In recent years, Germany\u2019s ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal activ\u00adity has wit\u00adnessed robust growth, with regions like Thuringia emerg\u00ading as promi\u00adnent hubs for invest\u00adment oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties. This par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar Ger\u00adman state reported record invest\u00adment fig\u00adures in 2020, which were exceeded even fur\u00adther in sub\u00adse\u00adquent years. This growth is a tes\u00adta\u00adment to the diverse and valu\u00adable invest\u00adment oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties in the region. Addi\u00adtion\u00adally, dig\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion has enhanced the vis\u00adi\u00adbil\u00adity of inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adpa\u00adnies in Thuringia, mak\u00ading it eas\u00adier for investors to dis\u00adcover them. As Thuringia\u2019s appeal to investors grows, the region promises vast poten\u00adtial, sug\u00adgest\u00ading it\u2019s a wise area of focus for those seek\u00ading strong invest\u00adment prospects.<\/p>\n
At the heart of Thuringia\u2019s invest\u00adment scene lies bm|t, a ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal firm estab\u00adlished 20 years ago with the aim of bol\u00adster\u00ading Thuringia\u2019s econ\u00adomy. Closely tied to the Thuringian gov\u00adern\u00adment and its devel\u00adop\u00ading bank, bm|t has, over its his\u00adtory, emerged as a key player in Thuringia\u2019s ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal land\u00adscape. The firm invests in busi\u00adnesses across diverse sec\u00adtors, includ\u00ading life sci\u00adences, man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading, and digital\/IT, under\u00adscor\u00ading its pro\u00adfound impact on the regional econ\u00adomy. As they cel\u00ade\u00adbrate their 20th<\/sup> anniver\u00adsary, the depth and breadth of the company\u2019s con\u00adtri\u00adbu\u00adtions to Thuringia\u2019s eco\u00adnomic fab\u00adric are increas\u00adingly evi\u00addent, hint\u00ading at the bright future they fore\u00adsee for the region.<\/p>\n To rec\u00adog\u00adnize this sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant achieve\u00adment, we spoke with Kevin Reeder, the CEO of beteili\u00adgungs\u00adman\u00adage\u00adment th\u00fcrin\u00adgen GmbH (bm\u2011t). Kevin has a rich back\u00adground in inter\u00adna\u00adtional invest\u00adment man\u00adage\u00adment, with expe\u00adri\u00adence in both the US and Europe. He began his jour\u00adney at bm|t as an invest\u00adment man\u00adager, acquir\u00ading deep insights into Thuringia, its busi\u00adnesses, and the invest\u00adment land\u00adscape of the region.<\/p>\n Could you start by pro\u00advid\u00ading us with an overview and the ini\u00adtial moti\u00adva\u00adtions behind the cre\u00adation of bm|t?<\/strong><\/p>\n 20 years ago, there were three dif\u00adfer\u00adent invest\u00adment funds in Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen that were com\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary to each other. Matthias Wier\u00adlacher, CEO of the Th\u00fcringer Auf\u00adbaubank, had the idea of bring\u00ading these funds together in one com\u00adpany. This was exactly the right deci\u00adsion because we are now one entity serv\u00ading all phases of the mar\u00adket \u2013 early, growth and late stage. In the early days, bm|t worked with numer\u00adous now well-known com\u00adpa\u00adnies, such as Jenop\u00adtik, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Ana\u00adlytik Jena and X\u2011FAB. For bm|t it was a great oppor\u00adtu\u00adnity to invest in larger estab\u00adlished com\u00adpa\u00adnies. This is also an impor\u00adtant dif\u00adfer\u00adence from most other VC com\u00adpa\u00adnies. bm|t is not exclu\u00adsively focused on the early stage. Because we have accom\u00adpa\u00adnied the above com\u00adpa\u00adnies and many oth\u00aders over 20 years, we have learned how a small start-up becomes a large com\u00adpany. That\u2019s a wealth of knowl\u00adedge we have here in the team.<\/p>\n In your opin\u00adion, What makes Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen attrac\u00adtive to investors?<\/strong><\/p>\n The busi\u00adness model of Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen start-ups is pre\u00addom\u00adi\u00adnantly in the tech\u00adnol\u00adogy-dri\u00adven busi\u00adness-to-busi\u00adness sec\u00adtor. In such mod\u00adels, cap\u00adi\u00adtal require\u00adments are gen\u00ader\u00adally lower than in busi\u00adness-to-con\u00adsumer mod\u00adels, which usu\u00adally have to spend large amounts on mar\u00adket\u00ading, for exam\u00adple. The lower cap\u00adi\u00adtal require\u00adment pro\u00advides investors with an attrac\u00adtive risk-return ratio. Investors who are com\u00adfort\u00adable lower on the risk-return curve will find very excit\u00ading invest\u00adments in Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, but they must also have patience for longer-run\u00adning tech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal developments.<\/p>\n Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen is home to excel\u00adlent inno\u00adva\u00adtions. Our focus is on Th\u00fcringen\u2019s strengths: optics, pho\u00adton\u00adics, robot\u00adics, mate\u00adr\u00adial sci\u00adences and life sci\u00adences \u2013 all areas where very attrac\u00adtive val\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions are possible.<\/p>\n On the other hand, What unique fea\u00adtures does Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen bring to the table as a hub for startups?<\/strong><\/p>\n Star\u00adtups ben\u00ade\u00adfit from a high-tech ecosys\u00adtem with numer\u00adous research insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adties and tech\u00adni\u00adcal col\u00adleges. Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen also has a strong startup net\u00adwork of investors and sup\u00adport\u00aders, con\u00adsist\u00ading of bm|t, STIFT with its accel\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtor and coach\u00ading pro\u00adgram, numer\u00adous con\u00adsult\u00ading ser\u00advices offered by ThEx, the Th\u00fcringer Auf\u00adbaubank, MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, Sparkassen and Min\u00adistries. We all work very closely together. No mat\u00adter where a founder arrives, they receive the sup\u00adport needed from all parties.<\/p>\n Talk\u00ading about the gen\u00aderal mar\u00adket sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion, how is the cur\u00adrent mar\u00adket cli\u00admate impact\u00ading the ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal sector?<\/strong><\/p>\n With low-inter\u00adest rates, the last ten years have been a time when many investors have dis\u00adcov\u00adered ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal. We came through the Corona pan\u00addemic well \u2013 partly because we car\u00adried a lot of momen\u00adtum from the pre\u00advi\u00adous years and had the appro\u00adpri\u00adate funds and a strong net\u00adwork with which we could sup\u00adport the com\u00adpa\u00adnies. Cur\u00adrently, geopo\u00adlit\u00adi\u00adcal dis\u00adcord, the energy cri\u00adsis and infla\u00adtion with ris\u00ading inter\u00adest rates are pre\u00adsent\u00ading chal\u00adlenges, as such con\u00addi\u00adtions cre\u00adate uncer\u00adtainty for investors. How\u00adever, we have con\u00adtin\u00adued to achieve good financ\u00ading rounds and exits in 2023.<\/p>\n One of our great\u00adest strengths is that we have built a very inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive port\u00adfo\u00adlio \u2013 with strong com\u00adpa\u00adnies and dis\u00adrup\u00adtive tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies. Regard\u00adless of whether inter\u00adest rates are 1% or 5%, I am sure that the inter\u00adest rate is not the deci\u00adsive fac\u00adtor in deter\u00admin\u00ading if such high-tech com\u00adpa\u00adnies are attrac\u00adtive to investors. Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen is also ben\u00ade\u00adfit\u00ading from a sec\u00adu\u00adlar trend, as our tech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcally strong com\u00adpa\u00adnies are increas\u00adingly being dis\u00adcov\u00adered by the world. Of course, we must remain active and gen\u00ader\u00adate even more atten\u00adtion for our start-ups. In this sense, bm|t is not only an investor but also an ambas\u00adsador for the amaz\u00ading tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies and com\u00adpa\u00adnies we are blessed with here in Th\u00fcringen.<\/p>\n With rooom AG recently clos\u00ading a financ\u00ading round of \u20ac17 mil\u00adlion and Oncg\u00adnos\u00adtics GmbH, tech\u00adnolo\u00adgies devel\u00adop\u00adments in Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen mak\u00ading waves in the Chi\u00adnese mar\u00adket. How is the bm|t year 2023 going?<\/strong><\/p>\n At the begin\u00adning of the year, the financ\u00ading rounds were still very slow. But since April we\u2019ve had a series of many excel\u00adlent seven-fig\u00adure+ financ\u00ading rounds. If some\u00adone had told me three years ago that we would expe\u00adri\u00adence a pan\u00addemic, a war, infla\u00adtion and sup\u00adply chain issues, I would have thought we would be in a dif\u00adfi\u00adcult spot. But bm|t and our Investee Part\u00adners are quite well posi\u00adtioned, which is a real tes\u00adti\u00admony to our resilience here in Th\u00fcringen.<\/p>\n Mr. Reeder, this year marks not only an insti\u00adtu\u00adtional mile\u00adstone for bm|t but also a per\u00adsonal anniver\u00adsary for you. Start\u00ading in 2013 as an invest\u00adment man\u00adager and ascend\u00ading to the role of man\u00adag\u00ading direc\u00adtor by 2017, what accom\u00adplish\u00adments dur\u00ading your tenure are you espe\u00adcially proud of?<\/strong><\/p>\n My start as Man\u00adag\u00ading Direc\u00adtor of bm|t in 2017 could hardly have been luck\u00adier tim\u00ading. Our Investee Part\u00adner InflaRx was listed on the Nas\u00addaq stock exchange just three months later. I think we were the first \u201cL\u00e4n\u00adder\u00adbeteili\u00adgungs\u00adge\u00adsellschaft\u201d in Ger\u00admany to achieve a Nas\u00addaq IPO. In addi\u00adtion to a great return for us, this event raised our pro\u00adfile con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably. That was a tremen\u00addous suc\u00adcess! On top of that, Facebook\u2019s very first invest\u00adment in Ger\u00admany was the acqui\u00adsi\u00adtion of Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen-based fayteq AG, in which we were the lead investor. From then on, we were on the radar of all ven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adist investors in Germany.<\/p>\n Since 2017, we have com\u00adpleted ten addi\u00adtional exits. Many of these exits were to com\u00adpa\u00adnies that then estab\u00adlished the Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen com\u00adpa\u00adnies they acquired as their base in the DACH region and increased their invest\u00adment in the region dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcally. We can also be very proud of this. As \u201cven\u00adture cap\u00adi\u00adtal\u201d is a long-term busi\u00adness, the recent suc\u00adcesses were, of course, born out of bm|t\u2019s 20-year his\u00adtory. The team\u2019s hard work over two decades is now pay\u00ading dividends.<\/p>\n Over the past 20 years, our busi\u00adness model has also under\u00adgone a trans\u00adfor\u00adma\u00adtion. In the begin\u00adning, we man\u00adaged numer\u00adous funds that allowed us to invest on our own due to hav\u00ading over 50% pri\u00advate cap\u00adi\u00adtal at the fund level. Today, we have strong co-investors at our side for every invest\u00adment. We have suc\u00adcess\u00adfully trans\u00adformed into an investor and a key hub for other investors and part\u00adners, and have been able to attract them to Th\u00fcringen.<\/p>\n To con\u00adclude our con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion, what can we antic\u00adi\u00adpate for the future of bm|t? What are your upcom\u00ading plans and objectives?<\/strong><\/p>\n We have a fan\u00adtas\u00adtic mar\u00adket posi\u00adtion and many high-poten\u00adtial invest\u00adments. With Th\u00fcringer Startup Fonds II and Wach\u00ads\u00adtums\u00adBeteili\u00adgungs\u00adFonds II, we have launched two new funds this year with 55 mil\u00adlion euros to invest. Two addi\u00adtional new funds for later-stage invest\u00adments are also in the near-term pipeline.<\/p>\n Where I still see oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties for growth for us in Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen are in estab\u00adlished com\u00adpa\u00adnies look\u00ading for a suc\u00adces\u00adsor, for exam\u00adple. Here we can sup\u00adport by strength\u00aden\u00ading the equity base. Our team can also be very effec\u00adtive in this mar\u00adket seg\u00adment. We have many years of expe\u00adri\u00adence in the invest\u00adment team, which brings an immense under\u00adstand\u00ading of the com\u00adpa\u00adnies in Th\u00fcringen.<\/p>\n I am very pos\u00adi\u00adtive about the future, as I was for\u00adtu\u00adnate to join a great team at the right time ten years ago. My impact has mainly been to con\u00adtribute a few new ideas and per\u00adspec\u00adtives to a very strong foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In an inter\u00adview with Kevin Reeder, he explains the impor\u00adtance and pos\u00adi\u00adtive influ\u00adence that bm|t has had on Thuringia\u2019s good eco\u00adnomic devel\u00adop\u00adment over the past 20 years. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15333,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[234],"tags":[176,177,210,159,171],"class_list":["post-15337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-en","tag-bm-t-en","tag-bmt-en","tag-investeepartner","tag-investment-en","tag-thuringia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}