Smart Infrastructure Ventures is a heterogeneous group of successful entrepreneurs, founders & investors. We are supported by a likeminded international network of advisors, corporate partners & co-investors. In addition we are proud to call the award-winning SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator our family as well as the renowned HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, who has several times been awarded as the best university for entrepreneurship, our friends.
OUR FOCUS
- STAGES: Our investment focus is early stage startups and unlike some other VCs: we really mean early – don’t worry too much about turnover (yet)! When we invest in a team of founders we are usually the startup’s first professional investor. At that point the company may have raised some money from the FFFs (friends, family & fools – oh and maybe from some angels too ;-), released an MVP and gained first customer traction. We typically invest a low six digit Euro amount as a first investment in a pre-seed or seed round but keep significant capital for follow-on rounds.
- SECTORS: As our name Smart Infrastructure Ventures suggests, we especially like anything surrounding smart city, energy, proptech, e-mobility, IoT, ehealth etc. – sometimes it is as easy as that! And although smart infrastructure is our focus, we would still like to hear from you in case your team is operating in potentially related areas. Please contact us as well if you believe your startup could be the next big thing – we will definitely take a look.
- GEOGRAPHY: We at Smart Infrastructure Ventures think globally, feel at home in Europe, operate Germany-wide, have a regional interest in East Germany as it’s our home soil and have an office at Baumwollspinnerei in Leipzig. Especially if you are a founder from East Germany: let’s have a chat about what you are trying to achieve! Although we are investing Germany-wide we believe that startups benefit most from our hands-on approach and extensive network if they are not only mentally approachable but as well locationally accessible.
HOW WE WORK
Of course we believe that our approach to venture capital and how we operate is different to other VCs – at least that’s what we think and our investors as well as previous business angel investments say. There are no employees at Smart Infrastructure Ventures. Everyone who is involved in the investment process has skin in the game. This ensures more efficient decision making alongside an increased accountability and of course an alignment of interest. In addition we leverage the resources and networks of SpinLab – The HHL Accelerator and Smart Infrastructure Hub. We believe that our portfolio companies as well as our investors will benefit from this set-up.