the Order of Merit for her role in privatizing telecommunications and media.
together with Esther Dyson (EBAN Lifetime Achievement Award 2016) to discover and invest in the amazing startups in the CEE (Central East European) countries of the European Union when he said that “usually Angel Investors make their money not on the first round, but on the second round, which very often is a ‘down round’”. It has been said so many times, but it cannot be said enough
is important for Angel Investors to have a portfolio of companies that they have invested in.” times: “It
I like to recall Dušan Stojanović, yet another of our EBAN Business Angels of the Year when he had three exits in one week. Yes. You read correctly - three exits in one week. Dušan could never have had these three exits in one week had he not had a portfolio of investments. It is important to spread your risk as an Angel Investor and particularly for beginning Angel Investors, we always say that it is wisest
to invest with a group of experienced angels. How many times have we heard of first-time angel investors who have invested a fair amount of money without having joined an experienced Angel Investor Network and lost everything by just investing in one company? Spreading their risk and joining an existing, experienced Angel Network with a good investment portfolio can do away with all these risks, even though it may not promise large rewards right away. And finally, the best Angel Investors very often have their sights set not only on having an exit, but also bringing about a positive change for our society and economy. Tom Schulz, EBAN Business Angel of the Year (2017) and Esther Dyson (EBAN Lifetime Achievement Award 2016) both started out as Internet Entrepreneurs. Today, they are both impact investors in different ways. Tom is the brains behind reviving Nixdorf Data Center and making them totally energy efficient and Esther is putting together a new business model which brings financial returns to investors and brings about positive societal change. 11
European perspectives | ON Technology Frontiers and Venture capital
Technology Frontiers and VC Investments in Europe Never before has the flywheel of deep technological innovation and convergence turned that fast, providing momentum even to a "cataclysm" in terminology: what has been dubbed High Tech over decades, became Deep and most recently Frontier Tech :) This amusing storm of innovation in wording, however, in a sense also anticipates the massive impact technology will have within the next 12 years (a VC fund's lifetime) on business and society as a whole; thus, creating enormous opportunities for venture investors in a magnitude that we might have never seen before.
Europe is home to frontier technology companies We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters. With this subtitle in the Founders Fund manifesto, Peter Thiel made clear he wants to invest in entrepreneurs that solve big technological problems instead of building "rinky dink" social media startups. His picturesque dream has recently become true in Munich: Lilium Aviation can now claim having realized the first flight of a "PKW"-sized electric vertical take-off and landing jet. What more is to expect from Europe has been demonstrated by European tech entrepreneurs at this year's Deep Tech conference "Daho.am", that I co-organized: •
•
12
Space is the new internet: The space industry is on the verge to commercialization moving from state to private funded. Zero2Infinity from Spain for instance disrupts the space access business with its ballon based launcher concept. Cobots bring a new level of automation of human work: Franka Emika, a child of the DLR, has invented a safe collaborative robot that can take over human
•
•
level tasks at the same time cutting costs of a robot by an order in magnitude compared to products of established players. Energy becomes distributed, electric and blockchain enabled: Sonnen from Wildpoldsried pioneers the digital utility concept by building a community software platform on top of their internet-enabled batteries. Grid Singularity from Austria brings new blockchain based automated market structures into the "Internet-of-Energy" equation. Transportation is going to be connected and autonomous: Moving massive amounts of data from vehicles to the cloud is pioneered by Veniam from Porto, who are now working on an "Internet of Autonomous Vehicles". Germany based artisense.ai enables vehicles to see their environment in unmatched accuracy with low-cost commodity hardware - a key capability for full autonomy of cars, robots, drones, etc.
These startup stories mirror Europe's fantastic potential; their funding stories indicate a structural problem in Europe's VC landscape, however. None of the renowned VC brands invested first into Sonnen but a seeming "underdog" from Westfalen. Zero2Infinity, artisense.ai, and Franka are largely self-funded and supported by individuals so far. Veniam attracted the interest of a top US VC from New York. Lilium just announced a whopping $90 million financing round among others with Chinese giant Tencent becoming a shareholder. Grid Singularity goes new pathways with token based business and financing models.
VC is about venture Frontier tech companies mostly do not fit the classical investment blueprint described by MRR, ACV, CAC, payback time, and other metric trajectories that new investors are
herbert mangesius CEO Associate PILI Vito Ventures Herbert Mangesius is Associate at the deep tech VC fund Vito Ventures in Munich. Prior to joining Vito Ventures, he has been academic researcher and lecturer in mathematical systems and control theory at Technische Universität München, and Université catholique de Louvain. He studied engineering science at TUM and École Polytechnique Paris and is Alumnus of the Center for Digital Technology and Management in Munich.
trained and conditioned on, e.g., in the SaaS or e-commerce space. Growth potentials in space or robotics for instance may easily be orders of magnitudes beyond those of classical software companies. Staggering numbers and lack of technological experience, however, quickly lead to opportunity passes on investor's side - in the end one does not need to take that risk! To one end, the VC industry would greatly benefit from bringing more diverse and especially broadly trained techsavvy people into its business to better be aware of existing biases and engage with (technological) uncertainty. To another end, taking risk and performing visionary investments comes much more natural when investment pockets are deep.
Venture financing opportunities
and investment space. Beyond venture capital, ICOs (initial coin offerings) have gained enormous popularity among certain entrepreneurs in raising money. Often described as democratization of venture capital and disruptor of the VC industry, this crypto-economic token model has surpassed global Angel and Seed VC funding of internet startups consistently since May 2017. The token model is a natural fit as financing and business model for startups with products which create network effects and thrive on them. The future of energy, transportation, robotic automation and many other data driven models join the ranks here. Be it by increasing the volume of VC flowing into tech companies, or by adoption of tools from the new and hopefully soon maturing crypto-economic belt:
Investing less than 3% of the annual revenue of top 1000 family owned businesses in Germany alone would be enough to close the VC funding gap to the US, where about five times the European VC volume gets invested a year.
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
Given their entrepreneurial past, it would be desirable to see especially family owned businesses supporting the growth and evolution of the European technology venturing
And the ones who create the future will be rewarded and paid-off. Maybe VCs will soon be only side actors in that story. 13
European perspectives #france | ON venture capital in france
Hendrik Van Asbroeck CEO Director PILI Engie New Ventures
“Investment as the doorway to partnership”
Hendrikfounding Van Asbroeck holds a Master's degree in Before PILI, Jeremie worked in Commercial Engineering from Leuven University, Investment Banking on equity capital market diplomas in management, incomplemented Paris. During thiswith period, he get involved in andcalled sustainable energy from the a negotiation biohackerspace La Paillasse where School, and heVlerick met itsManagement future associates. TheyInsead-Cedep, started to the European Energy work on a business planInstitute. in July 2014. Initially launched as a workshop adapted to children He neophytes, started his life as inFinancial and PILIprofessional has being recognized Analyst, then Account withYoung Air Products December 2014 by theManager, Genopole's and Chemicals, joining the Jeremie Engie Group in Biotech Award. Inbefore January 2015, 2000 to as work Account Manager for company Electrabel. After started full-time on the holding posts as Senior Key Account Manager and set-up. Renewables Manager, he was promoted to Head of Sales Belux, and appointed Director Graduated in Corporate Finance fromof Engie New Ventures in 2014. Toulouse Business School, Jeremie acquired his biology and chemistry foundations Hendrikdiscussions finds that his experience in finance, through withvaried scientists from PILI business development, and sales gives him a great and elsewhere. advantage in managing a CVC fund, allowing him to takeofinto aspects a possible Outside PILI,account Jeremieallis the involved in aofjazz partnership, from business to problems at collective to support project plan creation and grass-roots level. management. He grew up in Aix-en-Provence where he played French Horn for 10 years.
Creating partnerships to lead the energy transition Engie New Ventures (ENV) was founded in May 2014, when 115M€ of Corporate Venture Capital was set aside for investment as minority stakes in startups, to complement existing resources coming from the technology and research centres and from internal innovation. Since then, a total of 65M€ has been invested in 16 projects worldwide, especially Europe, North America and the Middle East, and in fields as diverse as organic photovoltaics, natural gas chromatography and hydrogen mobility. Names include Powerdale, Sigfox, Kiwi Power, Apix Analytics, StreetLight Data, Kwh Analytics, Heliatek, Serviz, Ecova, Greentown Labs, Living Map and EV-Box.
Engie has set itself the goal of becoming a leader in energy transition, with innovation as a particular focus, especially in the generation of distributed renewable energy, energy efficiency & monitoring, and the "smart house" in the city of tomorrow. The group has developed new tools and processes destined to make innovation a sustainable part of the group's growth, including an incubation process for employees' projects which has created a number of new businesses. Environmental issues are of course at the heart of innovation in the energy world, and in May this year, Engie received the European Cleantech Corporation of the Year Award.
ENV is part of the Engie group, which has been a major utility for over 150 years, and currently employs more than 150 000 people around the world - including 50 specialised innovation managers - for an annual revenue of over 70 billion euros.
As Engie's corporate venture capital fund, Engie New Ventures seeks not simply to invest financially in startups, but to create real partnerships with a view to long-term collaboration in which the creativity and flexibility of the newcomer combine with the strength and ressources of a
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european perspectives #france | ON venture capital in france
well-established group. Exclusively focused on the fields of energy and energy services, Engie offer their new partners both breadth and depth of specialised knowledge and skills. And Engie's presence around the world means that startups can move towards global development backed up by Engie's experience. ENV is looking for startups that will help Engie build the energy world of the future. The innovative nature of the technology or service offer is of course a priority, but companies should already be in their development phase, actually present on the market, to allow ENV to evaluate the robustness of the project, its financial performance and market position, including alignment with the Group's strategy in the field in question. Ease of internationalisation is also taken into account, so
that the possibilities of partnerships can be developed to their full potential worldwide. Human aspects are important too: in particular, a reactive management team whose mentality fits with that of Engie, and who have an enthusiastic belief in their potential success. Other co-investors will also be carefully considered, with a view to ensuring that objectives are compatible. The traditional economy of scale says that bigger means more cost-efficient. But the digital revolution is bringing about rapid changes in the energy world, and this offers lots of opportunity. Startups can be perfectly competitive in their niche, and working with a large group such as Engie affords a wider base for stability, and wider horizons for development.
SP - F. exé : 210 x 148 mm _ PP _QUADRI - PROFIL : ISOCOATED V2 300 _ PRESSE MAG _ ENGIE - VIVATECH - UK _ Encrage total = 300 % _ V3 _ impression laser à 100% _ N° dossier : 027046
With ENGIE, innovation is now collaborative. ENGIE works closely with entrepreneurs, startups and experts to innovate and co-create energy solutions of tomorrow in order to face the challenges of energy. ENGIE aims at nurturing every idea to reinvent the world of tomorrow. engie.com
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ENGIE : SA AU CAPITAL DE 2 435 285 011 € - RCS NANTERRE 542 107 651.
Giving life to a new energy
european perspectives #france | ON sustainable biotech dyes for textiles
Jérémie Blache CEO PILI Before founding PILI, Jeremie worked in Investment Banking on equity capital market in Paris. During this period, he get involved in a biohackerspace called La Paillasse where he met its future associates. They started to work on a business plan in July 2014. Initially launched as a workshop adapted to children and neophytes, PILI has being recognized in December 2014 by the Genopole's Young Biotech Award. In January 2015, Jeremie started to work full-time on the company set-up. Graduated in Corporate Finance from Toulouse Business School, Jeremie acquired his biology and chemistry foundations through discussions with scientists from PILI and elsewhere.
Sustainable biotech dyes for Textiles PILI began as a simple idea: what if we could build a pen that could produce its own ink? Designer Marie-Sarah Adenis and Biologist Thomas Landrain started a project that aimed at showing the potential of biotechnology and bioproduction through this idea of renewable ink. They presented "Grow Your Own Ink" workshops for kids and curious onlookers around the world in science museums and festivals such as the Science Gallery in Dublin, Victorian & Albert Museum in London or the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris for example. The interest of the public was so great that when they met Jeremie Blache, they suggested him to look for a business model for this innovation. 6 months later they won a prize at the Genopole Contest in December 2014. And so PILI was born. The company was then incubated in Indie Bio's accelerator in Ireland developing the concept with several bacterial strains and producing different colours. This development allowed PILI to be awarded with a public grant of €200k to finance research on biotech dyes. This recognition allowed the company to settle in the Toulouse White Biotechnology laboratories and to recruit two researchers. During this period, the founding team welcomed its last member, 16
Outside of PILI, Jeremie is involved in a jazz collective to support project creation and management. He grew up in Aix-enProvence where he played French Horn for 10 years.
PILI's CTO Guillaume Boissonnat. It was the first time that a chemist analysed the company's strategy in depth. We quickly made a slight change in our strategy. In 2016 PILI started to evaluate its dyes on cotton and wool and focused on the production of biotechnological dyes for textile. PILI developed the chemistry and formulation knowledge around dyes and opened a chemistry laboratory at le CNAM in Paris to evaluate and test the properties and formulations of the biotech dyes. PILI gained consideration within the fashion industry and has been selected in an acceleration program through the initiative Fashion for Good in Amsterdam led by the C&A Foundation to foster sustainable innovations for the future of the fashion industry. PILI is now a 6-employee company raising money to fund its development and IP consolidation to fulfil our mission: to provide high-performance sustainable biotech dyes through an oil-free process. France is an amazing place to build a company. Three factors are to be accounted for this: a strong industrial
network, excellent academic laboratories and ambitious public policies that support innovation. We were very surprised to find such a dense and diverse gathering of industrial leaders in France. It is indeed fundamental for young companies to have the opportunity to test a value proposition and get to understand what are the real constraints of complex industrial processes. Sharing confidential information, gaining someone's trust and starting a feasibility study is much more difficult to obtain out of one's homeland. Because of legal, cultural and IP considerations, building a collaboration is much more time-consuming and laborious.
“Our mission: to provide highperformance sustainable biotech dyes through an oil-free process� Dense industrial interactions have permitted us to understand faster our key business issues and to apply to several public innovation programs. Entrepreneurs have the chance in France to face an unique interlocutor regarding
public financial supports: BPI France. This organisation is extremely efficient and well designed to offer tailored financing instruments to promising innovative projects. In France, Research and Development expenses are also eligible to a 30% tax credit. Those combined factors make France a competitive place to launch an innovative venture. France still lacks seed accelerators and more active business angels to provide the minimum amount of money that a young team without funds need to start a biotech company though. We went to Ireland to find it. Although French research could probably be better valued, interesting initiatives are emerging in France. For instance, a very effective public-private interface has been recently developed in the field of industrial biotechnologies called Toulouse White Biotechnology: a consortium of industrial companies and academic laboratories. Among the various interests of TWB's offer, the access to fermentation and molecular biology platforms is game-changing. Such an asset-light financial model for a young biotech company was not possible in France before. We think that a great number of cutting-edge innovations will emerge from this new white biotech valley. 17
european perspectives #united kingdom | ON 3d-images of star wars
Dr. Javid Khan
“Our technology enables 3D images to appear in midair without any glasses: just like ‘Star Wars’ ”
What is holographic 3D? The correct, scientific definition of holography is image creation using the physical principles of diffraction of light. Most people know about popular optical effects like refraction and reflection. Diffraction works with structures smaller than the wavelength of light and it can recreate both reflection and refraction, making it powerful but difficult to master.
Background 3D technologies today require the viewer to wear glasses (cinema, AR) or a headset (VR). These stereo technologies have basic limitations which makes them unsuitable for a true 3D experience. This is because these technologies do not recreate a true 3D image, rather they present a pair of 2D images to both eyes. This stereo disparity leads to a poor 3D experience as it is fundamentally unacceptable to the human brain resulting in problems such as motion sickness, dizziness and nausea. 18
Holoxica Limited Entrepreneur and founder of Holoxica, a Deep Tech company working on holographic 3D visualisation technologies. He founded Holoxica in 2008 to commercialise the results of his research from Edinburgh University. Holoxica's R&D activities focus on naturally viewable (glassess-free) dynamic 3D displays. Dr. Khan has won several national and international awards in business and photonics. Areas of expertise include: embedded systems, IC design, micro/ nano systems, displays and photonics. He was formerly a Scientific Officer at the European Commission running international high tech projects with an annual budget of €10 million. Javid holds a doctorate in Photonics Engineering on Holographic 3D displays, and has MEng and MSc degrees in Microelectronics and Telecoms Engineering.
ON 3d-images of star-wars Holoxica is a "Deep Tech" company, working on a disruptive holographic 3D Displays for visualizing medical images from CT, MRI & Ultrasound scanners. Our vision is to display 3D as it should be.
Founder & Managing Director
An ideal 3D display should not rely on any wearable. The scene or object should be presented in real space (floating in mid-air), allowing the viewer to look around objects and see them from different perspectives, as in real life. This leads to a more comfortable and naturalistic viewing experience without all the problems of stereo 3D. Only holographic and similar technologies can deliver this.
Holoxica's approach After forty years since "Star Wars", we are still far from a holographic 3D display. This is because such technologies require the nano-scale features over a large area to create diffraction. Most of the research in this area is performed by the military and academia. The components tend to be very expensive and difficult to produce. The grand challenge is to build a true dynamic 3D display based on holographic technology that is practical and commercially feasible. Instead of trying to create a fantasy sci-fi display, Holoxica decided to take a radically different approach that is based on engineering reality. We started by asking “what is the simplest holographic display we can make?”. The answer: a single pixel, or voxel, in 3D space, that can be switched on
or off. We then move on to two voxels and worked up from there to 4 to 9 to 16 voxels and so on.
Holoxica's first-generation segmented holographic display demonstrator in 2010 had up to nine voxels and could show simple numeric information. The second-generation planar display, made in 2013, has a few 100k voxels, with freeform images floating in mid-air that can change in real time. The third generation, volumetric display is being designed for medical imaging (CT and MRI scanners) with millions of
voxels. This bottom-up approach is commercially viable and saleable, leveraging existing manufacturing techniques and high-end components. Our clients are medical doctors, consultants, trainees, surgeons and teachers. They struggle to perceive the flat 2D images produced by the medical scanners. They have to build up a mental stack of the images slices to get a subjective impression of the underlying anatomy. This leads to uncertainty in diagnostics, planning and surgery. They reject current AR/VR solutions based on eye-ware. Our breakthrough innovation meets this urgent demand for a true 3D display that can match the sophistication of medical scanners. Our solution enables the image slices to be presented as a "stack of light", enabling easy and natural visualization of the scan. This is an order of magnitude better than current AR/VR tech (based on eye-ware); with 40% faster diagnostics; 15-20% faster & better quality surgery. Holographic video displays are edging ever closer to commercial reality. Out technology is low-cost, fast, largearea and saleable. We are positioned beyond current VR & AR offerings. 19
european perspectives #italy | ON startups and incubation in italy
ALFREDOBlache MAGLIONE Jérémie CEO President PILI INDUSTRIO VENTURES Alfredo Maglione is an engineer and a serial entrepreneur.
There is an old Italian saying,
“the wise man knows his limits and strengths.”
He started his career as researcher at FBK - Bruno Kessler Foundation, and in 1995 he founded the company Optoi Microelectronics in Trento (Italy) - as a spin-off of his research institute. Today, Optoi is a leading player in the industries of microelectronics, sensors, and other high-tech applications. In 2013 Alfredo Maglione co-founded Industrio Ventures, the first Italian accelerator solely dedicated to hardware startups with focus on mechatronics, IoT, and "Industry 4.0". Alfredo Maglione is a board member of the consortium Habitech, and the president for Innovation Services at Confindustria Trento (Italian Entrepreneurs' Association).
Industrio Ventures has tried to follow this advice.
Industrio is a hardware-startup accelerator based in Rovereto (Trento, Italy), in the very heart of the Italian manufacturing mega-cluster that extends from the Alps to the Adriatic Sea, from Turin to Venice. In this region, Italy – the second largest industrial power in Europe after Germany – produces a big chunk of the goods that it will then export to other parts the world: from engines to medical devices, from luxury products to coffee machines. Founded by four entrepreneurs (Alberto Gasperi, Alfredo Maglione, Jari Ognibeni, Alessio Romani) in 2013, Industrio Ventures is focused on supporting pre-revenue hardware startups that are looking to grow and bring great products to market. Unlike other accelerators, Industrio follows a tailor-made approach, meticulously attentive to the potential of each single founder or team. Industrio selects and invests in a very limited number of startups, though evaluating every team, and the skills of every team member, in the 20
shortest possible time. Industrio works with a hybrid model of acceleration, part financial and part industrial. In every startup, the accelerator invests €25k in seed capital, a number that can increase depending on the interest of other syndicate partners. However, the investment is not limited to capital. Industrio provides every startup with at least €25k worth of customized services (know-how, mentoring, contacts, legal support, infrastructure, etc.), helping each team structure its own business model, validate a prototype, prepare the DFM, start certifications, launch the product on the market and structure its fund raising. This industrial phase of the acceleration program is consciously and necessarily distributed. Thanks to Industrio Ventures' network of about 40 professionals and manufacturing companies of the highest level throughout Italy, startups can rely on a great pool of business and industrial expertise. This allows them to transform their
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
high-potential ideas in good mechatronic products, and bring them to market as quickly and effectively as possible. Decreasing time, resources and risk. It is a model based on two pillars: open innovation and extended enterprise. In a nutshell, Industrio Ventures is the door to laboratories, prototyping spaces and production spaces of companies that have already been working on the market for decades, accumulating much experience. This hands-on approach may be lacking in charm or Silicon Valley's mystique, but it works. In just 3 and half years, it has allowed Industrio to make 10 investments (in mechatronics, IOT, Industry 4.0, food-tech), and 2 exits.
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This American proverb can be
used to better explain the model, which stems from the fact that Italy lacks structured forms of venture capital and angel
investing (and manufacturing is typically capital-intensive), but it is rich in manufacturing skills, talent, and expertise. The model is consistent with the nature of the Italian manufacturing mega-cluster in which we are based and tries to leverage those skills, rather than trying to become strictly finance-based. Just a couple hours' drive from Industrio Ventures headquarters there is Lombardy, the fourth largest region in Europe in terms of export value (after Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and North Rhine-Westphalia) and home to over 100 thousand manufacturing companies. In an hour's drive, you can get to the Veneto region, which boasts some of the most important Italian industrial districts, while in two hours you reach the Emilia-Romagna region, the first Italian area in terms of per capita export value. Moreover, Southern Germany is rather close to Industrio Ventures: just four hours' drive. 21
European perspectives #italy | ON startups in materials
Marco Morrone CEO Co-founder, Business Development Manager PILI composite research Founding member of Composite Research, Marco is the person in charge of outlining the business development strategies of the company. Thanks to his knowledge of marketing, he was chosen to represent the startup during the negotiations with potential customers and partners and as main referent for fairs and events. During his six-year experience as financial adviser by some of the biggest banks in Italy, Marco has developed a proper talent in creating new meeting opportunities with potential customers. For him, CoRe represents a unique chance to express his talent, turning the MadFlex lab project into a proper business opportunity.
New opportunities in the field of composite materials Composite Research is a young Italian startup company, founded with the ambitious goal of developing innovative products and processes in the field of materials, especially composite ones. The idea of the project was first promoted by two friends, Eugenio Fossat, Chemistry student, and Nicola Giulietti, energetic engineer, who, attracted by the unexpressed potential of composite materials, imagined and developed the MadFlex: An extremely lightweight panel with unparalleled mechanical properties. Aware of the great opportunity, they thought of turning a mere R&D activity into a real business project. However, having no managerial experience, Eugenio and Nicola decided 22
to engage two advisers, Marco Morrone and Nadia Ceolin, both coming from the financial world and with experience in the field of investment research. Initiated on a mere counselling relationship, their friendship steadily strengthened itself and turned into a full personal and professional involvement. In early 2016, the startup Composite Research was officially established, guided by the four friends and supported by two business angels, who brought the company the financial resources and the contacts needed to start the activity. The first is Cesare Mangone, president and CEO of Progetti, leader in the field of medical devices, great fan of new technologies and with a huge network of contacts around the world. Alongside him stands Luigi Costa, Chemistry professor at the University of Turin, great polymers expert and a valuable resource in the management of startup lab activities. Since the beginning, CoRe has been working hard to achieve the goal it has set: Tightening licensing agreements with leading companies from various industries, to develop and manufacture products that exploit the MadFlex technology. There have been many successes, including the victory at the end of 2016 of a call from the Raw Materials section of the European Institute of Technology (EIT), and the
european perspectives #italy | ON startups in materials
partnership with the Alta Scuola Politecnica of Turin and Milan, which will involve students for the design of new solutions in MadFlex. The difficulties, however, have not been missed. First of all, the composite materials industry is still at the beginning and many still do not know the potential of these new technologies. To our counterparts we must therefore often ask for an intellectual effort to bring them closer to the MadFlex and let them understand the many benefits of this product. In addition, although we have been able to meet and deepen our ideas with a number of companies from various sectors, we have noticed a general lack of willingness to come out of their comfort zone and accept what is a bet for everyone. Greater bureaucracy and strong competitiveness are also a brake for those who would like to become promoters of new technologies. To us, a small startup with limited resources, well established companies ask for finished products, ready to be put on the market. A solution difficult to manage, which also requires a strong investment to compensate our lack of expertise in the field of product design. As Italians, we know this kind of attitude very well and we are aware how our national mentality is hardly in line with
the goals of a startup motivated to succeed in the short term. For this reason, we are determined to open to an
international market, certainly more inclined to exploit an opportunity and with the resources and experience needed to turn our dream into reality. We are confident that CoRe will soon be on the right track for success. The many positive feedback we receive on our technology and our business model tell us that we are working well. To entrepreneurs and investors around the world, we turn our invitation to meet us and seize an opportunity that we think it would be really fruitful and fulfilling.
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European perspectives #netherlands | ON Kickstarting a technology startup
Vincent Burg CEO Co-Founder and Managing Director Business PILI Development Manager Accerion Vincent focuses on business development and financing at Accerion. He forms the management team together with original founder Willem-Jan Lamers.
Kickstarting a technology startup We are at the beginning of the fourth industrial revolution and intelligent systems are making industry more efficient at a rapid pace. Today, mobile robots are becoming more common in logistics, manufacturing and commercial applications. But with robots entering the workplace, environments become more dynamic with many interactions between robots, equipment and people. This presents a problem for navigation: positioning depends on a static environment or fixed infrastructure. Accerion has developed a new technology to tackle exactly this problem, enabling robots to navigate even the most dynamic environment. But building a company from scratch and bringing a new technology to the industrial market brings up a set of unique challenges.
How it all started In 2012, Willem-Jan Lamers was working as a independent automotive technology consultant. He was faced with a challenging measurement: determining the sideways slip of a car at high speed. This measurement was only possible using expensive equipment, but this lead him to the key question: “Can we do this differently?�. Inspired by this challenge, Willem-Jan decided to start developing a sensor by himself to find out. While playing around with a thing you hold in your hand every day, a computer mouse, he came up with a brilliant 24
After building a broad experience in corporate environments for 10 years he followed a longstanding dream to become an entrepreneur, and returned to the high-tech industry as independent business development consultant. He joined Accerion first as consultant to support the company through a business accelerator, and shortly after that he became managing partner. Vincent previously held positions as consultant, project manager and business unit manager at Capgemini, CEVA Logistics and Jabil Global Services. He holds a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Eindhoven University of Technology.
idea. Just like a computer mouse, the device he developed turned out to be perfectly suited for the measurement. This was back in 2012 and looking back, this was the Eureka moment that kicked off Accerion's journey. He knew he was on to something important. When meeting two other entrepreneurs developing a self-driving robot to feed cattle, he started thinking about robotics positioning. And after several modifications he came up with a new design and proved that his technology was capable of delivering just that, in a very unique way.
Win or learn, never lose. A startup was born. Along with the two partners, some funding and market research they started developing a new prototype and entered the HighTechXL Business Accelerator in Eindhoven. This high-pressure environment lead to a major strategic change away from the cattlefeeding robot, and focusing on the core part: the sensor technology. But not everything goes as planned. While the business opportunity was clear, the two other partners followed their agricultural hearts and decided to leave Accerion and return full-time to their companies. The team hired Vincent at the start of the accelerator program, and it became clear that he and Willem-Jan form
a complimentary and tight team. Willem-Jan asked Vincent to join as partner and this changed Accerion into its current form. The lesson we learned is that it's crucial that everyone is on the same page: partners, investors and employees. Starting a technology startup isn't easy and you'll make a lot of mistakes early on. We believe this is an essential part of the process, and if you stay positive and take the learnings, the biggest mistakes turn out to be valuable lessons.
But how do we convince the world? As a technology startup, you start with nothing but a team with a great idea. Despite having unique technology and a huge potential, convincing investors and corporate customers takes a lot of effort. Building a track record is critical for investors and marketing, but our customers with the most exciting new products want to keep this under wraps.
we had several opportunities in our pipeline, we ended up with only two options to move forward. Comparing Europe with Silicon Valley, we notice that investors in the US move much quicker compared to investors here. And corporate customers especially in Europe want to avoid risks more than in the US too in our experience. Working with startups gives less certainty indeed, but also major opportunities to get ahead of the competition. This would be an area where some encouragement could help. While there are many subsidy opportunities for R&D, a subsidy for Corporate-Startup collaboration would be a great way to help startups - and Corporates too!
We got a major boost from the accelerator program, where we (all mechanical engineers) quickly learned about marketing, storytelling and use of media. This is one of the reasons we met our current investors there. While 25
european perspectives #poland | ON disruption in materials
DARIUSZ MIODUSZEWSKI
“My aim is to disrupt current order by introducing remarkable solutions.�
Co-Founder and CEO ELMILL S.A. Dariusz Mioduszewski is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Polish startup ELMILL S.A. since its incorporation in 2015. He is an entrepreneur, a manager with more than 20 years of experience in investment banking, consulting as well as new technologies. Dariusz is focused on energy, cleantech, waste-2-energy and new technologies sectors. Initiator of development milling technologies using an electromagnetic mill. Currently serves as CEO and CTO in ELMILL and is responsible for conducting milling tests as well as business strategy. Dariusz is also main shareholder of PWW Sp. z o.o. - company focused on coal water slurry fuel development. Dariusz has graduated from the University of Warsaw (Master Degree in Law).
The next startup nation The Company ELMILL was founded in December, 2015 and is a participant of BridgeAlfa program, implemented by The National Centre for Research and Development (NCRD) in order to finance innovative projects with the potential to make significant changes in technological progress. The seed phase has been financed by government subsidies and two venture capital funds (The Polish Institute of Research and Development and Giza Polish Ventures) which has been sufficient to kick-off the company operations and develop a MVP
Technology ELMILL has developed a unique processing technology for ultra-fine milling of organic & non-organic materials through the process of wet milling in an electromagnetic mill. The mill consists of milling rods which are circulated in an electromagnetic field within the milling chamber. The hydrous product which is pumped through the milling chamber undergoes high-speed disintegration by the milling rods, which also use the process of cavitation to assist in the milling process. 26
What does ELMILL technology give to the Client? Test which have been performed on materials such as corn, straw, glue, biogas substrate have all shown a decrease in particle size not achieved by any other process on the market in relation to the energy input to achieve this. If the Client achieve higher process yields, they may then achieve higher profit margins per ton of product, or, if the process is in the development phase, the Client may plan a lower CAPEX for the investment. The ultra-fine milling technology also allows the client to search new areas in Research & Development in the formulation of new recipes & products. Example: Fermentation of Starch & Cellulosic materials - biogas, alcohol & biofuel production, sewage treatment industries by decreasing the particle size, the surface area is increased, which leads to higher accessibility of sugars to enzymes, thus leading to higher process yields.
Is ELMILL technology competetive against current market tools? ELMILL milling technology uses 8-10 times less energy to achieve the ultra-fine particle distribution in comparison to other technologies such as hammer mill, roller or ball mills or knife shredders. The Electromagnetic Milling technology has a low maintenance design and also ensures that there is a low probability of damage to the machine when foreign substances may enter the milling chamber. Due to the simple design and low amount of moving parts, this technology will have a significantly lower implementation cost compared to other thechnologies with the same product throughput capacity.
Startup scene in Poland
DocPlanner, Brand24, Desk.Works, Brainly. The Polish startup ecosystem is exploding, one can observe creating new accelerators, vc funds, programms dedicated to young entrepreneurs and companies. Very important role in creating startup scene plays Polish Development Fund and the National Centre for Research and Development. Both institutions through their programms support entrepreneurs as well as companies by offering tailor-made packages of financial and nonfinancial services. Their aim is to create a complete market of raising capital and growth instruments at every stage of project development. Moreover the Polish startup scene has benefitted from access to EU funding for innovation. I believe Poland is on the right track to become next startup nation. We have well educated people who are really motivated and hungry for success. All Polish entrepreneurs have to think globally if they want succeed on the international scale.
Over the past few years activity in the startup scene in Poland has increased tremendously. Entrepreneurs from Poland have created many successful startups like 27
European perspectives #spain | ON sustainability
DR. WALTER RAMIREZ New Business Development Director biokemik Dr. Walter Ramirez is passionate about connecting customers with innovative solutions. He is Biokemik's Business Development Director. He is the Founder of Innventik S.L. a commercial and innovation acceleration firm, he was Dynasol's Global R&D Director (Spain), Kuo-DESC's Corporate R&D Director (Mexico). He founded a number of R&D, Innovation, Tech. Centers, and nanotechnology spinoffs. He has developed 15 commercial technologies for radically new products in polymers, elastomers and nanocomposites. He is Business Innovation Coach/Expert by EASME. He has a Doctorate in Chemistry (Claude Bernard Lyon-1 University, France), he is a Chemical Engineer (Iberoamerican University, Mexico), with post-Doctorate stages at CNRS and INSA (France).
Sustainability as a challenge and an opportunity Biokemik will promote the "Bioeconomy" by transforming biomass and renewable resources into valuable chemicals. Biokemik was incorporated as Biosyncaucho S.L. on May 2015, based on the development from Tecnalia (Spain). The company is owned by Tecnalia and a private equity fund Kereon Partners. We develop and industrialize green chemicals (Bio: 1,3-Butadiene, 2,3-Butanediol, Acetoin, Methyl Ethyl Ketone), with proprietary technology, from non-alimentary, cheap and abundant renewable raw materials sources, for a broad range of markets and applications. • •
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Bio-1,3-Butadiene is a monomer used extensively in synthetic rubber, thermoplastic elastomers, styrenic plastics, epoxy resins, nylon and fine chemicals. Bio-2,3-Butanediol (BDO) is specialized chemical, that will replace 1,4-Butanediol due to its performance and competitive cost. Potential applications include Platics (PU, PE), Pharmaceutical, Pesticides. Bio-Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK) obtained by this process will be the first Bio-MEK in the market, we will target pharmaceutical and medical applications, but MEK is a universal solvent extensively used in paints coatings, (PU, Epoxy, Acrylic, PE), with a huge market.
•
ACETOIN is a fine chemical used as specialty additive, with very high prices. Our process will enable to obtain this molecule at very competitive cost.
The opportunity was identified due to the petrochemical industry shift in raw material for ethylene manufacturing from naphta to lighter fractions, and a global shortage in the supply of Butadiene is anticipated.
Our process uses sugars (molasses, lignocelluloses) to obtain 2,3-Butanediol by a direct route or via the Acetoin route. 1,3-Butadiene is obtained by dehydration
“Sustainability is a huge technological challenge but also the single largest business opportunity of this generation.�
of 2,3-Butanediol. Acetoin and 2,3-Butanediol can be transformed into Methyl-Ethyl-Ketone. Our technology is protected by 1 patent granted, 5 patent applications, and 3 CECT registered microorganisms (risk 1). 2 additional patent applications are in progress. Our competitive advantage is based on our proprietary fermentation process that enables to obtain competitive "bio" products in price, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and energyintensive processes. The main advantage is cost, opening the possibility to compete in fine chemicals with valuable intermediates. The technology has a status of TRL 5 (ref. BDO, Acetoin, MEK). We proceed according to our Roadmap, we have developed the technology at the Laboratory and Pilot Plant Stage Basic Engineering and are developing the Detail Engineering to begin with the construction of a semiindustrial plant (100 Ton/year) by the end of 2017. Trials will be performed to qualify products, to optimize the process, and the industrial plant construction (15-20K Ton/ year) is scheduled for 2020.
technology responds to the worldwide demand of sustainable solutions, Butadiene shortage, generating additionally valuable intermediates. We have developed state of the art technology, demonstrated from concept to Pilot scale. The aim is to scale-up the process at the semiindustrial and industrial scales, to identify partners for the construction of the demonstration (100 Ton/year, 2017) and industrial scale (20K Ton/year, 2020). Biokemik is actively looking for SMART industrial partners (investors with all the rights on equity and Company's Board) willing to industrialize the bio-processes, or to acquire independent licenses, as well as potential customers willing to validate our products. Sustainability is a huge technological challenge but also the single largest business opportunity of this generation. We want to become a relevant player in green chemicals, by developing environmentally friendly processes to convert renewable resources into high value chemicals, attaining sustainable, low carbon footprint end-products.
We are developing the market, looking for charter customers, sampling with potential. Biosyncaucho 29
A better environment for venture capital in Germany Venture capital is key, especially for young innovative companies. Capital-intensive tech companies, in particular, often need significant investments in order to be able to grow fast enough to be at the forefront of the global race for innovation – investments so large and risky at the same time that there are few alternatives to venture capital.
German Ministry dr. johannes velling Head of Section KfW, Seed and Startup Financing Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy Dr. Velling studied economics at the universities of Mannheim, Germany, and Eugene/Oregon, USA. In 1996 he changed to the German federal government. He hold different positions at the Federal Ministry of Economics (BMWi) and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Since the beginning of 2004 he has been responsible for the different federal programmes for venture capital financing of young technological companies. In this function, he elaborated the EXIST program for startups from universities. He developed together with three industrial companies and the KfW Banking Group the "HighTech Gründerfonds", where he serves as a depute Head of the Supervisory Board since 2005. His responsibilities also include the new "INVEST Zuschuss für Wagniskapital" (investment grant risk capital) as well as the German Accelerators in Silicon Valley, Boston and New York City.
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This is why the task of improving startup financing in Germany was very much at the top of the political agenda for the last parliament. The government addressed this challenge notably by massively expanding the toolbox at the disposal of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. This has meant that tools like the INVEST promotional programme, which is targeted at business angels, have become much more attractive. On 1 January 2017, the grant ceiling was raised to €500,000, which is double the original amount. On top of this, a new tax-free exit grant was introduced, which can be claimed by business angels selling their stake in a startup. The COPARION co-investment fund was relaunched in 2016, with a financial envelope of €225 million. This summer saw the creation of the third-generation HighTech Gründerfonds, which, like its two predecessors, is to provide seed financing to promising tech startups. The fund, which is to attain a final volume of more
german perspectives | on A better environment for venture capital
than €300 million, has already succeeded in attracting more than €90 million in private-sector capital from 29 investors representing SMEs and large corporations. The ERP/EIF Fund of Funds received an additional €1.7 billion. The Fund of Funds teamed up with the European Investment Fund to create a new growth fund with a volume of €500 million. Another important piece of news is the fact that KfW has also returned to the venture capital market: it has invested €400 million in the Fund of Funds. Altogether, the amount of public-sector funding that will be made available for startup and growth financing in the coming years and under the programmes above totals around €2 billion. This is on top of the improvements that have been made to German tax law: Section 8d of the Corporation Tax Act has been amended to remove obstacles that prevented companies from accessing capital. Under the new rules, non-utilised losses can now be fully deducted from the sum of tax owed, provided that the company continues its operations after the change in equity ownership. This also benefits startups as a new round of financing or a company sale will no longer prevent (some of the) previous losses from being carried forward. Young innovative companies also profit from the fact that the existing rules on carriedinterest taxation and the large tax break on profits from the sale of free float shares have been maintained.
All this is helping to make more public and private-sector venture capital available in Germany. Nevertheless, KfW estimates that there is still an annual gap of €500 million to €600 million. For this reason, the Federal Government is aiming to double the amount of venture capital available in Germany in the coming years. This is partly to be achieved by the establishment of a new venture-capital company by KfW, which is to begin its operations on 1 January 2018. KfW will be pooling all of its current VC financing products within this company, which is also to broaden its portfolio. The overall investment volume of KfW is to be doubled from the current annual figure of €100 million to €200 million by 2020. This corresponds to an additional €2 billion being awarded every year for around a decade. In the outgoing parliament, the task of improving the financial situation of startups was a key priority on the political agenda. Despite this, Germany still has more catching up to do vis-à-vis its main competitors in the international race for innovation. It is therefore likely that, under the new parliament, the issue of venture capital will continue to receive the attention it deserves.
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german perspectives | ON Saxony’s startups
Saxony's startups: A good basis for venture capital investments “Innovative startups breathe new life into the economy.”
Let's start up in Saxony! Highly motivated, excellently educated specialists quickly turn novel ideas into reality time in one of Europe's most innovative regions. The universities and colleges, the diverse research landscape and the variety in the industrial sector offer excellent conditions for young companies looking to establish R&D-based business models, for example in the Industry 4.0 envi-ronment, and in light of digitisation. As a result, founding activities in Saxony in recent years have been highly successful, especially in terms of innovation and growth potential. The impact digitisation can have on business activities is clear when we consider the following development: Half of the ten most valuable companies worldwide were either tiny or did not even exist 25 years ago: Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Google's parent company Alphabet. They have pushed five other giant corporations from the top spots. As both an opportunity and a risk, digitisation is one of the driving forces for startups and established medium-sized companies, which adapt their production processes. They are creating new business models and entirely new services. Given this situation, Saxon startups frequently develop their business models for the B2B market. That creates opportunities for the investors and financiers who focus on long-term and strategic commitments. Innovative startups breathe new life into the economy. That is why Saxony prioritises innovationfriendly conditions. The assistance provided ranges from advice and networking, right up to financial support. The Saxon Technology Founders Fund (TGFS), launched by the Free State of Saxony together with Saxon Sparkasse banks with a total volume of approx. €125 mill., has already financed more than fifty companies in the most important industries – starting with the Internet/media and ITC, through the life sciences and new materials, right up to sensors and clean tech. With its large
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network, TGFS generally invests together with national or international VC companies or family offices and business angels, thus acquiring capital for Saxony. The futureSAX innovation platform enables founders and established companies to network and be even more successful together. At roadshows and investor pitches, we bring young entrepreneurs together with possible investors – whether in Saxony, in Germany or Europe. Another way we increase the visibility of Saxony and its startups for investors is the Saxon Prime Minister's annual investor conference, "Investment meets Innovation". The HighTech Venture Days are much more than an excellent opportunity for investors to get to know the potential of Saxon companies and identify worthwhile commitments. Startups in the Free State's incubators and accelerators prepare to compete for international investors. Biotech and medical technology companies validate their products and ready them for market in the Saxon Life Science Incubator. The Ideation: Hub in VW's Dresden Transparent Factory focuses on the future of mobility. SpinLab – the HHL Accelerator in Leipzig or the Impact Hub in Dresden attract innovative teams to enable them to grow their businesses from Saxon. To foster the Saxon startup ecosystem and innovativeness of the Saxon economy and promote it nationally and internationally, Saxony is part of the German Federal Government's Digital Hub initiative. With the Smart System & Smart Infrastructure Hub, Saxony will further improve the conditions for innovative startups to digitise the industry (solutions for key technologies for the "Internet of Things") and Smart Infrastructure (Centre of Expertise for Startups in the energy, smart city and eHealth sectors). In short: Saxon startups are a good basis for venture capital investments.
Saxon Ministry martin dulig Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport State Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport Martin Dulig was born in Plauen/Vogtland in 1974. He is married and father of six children. In 1990, he began a vocational training as a skilled construction worker, which he completed with his Abitur (German school-leaving examination). From 1992-1998, Martin Dulig worked as a youth education advisor at the SPD Saxony. He successfully completed his educational sciences course at the Dresden University of Technology in 2004. During his studies, he worked as a freelance coach in adult education. Martin Dulig has been a member of the Saxon State Parliament since 2004, and was chairman of the SPD state parliament group from 2007 to 2014. He has been the Saxon State Minister for Economic Affairs, Employment and Transport since November 2014. He is also involved in various non-profit associations such as the Netzwerk für Demokratie und Courage e. V., and is a member of the ver.di trade union and the Workers' Welfare Association (AWO).
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Dresden – Ecosystem for European high-tech startups
City of Dresden Dr. Robert Franke Director Dresden Business Development Office Dr. Robert Franke is the director of the Dresden Business Development Office. After completing his doctorate in physics, he worked as a project manager at Heliatek GmbH, a manufacturer of organic, flexible solar films and a worldwide technological leader in organic photovoltaics. He then spent six years running the Dresden branch of VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH, a leading provider for innovation and technology. He was most recently the managing director of Energy Saxony e.V., a business-oriented network aimed at increasing the competitiveness and export capacities of companies in Saxony's energy industry, and further strengthening the efficiency and productivity of research in this field. He studied physics and business administration at Dresden University of Technology.
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High-tech startups and spin-offs from the Dresden scientific institutions form an important link between science and industry and lend great invigoration to the city as an industrial location. Entrepreneurs in Dresden can profit from the excellent cooperation between third-level institutions, research institutes, business and administration. Young technology companies, in particular, often find it is often comparatively difficult to access venture capital. It is therefore of great benefit for the HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS to repeatedly direct the attention of national and international investors on Dresden. We are constantly working on the circumstances which will allow further development of the startup ecosystem. We are creating new scope for innovation for young companies from all over Germany and the world and are offering them a new home in Dresden. In cooperation with Volkswagen, we have set up a Business Incubator in the Transparent Factory Dresden, the Volkswagen Future Mobility Incubator Dresden. Within this project, entrepreneurs with a vision of future mobility are working in areas such as vehicle fleet management, car-sharing, navigation, parking
german perspectives | on Dresden
and smart home services. They can test their ideas on-site before making them ready for the market. And with the "Universelle Werke", a new innovation centre for lightweight construction and material research is being currently created, with technical facilities and a startup centre. The "Smart Systems Hub – Enabling IoT", one of twelve hub locations in Germany selected by the Ministry of Economics and Technology, will also further boost Dresden as an entrepreneurial location. The digital
“We are creating new innovation spaces for startups from all over Germany and the world.� hub provides startups with the optimum conditions for cooperation with established companies and with science in the integration of hardware, software and mobile communications. This will further raise Dresden's profile as a startup location in the high-tech sector and attract even more creative minds.
The very high levels of research in Dresden also have a positive effect. Diverse transfer activities help ensure that the outstanding results are successfully implemented in practice. With 20 spin-offs and 200 patent applications per year from the TU Dresden, a University of Excellence, Dresden has an innovation driver which guarantees the positive economic development of the region. A good example is Novaled. Originally established as a spin-off from the TU Dresden 15 years ago, Novaled is today a world leader in the development of materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic electronics, and is now part of the Korean technology group Samsung. The technologies developed at the TU Dresden in the fields of microtechnology, nanotechnology, IT, materials sciences and medicine enable completely novel applications for future markets and are a tremendous accelerator of innovation. So, for example, research into the new mobile communications standard 5G is driving future-oriented mobility solutions such as autonomous driving and the "Internet of Things", as well as real-time applications in industry 4.0, the digitised and networked industrial production.
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german perspectives | ON avoiding legal pitfalls
Sebastian Voigt Lawyer, Dresden NOERR LLP Sebastian Voigt has years of experience in advising on VC financing rounds, acquisitions and exits. He also advises PE & VC clients on structuring and investments in funds and other alternative investment schemes.
Strengthening high-Tech Startups – avoiding legal pitfalls High-tech startups would be wise to deal with certain legal issues from the very beginning.
But shouldn't high-tech startups focus on their business rather than on legal issues? Of course they should. But having some legal issues on the radar early on is also important. For instance, the best business model won't succeed if it doesn't work from a regulatory perspective. One might think that hightech startups aren't regulated as intensely as fin-tech companies, for which legal aspects play a more prominent role. But legal issues often come up where one wouldn't necessarily expect it. For example, many high-tech products may qualify as "dual use" goods, which can be used for civil and military purposes and which are therefore subject to export restrictions. Or what about artificial intelligence? Who should be liable for accidents, the developer, the manufacturer or the user of AI-driven products? Or think of the blockchain as the technical backbone of various applications including cryptocurrency. Even if this area is 36
not regulated at the moment, things may change quickly, as this technology is a hot topic on the agenda of many national regulators. Our role as legal advisors is to help founders and startups to focus on the right things: which legal issues require immediate attention and which ones can be dealt with at a later point in time. Whether the business model complies with the regulatory framework should be analyzed early. In contrast, for the first customer contracts, a "onepager" might be sufficient.
What are the differences between high-tech startups and e-commerce startups from a legal point of view? Whereas in e-commerce, the business model and quick market penetration are decisive, in the high-tech industry, IP rights play a major role. A company's business model should not interfere with third-party IP rights, which means that licenses must be acquired. Conversely, it is essential
Felix blobel Lawyer & Notar, Berlin NOERR LLP Felix Blobel continuously advises investors, growth companies and founders on equity capital financings, acquisitions and exit transactions and has special expertise in stock corporation and transformation law. He is also licensed as a civil law notary in Berlin.
for a company to protect its own IP and know-how. To do so, patents can be filed. To avoid unnecessary costs, the patents can be limited to core IP and certain geographical areas. The crucial part of each IP strategy should be the proper management of employee inventions. Every hightech founder should be familiar with the German Law on Employee Inventions. Otherwise, separation from employees can become very expensive. Another difference is that high-tech products have a much longer lifecycle. Until products are ready to market, a few years may pass and many Euros be spent. Hence, legal issues may escape the founder's attention until a later point in time, when legal miscues have had more time to evolve and to have an increasingly adverse effect. Therefore, the key legal considerations, e.g. setting up an appropriate corporate structure, avoiding tax traps, protecting IP and getting regulatory validation of the business model, should be taken care of right from the very beginning. These preventive actions do not cost much, and they can avert very expensive fixes later. Thirdly, cooperation is a must for high-tech startups. Working with universities or other scientific or research institutions can help to accelerate the development process and to gain access to IP and crucial know-how. Cooperation with industry partners is a good opportunity to share development costs. Such cooperation can be based on different types of legal agreements, but the missteps are often the same. They often involve a failure to clearly allocate rights to background and foreground IP, and hidden exclusivity provisions can turn out to make financing rounds non-starters.
What lawmakers can do In particular during an election campaign, politicians emphasize how important startups are and promise to support them. And indeed, they can do a lot. Easy access to funding is a key element for the success of young companies. We don't tend to necessarily encounter a lack of subsidy programs, but rather a need to strengthen private funding. Access to private investors is highly regulated, and prospectus requirements may make it prohibitive for many startups to approach potential investors. Unfortunately, the Venture Capital Act (Wagniskapitalgesetz) proposed in the last federal coalition government agreement has not been adopted. The tax situation, e.g. carry taxation or VAT on management fees, could be improved, even if recently adopted tax law now enables startups to keep their losses carried forward after shareholder structure has changed during a financing round. Last but not least, an entrepreneurial approach in schools and universities could be strengthened to encourage more young people to establish a new business. Noerr actively promotes and supports the VC industry e.g. by contributing to BDI's Industrie 4.0 initiative and by supporting the German Tech Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC) in Berlin.
Noerr LLP is a leading European law firm. Its lawyers have in-depth expertise in all legal areas relevant for high-tech startups and investors in this space, including IT and data protection, IP law, HR and employment matters, regulation, corporate and tax structuring. 37
Nadine Schmieder-Galfe Co-Founder, Head of Finances and Controlling ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN Nadine Schmieder-Galfe is founding team member and Head of Finances and Controlling at ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN GmbH. She has been trained in biotechnology, economics and law, and has intensive experience in technology transfer in the field of life science. She coaches various national and international life science teams to commercialize their technologies, and is also a university teacher. Just recently, Nadine has received the Prize as Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 from the Saxon Government. ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN is a spin-off startup from Technische Universität Dresden that developed and commercializes a research device that allows to measure the stiffness of biological cells. With the financial support of investors, this research device shall be further developed into a medical technology device within the next five years. Zellmechanik won the Best Pitch Award at #HTVD16.
“Besides experienced and interdisciplinary teams, and of course an inventive technology with huge market potential, the access to capital is one of the most crucial success factor for high-tech innovations.”
Capital, Contacts and a Coffee maker ZELLMECHANIK DRESDEN was founded in 2015 as spin-off company from Technische Universität Dresden. Our research device product "AcCellerator" is based on a proprietary, disruptive technology called "Real-Time Deformability Cytometry (RT-DC)" that was developed in the lab of Professor Jochen Guck at the BIOTEC Center of TU Dresden. The AcCellerator is distributed worldwide 38
to academic research labs, and allows to measure the deformability of single biological cells. Changes in deformability are connected with the activation and inactivation of cells. RT-DC created the possibility to quantify millions of cells in just a few minutes – a more than 10.000-fold increase in throughput compared to previously existing methods. This is achieved by a
german perspectives | On capital, contacts and a coffee maker
flow-cytometry-like measurement arrangement, in which cells are continuously flushed through a channel and get deformed by hydrodynamic forces. In a next step, the AcCellerator research device will be developed into and certified as a medical technology device to diagnose and monitor infectious diseases, particularly sepsis. Infections leading to sepsis – a systemic inflammatory reaction of the organism – are the third most common cause of death worldwide behind cardiovascular diseases and cancer. As lethality increases by 7% per hour of inefficient or absent therapy, a test that reveals a compelling statement on the improved or declined immune status under therapy could greatly impact the outcome of sepsis. In addition, improved therapy management of infectious diseases also touches on the subject of unnecessary use of, and development of resistance against, antibiotics. Besides experienced and interdisciplinary teams, and of course an inventive technology with huge market potential, the access to capital is one of the most crucial success factor for high-tech innovations. Therefore, we are glad that the HighTech Startbahn team does such a great job and has developed the HighTech Venture Days over the last years with an outstanding Europe-wide known
event where investors and teams with their inventions come together. While the first business step to develop a research device was achieved in a (for high-tech startups rather unusual) bootstrapping approach financed through public funding, revenues, and the classical 3F money, the next phase will require significant investments. Therefore, we pitched our story at an inspiring venue at the HighTech Venture Days Program 2016, and presented our idea to many investors in parallel. We were able to convince an experienced business angel from our business concept, who now intensively supports the team to bring their business concept further. The HighTech Venture Days did not only provide us with access to financial resources, but the network that we built up there to other inspiring startup teams, to transfer players, and of course also to investors was incredible, and helped us a lot during the development in the last 12 month. In addition, our pitch was finally also selected for the Best Pitch Award. And as an additional motivation for this year's teams: The Best Pitch Award came along with the gift of an automated coffee maker as prize for the Best Pitch Award. The coffee machine has become the ZELLMECHANIK "Employee of the last Year" - and is likely to keep that honour also in the next year.
Looking forward to navigating you on your transatlantic ventures.
Advising on transatlantic venture capital and private equity projects, our well-versed teams on both sides of the Atlantic deliver seamless service, legal excellence and entrepreneurial thinking. Our offices at the centres of the East Coast and German start-up scenes devise and implement solutions for the most complex and sophisticated matters, regardless of the legal differences. Whether you are an investor or an ambitious enterprise – rely on us as we have just one thing in mind: our clients’ success. Learn more about us and our expertise at noerr.com. Strong characters make strong partners. noerr.com
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german perspectives | ON Laser startups
Laser Startups Light-based technologies are currently transforming every industrial sector, including aviation, medicine, automotive, research, biology, electronics, and many more. This process of upheaval presents entrepreneurs with the perfect opportunity to make their mark with a single, brilliant idea. "Disruptive technology” is a popular term in today's tech world. Industry experts and economic analysts apply it to photonics in general and to laser systems in particular, perceiving these as disruptive technologies that will have far-reaching effects on every aspect of our lives. This radical transformation has received solid political support for a number of years. Back in 2005 the European Union created the Photonics21 association of industrial representatives and research organizations. In 2012 U.S. President Barack Obama followed suit, founding the National Photonics Initiative to bring all the key institutes and industry associations under one roof. The stated goal of both alliances is to play a pioneering role in this highly promising field. Light-based technologies are currently transforming every industrial sector, including aviation, medicine, automotive, research, biology, electronics, and many more. This process of up-heaval presents entrepreneurs with the perfect opportunity to make their mark with a single, brilliant idea. Right now, young men and women on every continent are founding companies based around laser light. Laser technology may be a fairly recent development, but this marks the second era of entrepreneurs over the course of just 60 years. The history of the industry really began with a legendary figure in the laser world, Eugene Watson. In 1961, he founded his first company, Quanta-Ray, in California – the 40
oldest laser manufacturer still up and running today. Just five years later he took another bold step, setting up a number of other photonics companies. He built one of his first lasers in a laundry room. With the help of his lifelong friend Earl Bell, Watson was one of the first people to see that lasers with sufficient average power could be used to machine materials. It was in the 1980s and 1990s that the first laser technology gold rush really picked up pace. In 2012, Balthasar Fischer from Austria had an idea he couldn't get out of his head. The qualified physicist and sound engineer was determined to build a functional microphone without any moving parts – in other words, without a membrane. He was tired of trying to measure sound and having to deal with interference such as wind noise, the noise of water flowing, vibration, and membrane reverberation. His ground-breaking solution was to detect sound waves directly by measuring the changes in light intensity in a laser beam. Fischer founded the startup company Xarion while he was still studying at the university. That makes him a good example of today's second era of entrepreneurs, many of whom started out in research institutes. Two key technological trends that reinforce each other – and arguably even depend on each other – are photonics and digitalization. Many observers in the media and business world consider the digitalization of production in the form of Industry 4.0 and (especially laser-based) smart
Jérémie Blache Christof Siebert HeadCEO of Technology & Innovation Management PILI trumpf Christof Siebert really knows TRUMPF as he has been with the company for over 16 years. He joined in 2000 as part of the R&D team, developing marking lasers for TRUMPF Laser Marking Systems in Switzerland. Later on, he facilitated the distribution of their lasers to Asia. As the former Head of Industry Sector Management, Christof helped TRUMPF expanding its access to the microelectronics and microprocessing markets. Since 2016, Christof has been playing an important role in TRUMPF's innovation strategy where he and his team are not only responsible for the scouting of startups, but also for potential cooperation and investment opportunities.
manufacturing to be the defining disruptive technology of our time. Ultimately there's one key thing that any potential entrepreneur needs to remember: if you're looking for an idea that amounts to more than just lines of code, you would be wise to take a careful look at what lasers can do. Or think carefully about what people who work with lasers need. Or at least mull over what lasers can do to help people who are planning something new – or who are simply looking to save the world. With our venture capital arm TRUMPF Venture, we are both a strategic partner and a venture capital investor in the fields of photonics as well as Industry 4.0. With our network, our experience in industrial production, and our technology expertise, we help innovative company founders to get started on the market and to grow. As such, we are the ideal partner for technology-oriented startups who are looking for a strong partner who thinks about the long term.
A strong partner your high-tech start-up can grow with: TRUMPF Venture
New ideas are what drives TRUMPF, a company which stands for innovation. Our ongoing motivation is a passion to achieve peak technical performance that generates added value in the marketplace. We meet trends that change existing business models with openness and pioneering spirit. Our venture capital arm TRUMPF Venture supports promising startups that want to significantly contribute to shaping the industry of the future. venture@trumpf.com
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german perspectives | ON Securing tax losses
JANA MASSOW Partner, Tax Advisor eureos gmbh steuerberatungsgesellschaft rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft Jana Massow has been a partner of eureos gmbh steuerberatungsgesellschaft rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft since 2010. She is specialised in providing tax advice for medium-sized companies on an international level. For many years, Jana has been advising family-run businesses in their tax strategy. She is trusted by many owner-families in designing their individual shareholder vision and the long-term strategy, looking well beyond taxation issues. For this expertise, she was awarded the title "Certified advisor for management succession (DStV e.V.)" in 2015. Jana started her professional career with the Tax Office Waren, where she worked as a company auditor. She then spent several years as a manager with KPMG Deutsche Treuhandgesellschaft GmbH as well as Ernst & Young GmbH in Dresden. She holds an academic degree in fiscal affairs (Dipl.-Finanzwirtin, FH).
SECURING TAX LOSSES OF StartupS With the introduction of the Act on the further development of the tax loss carry forwards for corporations, with retroactive effect from 1 January 2016, the legislature has created a means of facilitating corporate financing. The new regulation is intended to remove the tax-related barriers to raising capital due to new entry or change of shareholders. These have so far occurred as a result of the application of Section 8c of the Corporation Tax Act (KStG). Section 8c KStG is intended to restrict or rule out utilization of tax losses by persons other than those who have suffered the loss. As a result of this rule, tax loss carry forwards of corporations are partially or entirely lost, if change of shareholders or comparable transactions takes place.
companies, but even large and long-standing companies profit from it because of the principle of equal treatment. An application filed pursuant to Section 8d KStG leads to preservation of loss carry forwards, despite detrimental acquisition of shareholdings pursuant to ยง 8c KStG, provided that the corporation has maintained the same business operations since its foundation or at least in the last three years.
Since tax loss carry forwards can at times account for significant amounts, the risk of forfeiture of tax loss carry forwards is a key point in fiscal due diligence in a capital raising measure through change of shareholders or admission of new shareholders.
Before filing the application, we recommend a close qualitative examination of the business operations and a sufficient planning horizon so as to avoid the forfeiture of the benefit. In particular, the unchanged continuation of the existing business operations can lead to problems in startup companies, as a result of business developments. In an unfavorable constellation, the request filed for the application of Section 8d KStG may even prove to be disadvantageous as compared to the non-application of this provision.
The legislature has become aware of this. Section 8d KStG was introduced to strengthen, in particular, startup
It is not known what consequence the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht)
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on Section 8c para. 1 of the KStG has for the application of Section 8d of KStG. With its decision dated 29 March 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court has ruled that the partial forfeiture of the unused tax losses and tax loss carry forwards of more than 25% to 50% in the event of a
“In particular, the unchanged continuation of the existing business operations can lead to problems in startup companies, as a result of business developments.�
implications the decision has in the future for detrimental shareholder change of more than 50% and the regulations on tax loss carry forwards. Insofar as Section 8d KStG is applied, it creates the possibility of recognizing the related pecuniary advantage in the commercial balance sheet as deferred tax assets. There is an option to recognize deferred tax assets on the commercial balance sheet under Section 274 (1) of the German Commercial Code (HGB). Recognition as asset can be a balance sheet policy instrument for increasing the equity ratio under commercial law and lowering the debt-to-equity ratio. As an important key performance indicator, an improved equity ratio can contribute to crucial advantages in financing or attracting investors.
detrimental change in shareholders is unconstitutional for all versions of the Act from 2008 to 2015. The legislature is obliged to create a constitutionally-compliant, new provision with retroactive effect for these years by December 31, 2018. Failure to do so will render the existing provision void. In addition, the question arises as to what 43
press panel
PRESS-PANEL activating venture capital for european innovation
moderation
welcome note
bettina vossberg
dr. hartmut mangold
CEO & Chairwoman of the Board HighTech Startbahn
Saxon State Secretary for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport
Hendrik Van Asbroeck
christof siebert
Fabio Lancelotti
Head of New Ventures ENGIE
Head of Technology and Innovation Management TRUMPF
Partner Aster Capital
Marc Struhalla CEO and Managing Director c-LEcta
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Marco Morrone Business Strategy & Marketing Composite Research
Investors / venture
breakfast 40 exiting pitches, thrilling programs, exceptional food, exhibitions, and much more; fit into a two-day event – at the HTVD, we know how to keep the focus on the essentials and maximize time and effort to facilitate connections. Besides showcasing the best and most innovative deep-tech projects from Europe to national and international investors, the event also connects both groups through several networking opportunities. With the main goal of connecting startups and growth companies with investors, the well-planned agenda can seem limiting for the two groups to talk and network with their peers. The solution to this problem are two exclusive breakfasts, one for investors and another one for businesses.
The second day of the HTVD starts with an explicit breakfast event for investors only. After the brief digital opening messages from Mr. Tillich, Saxon Prime Minister, and Barbara Meyer, Director General for Industry & SMEs, the networking can begin. As a platform displaying the 40 best European hightech startups, the HTVD bring together over 100 investors from all over the world, including premier business angels, family offices, venture capitalists, and corporate VCs. As the exclusive breakfast takes place in a private location in the beautiful setting of the Gläserne Manufaktur, separated from any companies, pitches, or other activities, investors can simply focus on networking. They have the chance to mingle, reconnect, catch up, and form new connections over delicious food. Building on last year's success, the highlight of the breakfast is another gripping discussion. As the latest investment news show different exits trends, such as the U.S.'s slow summer in terms of exits or Europe's increasing exiting activities and opportunities, this year's talk has exits written all over it. And due to the big variety of attending investors and a broad spectrum of investment focuses, the HTVD managed to select three investors with very opposing insights and views on exit strategies. This breakfast panel is not a oneway discussion but a heated panel debate, which is certain to start conversations and bring up new views and perspectives. This intriguing discussion also offers a nice change of pace, before the
second day, filled with excellent pitches, continues.
While investors already discuss exits, the entrepreneurs are still concerned with finding capital to launch their businesses. Talent and funding are essential to the success of startups, which is the reason why the HTVD program puts emphasis on pitching and matchmaking, but equally important are the connections among startups, creating an inclusive, vibrant startup community. However, participating in the HTVD is associated with the constant pressure to deliver: In addition to the 10 minutes of fame when standing on stage, pitching to an audience of over 100 investors, the stress continues during various networking activities. The feeling of continuously presenting and selling a business idea reduces the time or interest in joining a conversation with others startups. We do not want any businesses to miss the chance to start life-changing conversations and therefore, we kick off the day with a special breakfast for businesses only. Great food, a modern, young venue, and a relaxed atmosphere allow companies to move around and chat easily, without any pressure. The great thing about this breakfast is that it brings like-minded people together. As the HTVD have become such a sought-after event for both startups and investors, the selected companies out of more than 240 applications represent the most talented and passionate people from all over Europe. The breakfast enables them to exchange ideas and experiences, concerning common challenges, such as international markets. So in addition to amazing networking opportunities in a room full of smart and talented people, prominent speakers lead dynamic and thrilling discussions on how to successfully enter global markets, especially one of the most important ones in the high-tech field – the German market. At HTSB, we support the internationalization and help startups by connecting them with speakers who have valuable insights into the German market. Starting the second day of the HTVD with a good breakfast is a no-brainer, but why not add some nourishment for the mind, and possibly new collaborations or proposals.
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expert interview / VIP-on-Stage
A man on a Mission
guy ben zvi From High-tech to Fish - Transitions in Life
Guy Ben Zvi CEO and Scientific Advisor Omega 3 Galil
Guy Ben Zvi was born and raised in Israel. After high school, he joined the Israel Air Force Flight Academy where he was a combat helicopter pilot and flight instructor for 6 years. In 1987, Guy switched careers and became the Director of R&D and Technology at Palram Plastics, a large chemicals and polymer company, a position he held for over 12 years. Not long after receiving his Executive MBA from the top-ranked Kellogg Northwestern in 2002, Guy started the very successful laser company Pixer Technology where he worked until retiring in 2013. But retirement did not stop the hich-tech entrepreneur, in 2013 he started Omega 3 Galil.
My name is Guy, I'm from Israel and have been a technology entrepreneur all my life. My first career was a combat helicopter pilot in the IAF. My 2nd career was R&D manager in a large chemicals and polymers company in Israel where I developed plastic products from cradle to market. My 3rd career was in high tech. I started a laser company that developed laser machines for the semiconductor industry. The company Pixer Technology specialized in laser processing of transparent photomasks. Actually, in every chip in the world today there is something of Pixer Inside‌ After a wild ride in the startup world my exit from the startup world came when Pixer was acquired by Zeiss, the German Optical Giant. There I continued for 5 years as CEO of Zeiss Israel until I retired and started my 4th and current career- fish oil omega 3.
So how does one make such a transition in life, from high tech to fish? Well- everything is personal. Look for the personal challenge to make a change in your life. What was my personal change? My child! My 3rd child (out of 5!) was born with a psychiatric disorder call Tourette Syndrome or TS. In TS the person exhibits hyperactivity, obsessions, rage tantrums, and what is most commonly known- tics. Tics are involuntary movements and sounds that a person makes. TS can make life very 46
difficult for the child and his family and our case was no exception. This story unfolded in the early 2000's as my high tech career was at its peak. So in parallel to running a start up our family had to deal with TS. Our son was placed on psychiatric drugs with horrible side effects that made him a zombie. He turned from a fierce tiger to a frightened rabbit. We decided to look for alternative solutions and tried many alternative methods to no avail. Until an internet support group proposed a nutritional solution which included three steps: 1. Reducing sugar and starch from his diet. 2. Removing processed foods with vegetable oils from his diet. 3. Adding large amounts of omega 3 fish oil. Fish oil did the job! Within 3 months of starting the fish oil our son was off the drugs! Another few years and a big nutritional change later he became completely healthy. No tics, no obsessions, no rage tantrums, and as a bonus he got rid of his allergies. Then I had a vision- nutrition can be an alternative to drugs, if one only gets the right advice. So I decided that this will be my mission in life.
In 2013 after serving several years in Zeiss I decided to start with my wife a new start up- Omega 3 Galil. "Galil" is the Hebrew for "Galilee", the mountain range in the north of Israel were Jesus was born and were we live. Our mission is to bring medication free life to the children of the world. We propose that nutrition with omega 3 is an alternative to psychiatric drugs like Ritalin and Prozac which are so popular today in the western society conditions like ADHD, depression, OCD, TS and so forth. In our journey with Omega 3 we found a negative sentiment from commercial omega 3 products because the actual performance did not live up to expectations driven by promising results from clinical trials with omega 3. We asked ourselves- why is that? Why does it work in the trial setting but not in the field? We found three reasons: 1. Oxidation. Normally omega 3 is stored at room temperature conditions and goes rancid within several weeks. This results in fishy burps and loss of effectiveness of the product (I actually saw it with my son 10 years earlier when batches close to expiry showed less efficiency at controlling tics compared to fresh batches). So we decided to always provide fresh non rancid fish oil by refrigerating our supply chain. 2. The dose. People didn't know what dose to give their TS or ADHD children. Normally the advice was to give only one or two capsules a day, regardless of body weight. For this I developed a dose calculator that
recommends a personalized dose taking into account weight and health status. The dose calculator is very successful and thousands of people are using it every month with good results for many health conditions and diseases. 3. Price. We found out that if a person needs to take large doses of 5 to 15 caps a day, the price must be affordable. Therefore we built a very lean supply chain with low margins allowing us to sell the product at a very low price per capsule or per gram. To summarize Omega 3 Galil provides 3 advantages • The best quality- low oxidation excellent taste and color of the oil. Thanks to refrigeration. • The best service- A dose calculator that advises how much to take. • The lowest price per gram making it affordable even with high doses. And for me as an entrepreneur this chapter in my life gives me the most satisfaction, being able to do well by doing good, fulfilling my vision to help save the world's children from psychiatric drugs. And my message to you high tech guys- it's great to do high tech, but find the time to go with your heart also. It's very rewarding. Guy 47
hightech startbahn - the great partner to grow your business internationally
HighTech Startbahn The great partner to grow your business internationally
If in these days, a young business wants to enter the market successfully or grow and expand its activities, primarily it needs to have five key prerequisites: • • • • •
a great idea with a robust business model sufficient capitalization highly skilled people, and an inspiring and supportive community with established and fruitbearing partnerships.
The team of the HighTech Startbahn (HTSB), based in Dresden, has established efficient and effective support mechanisms for young innovators' pain points and has since 2012 supported more than 200 of them successfully. With its trinity of research, network, and consulting services, the organization is perfectly equipped to support promising high-tech ventures in all phases of company building and growth. As one of the most recognized regional transfer specialists, (it took the second place in the Saxon Transfer Price Award 2017*) HTSB supports startups and growth companies with their strategic and economic challenges. Business modelling or the search for collaborative partners are only two of the fields of expertise that HTSB covers in the early phases of the company. Being moreover located in the Free State of Saxony, with its outstanding number of research institutes, the organization is embedded in an invention- supportive environment. As a spin-off from the Technical University of Dresden, it enjoys a strong relationship to this institution and is active in joint activities, e.g. managing and supporting high-tech research clusters like fast Zwanzig20 and 5GNetMobil in terms of technology transfer and organizational management.
In particular high-tech B2B // hardware-driven business models face higher product development costs and a longer time to generate first revenues. The availability of sufficient capital is crucial for these companies to bridge that gap and actually be able to bring their promising ideas successfully to the market. The HighTech Startbahn is a well-connected specialist in terms of public and private funding and helps young companies to ensure covering their capital requests from sources of public funding and/or from national and international private financiers (angel investors, venture capitalists, corporate venture capitalist or even investing mid-sized companies). A great success story from the recent past is the double-digit million investment of the Hong Kong-based family office Henderson into the Germanbased logistics startup Benjamin who were brought together in 2016 by HTSB at its annual European flagship event HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS, at #HTVD 2016. To cross-link younger entrepreneurs with experienced C-Level management experts and repeat entrepreneurs, HTSB has established the quarterly format MentorsClub. Beyond the annual European program HTVD, the organization brings together capital with capital seeking ventures in individual formats and meetings year-round. As key industries develop and implement their digitalization strategies, the conditions for high-tech founders seeking skilled resources to grow their risk-prone, deep-tech ventures, are toughening up. The HighTech Startbahn recognizes this trend and will put even more emphasis on its HR-division in the future. Today, its current network of more than 140 members, HTSB already connects experienced industrialists and interested, highly skilled alumni with startups. Members of the HTSB non-profit network,
* The Saxon Transfer Price had been donated by Saxon platform futureSAX for know-how-providers that do contribute significantly to transfer processes in Saxony.
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hightech startbahn - the great partner to grow your business internationally
HighTech Startbahn Netzwerk e.V., play a major role as supporters of the ever-growing German high-tech startup ecosystem, particularly in the leading research hotspots in East Germany. If you are interested in supporting young innovative companies, feel invited to contact us! A vibrant and supportive community helps startups to establish the necessary and then easily accessible connections to business partners, service providers, and investors. HighTech Startbahn's large international network of research institutes, technology centers, and founding initiatives offers opportunities to find and realize new impulses and ideas for innovation management. For larger industry partners as TRUMPF, HighTech Startbahn assists with the development of corporate venture activities and provides expertise on developing and managing venture funds, incubators, and accelerators. Investors benefit from its strong network effect by getting access to an amazing deal flow and the opportunity to contribute to the development of the next innovation leaders of the future. Business Angels benefit from utilizing HTSB's expertise in assessing investment opportunities or organizing syndication and follow-on rounds. Apart from those three directly involved stakeholders, HTSB aims to contribute to the transfer of technological results and knowledge into the society. Co-creation of events like this years' Science Match – Future Technologies Conference on 26 January 2017 in Dresden, is a well working feature in HTSB's portfolio of transfer activities. The active maintenance of the startup culture and the systemic support of technology startups are indispensable
to the development of a sustainable, attractive, and competitive European startup ecosystem. The participants of the annual European HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS program should follow, where possible, a common approach: To continuously support the European startup community by joint internationalization activities. The HighTech Startbahn starts this year as a true pioneer: with the creation of a strategic European-wide partner network, implementing the annual HIGHTECH VENTURE DAYS Program across Europe. Over the next years, HTSB will, together with strong, established European organizations, develop a comprehensive and dedicated partnership program following its mission to ACTIVATE VENTURE CAPITAL FOR EUROPEAN INNOVATION and thereby help to promote the best preconditions for high-tech ventures in Europe. If you like to know more about and support our European program, please contact us.
The HighTech Startbahn is cross-linked globally through local, regional, national, continental, and intercontinental networks, as it is • member of important associations, such as Silicon Saxony, IEEE, InBIA, and many more • accredited at SAB, kfw Bankengruppe, eit, and others • partners with German Startups Group, eban, AmCham Germany, just to name a few • engaged with future SAX, STARTUP Mitteldeutschland, INBIA, and GLOBAL VENTURE FORUM www.hightech-startbahn.de info@hightech-startbahn.de 49
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HighTech Startbahn GmbH Tel.: +49 (0) 351 851 86169 Martin-Luther-StraĂ&#x;e 20f 01099 Dresden www.hightech-startbahn.de
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