D11Z Ventures

We are looking for entrepreneurs and their brilliant ideas. We want to be there when technologies call entire industries into question. Since 2014, we have seen this as both an opportunity and a challenge. Today, DvH Ventures is one of the most active early-stage investors in Europe managing various venture capital funds from its offices in Cologne and Vienna. Our story began with our first venture capital fund and the significant backing of publisher Dieter von Holtzbrinck. We focused our early stage investments on publishing-related, digital business models and supported startups from then on not only with funding, but also with an enormous media reach of the publishing groups Handelsblatt, Tagesspiegel and DIE ZEIT. This fund was soon followed by a dedicated investment fund with a focus on Fintechs and InsurTechs and fund investors from the banking and insurance industries. Thanks to the business-related media, we were able to build up one of the most successful FinTech portfolios with such stars as LIQID, Compeon or Nect. Both funds are now disinvesting. Today, we operate two independent and very active early-stage investment funds. With DvH Ventures Fund III, our Digital Tech Fund, we have been investing primarily in deep tech and education startups since 2017. This enabled us to attract the founders and potential of companies such as LiveEO, StudySmarter, Masterplan or buynomics at an early stage. In August 2020, DvH Ventures launched a new €60 million Digital Health Fund in the first closing, which invests in technologies across Europe that solve future healthcare challenges. OUR APPROACH As an independent venture capital fund, we invest in early investment rounds with initial tickets between € 500k and € 2m, often acting as lead investor. In addition to financial resources, we support our portfolio companies with management expertise and an international investor network. An exclusive media-for-equity program also offers access to strong brands such as Handelsblatt, WirtschaftsWoche, DIE ZEIT and Apotheken Umschau, and thus an enormous reach into the respective target groups. INVESTMENT FOCUS We invest in ideas whose success we believe in. We are building successful investment clusters including but not limited to the fields of digital health, education or financial services and will stay hungry for more digital innovations. These can be ideas in artificial intelligence, enterprise software, Internet of Things and Big Data. The same applies to mobility, energy or the future of work. On the other hand, some of our most successful startups are those with ideas that we hadn't even thought of yet. So, if you want to pitch convincing ideas that don't come from the areas mentioned above – we'd ❤️ to hear about them.

After managing two successful funds, we now present YourNest Innovative Products VC Fund III. Focused on disruptive technologies to enhance the way mankind leverages the value of time, this US$ 75 mn fund will invest in startup founders across a spectrum of DeepTech domains: AI, IoT, Robotics, AR/VR/MR, Dev. Tools, Edge Cloud and other Digital products. As always, our intent is to create an opportunity for Indian entrepreneurs to scale into global markets with IP-led innovations: many of our portfolio companies in YourNest VC Fund II have secured patents and attracted customers in international markets. As a pioneering, pre-Series A, early-stage venture capital fund established in 2011 to support audacious startups building life-changing businesses, YourNest strongly believes in the human capability and works with the dictum of ‘what is impossible today is routine tomorrow’. We believe, too, that we are Challengineers: a team that actively pushes boundaries and engineers outcomes, standing shoulder to shoulder with our founders and supporting them with ‘Nurture Capital’. With an established network of professionals, innovators, business leaders, advisors and mentors, we offer the most enabling eco-system for any startup whose business is validated by customers. Our team prides itself on identifying committed entrepreneurs with the highest level of integrity, enabling their business ambitions and helping them to scale for international markets. In 2020, we launched our fast-track funding program SOAR which invested in five startups. The year also saw us exiting Uniphore and SmartQ from our first fund – YourNest Angel Fund – with a 0.7x DPI. Between the two funds, we are confident of multiple exits to deliver significant returns to our investors in the foreseeable future. Investment Thesis With the rise of entrepreneurs and the growth of startups in the past few years, we believe there are critical sectors, rooted in technology, that will fuel the next level of disruption in the coming decade. YourNest Innovative Products Fund-III will primarily seek to invest in enterprise-oriented, innovative, IP-led, tech-product startups. Its mission is to select products that are built around emerging technologies and have applications at scale. These product companies could be in sectors including Mobile Internet, Cloud Technology, Automation of Knowledge Work, Low-code or No-code Platforms, AI-based Cybersecurity, IOT, Edge Computing, Digital Twinning, Autonomous Technologies, Robotics, Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM). The focus of the Fund will be to invest in unlisted companies. The investment may start at an early seed stage and continue investing in promising companies at various stages of their growth. One or more rounds are likely to be made with co-investment from other investor(s) who may be an individual or an institution or an AIF or international investor such that the risk and reward of the portfolio company’s success is shared. ESG Policy Statement The YourNest Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd. i.e. Investment Manager (“IM”) of the Fund, commits to being a responsible investor, considering environmental, social and governance issues across all its investments. The IM is committed to comply with its ESG policy, applicable laws of the land and to be responsive to existing and emerging ESG concerns. We adhere to our responsibility to people and the planet while setting the stage for long-term success. Through ESG integration in our investment approach, we will endeavour to maximise business and investment opportunities. ESG integration will enable us to grow and improve the companies in which we invest, for long-term value generation opportunities for the benefit of all stakeholders. At the same time, we believe that ESG integration will help mitigate any liability, credit, market or reputation risks emanating from such issues. Nurture Capital Philosophy YourNest is a sharply focused early-stage DeepTech VC fund from India. The first fund established in 2012, raised US$ 14 mn and has several companies in the portfolio that have had multiple up-rounds and are on their way to a 4X+ return. Having completely invested its first two funds, YourNest is currently raising its third fund of US$ 75 mn to invest in Indian start-ups with a focus on DeepTech domains like AI, IoT, Robotics, AR/VR/MR, Dev. Tools, Edge Cloud and other Digital products. The YourNest team combines what may well be India’s widest access to prospective investees along with a rigorously prudent selection process that enables us to stay true to our investment thesis of nurturing high-potential entrepreneurs. In addition, we give our investors transparent access and exposure to high-growth, under-the-radar tech start-ups in India. In a country where entrepreneurship is encouraged but comes with its own challenges, the Indian DeepTech eco-system is rapidly evolving. As local Fund Managers, the YourNest team of experienced partners operates as unified enablers who have become adept at spotting emerging enterprises, nurturing and guiding them up the ladder of success. With a leadership coach as a founding partner, other partners bring complementary skillsets that including M&A, Financial Governance & Restructuring, Executive Development, Deal Flow Management, Building Intellectual Property and Global Scale. Brand building, Marketing and HR Practices are other competencies which have been added via the Venture Partners and Entrepreneur-in-Residence and are available to the portfolio companies. Our portfolio companies benefit from:‘Nurture Capital’ rather than plain ‘Venture Capital’. Our ability to mentor and coach entrepreneurs of investee companies. Our advisory expertise in key entrepreneurial matters: strategy, compliance, legal, HR, secretarial, talent sourcing, etc. Our network of corporates and individuals who can collectively multiply advantage for our investees.

After successfully scaling and exit our technology startups, we are urged to support technology entrepreneurs to help them reaching their ultimate dreams. We do financial investment and provide top-notch professional support for exponential international growth through our investment funds. Our aim is to combine the power and experience of traditional capital with the disruptive and talented technology ventures. Boğaziçi Ventures plays a key role to moderate the long-term relationship between both sides. Each of our fund has its own target focused technology vertical, investment strategy and dedicated management team. Investors can build bridges with technology companies through Boğaziçi Ventures while enjoying the benefit of high financial return of the tech industry. Boğaziçi Ventures aims at investing in tech-ventures which are willing to bring down the traditional industries and capable of developing evolutionary technologies, and engaging investors into these fields to make the ecosystem in our region grow sturdily and survive. We believe that Eastern Europe, Turkey and the MENA region are ideal geographies to develop the technology. Accordingly, we aspire the talents and capabilities in these regions to set good examples similar to our previous global success stories with proper financial and in-kind support, contribute to this geography and provide superior returns to our investors by enhancing these examples. By investing in disruptive future technologies such as blockchain, machine learning, artificial intelligence, internet of things in the fields from health to security, digital games etc.

In the past 15 years, Canada’s innovation ecosystem has taken off. Startups, accelerators, incubators, investors, and forward-thinking policies have created a true hotbed of entrepreneurship. Bold ideas are flourishing, transformative ventures are thriving, and Canadian technology is reshaping industries, driving growth at home and societal impact worldwide. We could look back and self-applause our progress, but let’s be radically transparent: major challenges remain and there is still a lot left to be done. A majority of our technology companies are not achieving the global scale they legitimately could attain. They do not achieve their full potential; frequently selling prematurely instead of being the market consolidator and building for the long term. ​ A central cause of this problem is the lack of early-stage venture leadership and risk-taking at the true “inflection point” - when startups have early revenue, signs of product-market fit, and are ready to scale. Canada has no shortage of funds willing to follow on, but far too few are prepared to lead Seed and Series A rounds: to structure financings, set valuations, negotiate terms, and define the conditions for success. The “Death Valley” is real. Canadian venture capital lacks leadership, and needs to contribute more expertise. The “Death Valley” is the critical scaling stage that most companies fail to overcome. It happens as a company attempts to bridge the gap between early commercial success and achieving significant revenue scale. In 2024, roughly six in ten Canadian seed rounds included foreign investors, a dynamic that intensifies by Series A and beyond. Half of that was led by US Too often, the most promising Canadian startups saw their early rounds led by U.S. VCs. While we welcome foreign investors, global connections strengthen our ecosystem, Canada simply lacks enough lead investors to keep ownership at home. For early-stage and scale-up companies, the shortage of funding alternatives is a major barrier. Many of our best founders head south in search of stronger capital partners. The gap is readily filled by international investors, and who can blame them? Canadian founders are known to outperform and to be more capital efficient than their U.S. peers. The best founders will always attract global capital and seek out the strongest partners. But this comes at a cost. Every time leadership is ceded abroad, Canada loses ownership of its most successful businesses. An ecosystem of “follower investors” produces an economy of subsidiaries, when what we need are global leaders. The problem is twofold: not enough Canadian capital to lead at the inflection point, and not enough seasoned expertise to scale our champions. If you believe, as we do, that local technology champions will be the cornerstone of our future economic prosperity, then our ecosystem must level up. We need more early-stage capital that doesn’t just follow, but leads. Equity financing must evolve to deliver not only dollars, but expertise, resources, and technology to nurture local champions. Understandably so, when they lead funding rounds, most Canadian VC firms will either focus on the pre-seed stage, where the power-law is magnified and placing many small bets is more important than bringing expertise, or the growth stages (Series B+) where significant risk is already behind and larger checks drive the outcomes. A paradigm shift is required. New organizations must emerge that add real value and aren’t afraid to take the lead at the Seed stage. This is why we are launching Amiral Ventures. Amiral Ventures is a new venture capital firm on a mission to empower Canada’s most ambitious founders with dynamic capital and scaling expertise, building the next generation of technology flagships with lasting societal impact. Vaisseau Amiral (French for Flagship): A ship or building that is recognized for its size and strength, making it the pride of a fleet or an organization As entrepreneurs ourselves, we have utmost respect for the founder journey. We don’t just invest, we aim to deserve the right to partner with them along the way. Amiral creates the ecosystem where visionary founders thrive, with capital, expertise, global networks, and technology to fuel their growth. We’ve built scale-ups, felt the entrepreneurial highs and lows, and now channel that experience into backing the founders solving the world’s toughest problems. Prosperity Decoded Backing Canadian founders at seed to series-a to drive enterprise productivity, sustainability & resilience The challenges we face, low productivity, climate urgency, and fragile infrastructure, are systemic. But they also represent one of the greatest investment junctures of our time. New enterprise technologies, powered by AI and software, can equip leaders with transformative, mission-critical solutions. Productivity. Canada’s productivity gap is real—our workers produce only ~70% of what their U.S. peers achieve. The answer isn’t more talk, it’s action: applied AI, automation, robotics, and digital platforms. We back Canadian founders building these solutions at home and scaling them worldwide. Sustainability. Profitability and environmental impact can no longer be at odds. The transition to renewables and the optimization of energy use are urgent. Software and AI will be the linchpins of this shift, from clean energy production to efficient consumption. Resilience. Supply chains, industries, and critical infrastructure are under strain. Building resilience means more autonomy, security, and sovereignty, enabled by smart industry, robotics, digital twins, cybersecurity and intelligent manufacturing. More than just capital. Founders-led and founders-backed. Amiral Ventures will focus on leading early-stage rounds between theSeed and Series A and will actively support companies to achieve a strong global position. Capital is a commodity, expertise is not. An integral part of our investment thesis is having a dedicated impact team that will create value post-investment. Our initial focus is helping portfolio companies expand globally and seize international opportunities to scale. Over time, Amiral’s impact team will operate like a service organization, combining internal expertise, external networks, and proprietary technology to empower founders. Our goal is clear: every dollar invested by Amiral should deliver a measurable impact on a founder’s trajectory. Beyond the Amiral team’s expertise, we are surrounding ourselves by an unprecedented group of investors who are themselves founders, CEOs, CTOs, CROs, and not only share our vision but are eager to roll up their sleeves to help our flagship companies. ​Building an enduring franchise We are proudly Québécois but our market is much wider. We believe that for Québec & Canada to succeed, we must expand beyond our borders just like the Admiral butterfly. Papillon Amiral (French for Admiral Butterfly): Emblem of Québec, it is known for its rapid flight, its impressive migration, resilience and its noble appearance. Building a dynamic, resilient, and cleaner economy means securing local ownership while scaling globally. Amiral is an investment firm with an entrepreneurial mindset, built to create value for the next generation of innovators. We stand on the shoulders of the Canadian venture pioneers who came before us. History will mark the early 2020s as an inflection point. Technologies once magical are now everyday tools. The means to create prosperity are in our hands. But good is no longer good enough. High-paying jobs, economic development, and new technologies are necessary but we must also increase Canadian ownership in our champion companies, deploy smarter capital, and elevate our ecosystem. The “Death Valley” for Canadian startups must be crossed. Ambitious founders are ready to take flight on the global stage. Let’s build the next generation of Canadian flagships.

We’re not just another venture capital firm. Critical Ventures is a VC that invests in game-changing companies with the power to transform the way the world uses technology in the areas of IoT, Automatisation and Digitalisation, Cyber Security, AI/ML / Descentralised Tech, UxD / Interfaces, Mobility and Medical Software. We know that building disruptive tech companies takes more than just capital. As tech entrepreneurs ourselves, we work side by side with the companies we invest in, backing them with funding, time and real expertise. We believe that technology is nothing without the passion of talented people bringing it to life. That’s why we’re dedicated to working with entrepreneurs and startups who share our culture and values. In return, we help to nurture the companies we invest in and grow them organically, in their own time – avoiding round after round of funding. For us, investing isn’t just our business. It’s the chance to make a difference and create something big. What we’re looking for: Seed and early-stage investments Technology and software companies Disruptive or transformative technologies Cultural fit with the Critical ecosystem Passionate and dedicated management Our team brings together seasoned founders and operators of technology companies with experienced financial and venture capital professionals - by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs.

We invest in early-stage R&D-focused individuals and teams solving complex technical challenges with large potential for commercial application. INVESTMENT AREAS We like to invest in teams building solutions in these technical domains: Software++AI & ML Big Data AR, VR & XR Cybersecurity Cloud/DevSecOps Distributed systems Performance computing Life SciencePersonalized medicine Drug discovery software Precision medicine Biofabrication Digital twins Organoids other BioTech, MedTech HardwareRobotics Automation IoT Industry 4.0 Nanotechnology Material Science Space