Austria: The Nation of Hidden Champions

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Picture from left: Christoph Hechenblaikner CrossCloud, Jane Davies International Association of Science Parks, Thomas Bluth tiramizoo and Venionaire Investment Manager Alexander Rapatz.

 

Last Tuesday Venionaire was invited to the 6th Founders Evening of Science Park Graz, which took place in the historic auditorium of the main building of University of Graz and encouraged around 120 interested people to listen about stories of entrepreneurial freedom and the question, why Start-ups are the new darlings of the nation.

An international panel of experts from founders, consultants and Venture Capital investors delivered in a panel discussion inputs and advice for sustainable success as young entrepreneur. Passion for the cause, team cohesion and the reduction of bureaucratic hurdles were the focus. Venionaire was represented by its Investment Manager Alexander Rapatz, who was talking about Hidden Champions in Austria and why they have a huge impact on the local economy.

For instance, due to a recent report of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, 19% of Austrian companies hold a global market share of more than 20% in the field of their core activities. Furthermore Austria counts an impressive 15.6 hidden champions per one million inhabitants, which brings it to the second position in Europe. Basically hidden champions share the same traits that can make Start-Ups highly successful: outstanding quality products which have proven to be hard to imitate, high vertical integration and strong research and development.

We at Venionaire share the opinion, that start-ups will restructure the entire economy and are the future motor of innovation. Of course, established companies have the advantage of being stable, having financial capacity, knowledge and resources. But at the break of the fourth industrial revolution, sectors are changing one by one. Thus, they will also have to adapt their business model, or very fast they will not be able to compete with the innovative new business models of Start-ups.

Check out the report of the event on sciencepark.at.

Panel discussion with Kirsty Craig about funding a startup

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This Friday belonged to Viennese founders and entrepreneurs! The Vienna Business Agency celebrate with “Gründen in Wien” the open day of Vienna’s startup scene. Our Junior Analyst Kirsty Craig took part as speaker in a very exciting panel discussion at the newly opened coworking space CO SPACE. It was organized by “Prepare4impact”, an initiative to promote female entrepreneurs and establish female role models in the business sector.

Not surprisingly, “Prepare4impact” invited two power women to talk about financing opportunities for startups. The second participant of the panel was Elfriede Sixt, a Business Angel and expert of crowd funding and bitcoin. They exposed different ways one can finance his or her startup, from crowdfunding to equity debt. Kirsty elaborated on some key elements which are essential for any startup to find external investment such as a complete pitch deck, a balanced team and spot on timing. Additionally, she gave a short introduction into the investment strategy of Venionaire Investment, shared anecdotes about how one can think “out-of-the-box” and gave an outlook of the newest investment trends in Austria.

How to finance a startup is an essential question for every founder, afterwards Kirsty took the chance to talk with the community about finance. More details will follow with the best tips and tricks about finding investment in Austria!

We are proud sponsor of the Rotary Charity Kart Race

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It’s time to put your racing suite on and hit the gas pedal for the 6th Rotary Wien-Hietzing Charity Kart Race! This 22nd of June teams of entrepreneurs, managers and sports enthusiasts will race against each other in small but none of the less powerful go-carts. 😉

 

When & Where?

Location: Monza Karthalle, Hochwassergasse 12, 1230 Wien
Start: 22.06.2015 (Monday), 3:30pm
Modus: The race is a team competition. A Charity Racing Team has to consist of 4 drivers. Incomplete teams will not be accepted. If you have a lack of drivers, please contact us, we will be happy to assist.
Application: www.courseticket.com/de/u/rc-wien-hietzing (Please note that only a limited number of participants is possible – if all seats are already taken, we will fully reimburse your costs)
For journalists: If you interested to realize an event report, please contact Fabian Greiler, our PR & Marketing Manager.

 

Venionaire is proud sponsor of the Charity Race. The Rotary Club Wien-Hietzing donates every single Euro collected from the event to the charity organization “kinderhände”, which helps deaf childrens and their parents learn how to communication by sign language. Over the course of the last three years, the Rotary Club raised 36.000 Euros for kinderhände! For further informations check out the Facebook Page!

Courseticket receives funding of 500k

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Venture Capital for the education marketplace Courseticket.com! The Viennese Startup closed their second round of investment with 500.000 Euros. Business Angels are amongst others Peter Lehner, CEO of OnTec Software Solutions and TV host Christian Clerici. The Deal was structured and executed by Venionaire Capital. Courseticket is the leading marketplace for education in Austria, with more than 15.000 courses! One of the founders is our CEO Berthold Baurek-Karlic.

News reports
Managing to close half a million funding round is still unusual in Austria. Therefore, several media reported about the deal (in German): Werbeplanung mentions that Courseticket developed a “Marketplace-as-a-Service”-Solution for B2B. “Der Brutkasten” – an Austrian startup and innovation platform – points out the involvement of Christian Clerici, a well-known media personality in Austria and Germany. Horizont describes the plans of Courseticket to enter the German market, while Boerse.Express quotes Berthold regarding the fantastic growth of the company. One subtitle of etailment – an E-Commerce blog – addresses the ongoing talks regarding integrating the Courseticket cloud-based software within leading Austrian corporations. In Germany, the Venture Capital Magazine published a short and fresh summary about the deal. More reports to come! 😉

Gründer-Stammtisch: Sozialer Gewinn vs. Profitorientierung

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Die Welt verändern und trotzdem Gewinn erwirtschaften – Gründer stehen häufig in einem Spannungsfeld zwischen hohen Wertvorstellungen und dem Druck des wirtschaftlichen Erfolgs. Am Dienstagabend sprachen die Gründer Annemarie Harant und Steve Keil sowie die Investoren Berthold Baurek-Karlic und Nicholas Pöschl beim Stammtisch der Community-Plattform AustrianStartups über ihre unternehmerische Motivation und wie sie Profit und sozialen Gedanken vereinen. Über 200 Gründer und Investoren tauschten sich anschließend mit den vier Podiumsteilnehmern in den neuen Räumlichkeiten des Wiener Coworking Spaces Impact Hub aus.

„Die Welt verbessern, muss nicht zwangsläufig mit der Motivation des schnellen Geldes verbunden sein – aber man darf und kann dabei sehr wohl auch Geld verdienen“, stellte Harant gleich zu Beginn der Podiumsdiskussion fest. Die junge Unternehmerin vertreibt mit „Erdbeerwoche“ nachhaltige Frauenhygiene. Diese Ansicht teilte auch Berthold Baurek-Karlic, der als Geschäftsführer von Venionaire die Venture Capital Szene in Österreich vertrat. Der Investor kann dem Thema „Impact Investments“ viel abgewinnen, denn viele sozial getriebene Startups werfen genauso Profit ab und können sich zudem häufiger langfristig durchsetzen. Immerhin zeichnen sich solche Startups durch eine ganz besonders starke Motivation aus: „Wer glaubt zu gründen und dadurch schnell reich zu werden, ist falsch am Platz. In den meisten Fällen müssen Startups einen langen, entbehrungsreichen und harten Weg an die Spitze gehen, mit vielen schönen und weniger schönen Momenten. Die Motivation durch den eigenen Erfolg die Welt verändern zu können – also ‚impact‘ zu haben – ist da oft viel stärker als der des Geldes“, schließt Baurek-Karlic.

Dass Gründer den Spagat zwischen sozialer Verantwortung und Wirtschaftlichkeit finden müssen, betonte auch Angel Investor Nicholas Pöschl: „Impact wird in der Breite nur funktionieren, wenn Unternehmen beweisen, dass sie trotzdem so profitabel wie non-impact Unternehmen sein können.“ Für Steve Keil, CEO von MammothDB, beginnt soziale Verantwortung wiederum im eigenen Unternehmen. Wertschätzung und Fairness gegenüber den Mitarbeitern funktioniert trotz aller Lippenbekenntnisse in vielen Unternehmen nicht. Gründer haben es in der Hand, diesen Umstand zu verändern.

Foto: Manfred Machacek

Launch for Lean Startup Machine Vienna

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Viennese Startups, get ready to get lean! Lean Startup Machine is already established in countless major cities around the world and will be now organized for the first time in Vienna. From the 8th to the 10th of May, entrepreneurs and innovators will validate ideas of new products and services based on the Lean Startup principles. Lean Startup Machine is the perfect event for any founder willing to find out in a very early stage if his or her idea can work out and grow to become a successful company. Throughout the weekend, attendees will participate in a very intensive process and have the unique opportunity to be personally coached by investment experts, successful entrepreneurs, corporate innovation managers and the Lean Startup Machine team.

Our Managing Partner Martin Steininger will take part as a mentor. Martin has successfully structured and exited a vast number of investments, during his long and successful career in the financial sector.  He will advise founders if an idea could be brought to an exit.

Venionaire is new member of the BVK

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We are proud to announce that Venionaire Investment recently became a member of the “Bundesverband Deutscher Kapitalbeteiligungsgesellschaften”, commonly known as BVK. The BVK is the association for private equity and venture capital companies operating in Germany. It cooperates closely with media, policymakers and universities and is actively promoting cooperations between different members.

Venionaire Investment is currently placing a SICAF-SIF Venture Capital Fund in Luxemburg, with an intended fund size of EUR 100 million. Our new BVK membership emphasizes once more our extensive approach to the German market. Quality connections in the SGA regions are ensured thanks to our managing partner Dan Choon, who lives and works in the tradition rich and technology-loving German university city Heidelberg. Dan and his team of experienced analysts are already actively screening German startups for us mainly in the fields of Robotics, Scientific Computing, Connectivity, Automation and Material Science. Furthermore, we are very proud to open soon two new offices in the beautiful cities of Munich and Frankfurt.

We plan to invest the vast majority of the fundraised capital in Germany, Austria as well as in Switzerland. Find out more about our strategy.

ChatGrape now in Public Beta

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Tuesday was a big day for our portfolio company ChatGrape. They announced the Public Beta for their smart communication solution, which means everyone can now use the service! You can read more about it in this great TechCrunch feature.

ChatGrape got even more sophisticated over the time. Just a short recap of what’s going on:

ChatGrape’s Open Beta includes: 

  • A new Android App
  • An updated iOS App
  • A faster and better Autocomplete
  • An indexAPI that allows companies to add their own data to our autocomplete
  • A new external search Feature (Search Giphy, YouTube and much more within the chat)
  • A Mac OS X App
  • Notification Settings and a logic that only triggers notifications on the device you are currently using
  • A Meta-View that allows you to browse your files within the Autocomplete

Stats

  •  Landing Page Conversion +78%
  • Onboarding: +350% more invites per company (right after signup)
  • More to come

 

Of course, the new Beta also includes a payment system. Check out ChatGrape now!

Switzerland calling! START Summit in St. Gallen

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Switzerland is the home of several world market leaders and excellent universities which makes it the perfect country to start a venture. On 17th and 18th April, startups as well as investors will meet at the START Summit, organized by students from the University of St. Gallen. The main objective of this event is to motivate and support young people to found their own business and spread the entrepreneurial spirit.

Speed Dating, HackRun, Workshops
The START Summit offers innovative workshops as well as sessions with highly influencial speakers. Some of the names include: Former chancellor of Austria Alfred Gusenbauer, Y Combinator Partner Dalton Caldwell, Futurist Jose Luis Cordeiro, Hailo CEO Ryo Umezawa, Egomnia Founder Matteo Achili and Omid Scheybani, New Business Development Manager at Google. Another highlight is the HackaRun, in partnership with the Entrepreneurs Club ETH and SAP. In this event, technical and entrepreneural students will form interactive groups and present their projects in front of a Jury on Friday afternoon. On the same day during the ETH Startup Speed Dating startups will be given the chance to expose their idea in a 30-second pitch to a selection of highly skilled participants such as researchers or potential co-founders.

On Saturday founders will get the chance to meet investors. The event will be held in a similar format to speed dating, where each startup will aim to convince investors in four minutes. Chosen entrepreneurs and startups will get the chance to pitch their idea for a limited amount of time in front of a jury and the whole START Summit crowd. The winner will receive 10.000 CHF.

 

Venionaire at the START Summit

We are delighted that our Managing Partners Martin Steininger and Berthold Baurek-Karlic are invited to participate at the START Summit. With our new Venture Capital Fund, which aims for a First Closing beginning summer, we will invest heavily into hightech startups with disruptive business models from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We are certain to see great investment opportunities in St. Gallen. Of course, we are also looking forward to the legendary START Summit Afterparty at the Trischli Club! 😉

More infos about the event on the official START Summit website or on Digjitale.com.

Martin Steininger ist neuer Partner bei Venionaire

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Mit dem Private Equity Experten Martin Steininger wechselt der ehemalige Vorstand der Mezzanin Finanzierungs AG (vormalige Mehrheitsbeteiligung der UniCredit Bank Austria) zum Beratungs- und Beteiligungsunternehmen Venionaire. Als Managing Partner ist der Wiener eine wichtige Stütze im Fundraising des entstehenden Venture Capital Fonds und verantwortet maßgeblich dessen Strukturierung. Im Tagesgeschäft bringt er zudem seine langjährige Erfahrung mit technologieorientierten Finanzierungsgeschäften sowie in der Restrukturierung, Sanierung und Veräußerung von Unternehmen ein.

 

Seit Anfang des Jahres ist Martin Steininger Senior Partner des Beratungs- und Beteiligungsunternehmens Venionaire Capital und Managing Partner der alternativen Investmentfondsgesellschaft Venionaire Investment. Er verantwortet maßgeblich das Fundraising des von Venionaire geplanten Venture Capital Fonds für deutsche und österreichische Unternehmen in der ersten und zweiten Wachstumsphase. Der 41-Jährige verfügt über ein exzellentes Netzwerk in der Finanzbranche und hat bereits zahlreiche Unternehmen erfolgreich restrukturiert, saniert und veräußert. Steininger war zuletzt rund dreizehn Jahre lang in verschiedenen Positionen bei der Mezzanin Finanzierungsgesellschaft tätig. Als Vorstandsmitglied der Mezzanin Finanzierungs AG wirkte er 2014 entscheidend beim erfolgreichen Verkauf der Gesellschaft an die Montana Tech Gruppe des Investors Michael Tojner mit. Als Geschäftsführer der Mezzanin Corporate Finance Unternehmensberatung verantwortete er zudem im Auftrag der UniCredit Bank Austria die Akquise und Umsetzung von Mezzanininvestments in Deutschland und Österreich. Davor erwarb er sich Know-how in Due Diligence, Steuerfragen und Sanierungskonzepten bei zwei Unternehmen in der Wirtschaftsprüfung und Unternehmensberatung.

 

Der begeisterte Bergsteiger schloss sein Studium an der Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien mit der Diplomarbeit über „Mezzaninkapital im Handels- und Steuerrecht“ ab. Er hält zudem einen „Executive MBA“ von der IMADEC University. Für Venionaire CEO Berthold Baurek-Karlic ist der Neuzugang ein wichtiger strategischer Gewinn: „Martin Steininger hat einen herausragenden Track-Record bei Investments und Exits im Technologiesektor. Sein Name steht für Qualität und Expertise und gemeinsam werden wir in den nächsten Jahren massiv in disruptive Technologien aus Österreich und Deutschland investieren. Wir konzentrieren uns dabei auf die Wachstumsphase von Unternehmen in verschiedensten High-Tech-Bereichen wie Automation, Analytics und Big Data, Scientific Computing und Robotik. Österreich hat weit mehr zu bieten, als nur Web und Mobile Startups!“

WHERE TO FIND US

VIENNA, OFFICE (HQ)

Babenbergerstraße 9/12,
A-1010 Vienna, Austria (EU)
office@venionaire.com

SAN FRANCISCO, USA

1355 Market St. #488
San Francisco CA 94103
sfo@venionaire.com

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First Floor
New York, NY 10016
nyc@venionaire.com

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London N3 3LF
office@venionaire.com

Luxembourg, LUX

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2411 Luxembourg
office@venionaire.com

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Venionaire Capital exclusively invests through the European Super Angels Club, for more information and application please go to the website. We do not accept direct investment proposals via this website.