Agile Partners

Agile Partners

Agile Partners was founded in Karlsruhe, Germany by Markus Hennig, Jan Hichert, and Gert Hansen — the team behind Astaro (sold to Sophos) and Ocedo (sold to Riverbed). The firm invests its own capital into early-stage startups, drawing directly on the founders' experience as repeat entrepreneurs who built and exited two European enterprise technology companies. The firm targets early-stage startups across enterprise software, cybersecurity, and industrial technology. Agile Partners emphasizes an operator-first model, providing not just capital but hands-on company-building support drawn from the founders' own executive track records. Its geographic focus centers on Germany, with particular emphasis on the Baden-Württemberg startup ecosystem around Karlsruhe and the broader Berlin tech scene. Agile Partners operates from Karlsruhe and Berlin. Markus Hennig serves as a board member of CyberForum e.V., a leading ICT network in the Karlsruhe region, embedding the firm in the local technology community. The firm maintains a low public profile, without disclosed fund sizes or formal limited partner relationships, consistent with a proprietary capital model managed directly by the founding partners. Agile Partners is fundamentally structured as operator-led rather than institutionally raised capital — the founders reinvest liquidity from their own exits rather than managing external limited partner commitments. This capital base confers structural patience absent in traditional venture funds and aligns the firm's incentives directly with the operating outcomes of portfolio companies rather than with fund-cycle dynamics.