Gothaer invests €20m into venture capital

Written by Michael Griffiths

19/10/2023

Gothaer has announced a €20m investment in Munich-based venture capital firm, HV Capital.

HV Capital has a focus on putting together a portfolio of corporate financing for young and innovative companies.

German insurer Gothaer has stated that it wants to invest a total of €100m in venture capital funds with a particular focus on sustainability.

CFO at Gothaer, Harald Epple, said: “Visions of the future, innovative ideas, research and development are the basis for a sustainable transformation of our society and economy. As a leading partner for medium-sized businesses, we not only want to support aspiring young companies that are driving this transformation forward as an insurer, but also as an investor.

“With our investment, we are providing them with the necessary resources so that they can turn their transformative visions into reality.”

HV Capital’s ninth and largest fund to date, Fund IX, has committed to reporting in accordance with Article 8 of the EU Regulation on Disclosure of Information on Sustainable Finance (SFDR). Specifically, the aim is for 33% of management positions in the portfolio to be held by women by the end of the fund’s term.

Furthermore, 30% of the capital raised is reserved for companies that follow the sustainability and environmental criteria of the European Investment Fund (EIF).

General partner at HV Capital, Rainer Märkle, said: “With HV Capital Fund IX, we want to support the next generation of innovative companies in seizing growth opportunities and scaling sustainably. We will set new standards in the area of sustainability across all industries across our portfolio.”

HV Capital has confirmed the fund’s first investment will go to the Danish company Agreena, which offers farmers strong incentives to switch to regenerative farming and be able to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. Example of this include the reforestation of forests or the rewetting of moors that store gas.

Märkle added: “We are convinced that the next heavyweights of the European startup ecosystem will have sustainability criteria in their DNA. That’s why these are of crucial importance for our investment decision.”

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