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Cavalry Ventures
Cavalry Ventures was founded in Berlin in 2016 by Claude Ritter, Stefan Walter, and Rouven Dresselhaus.
Cavalry Ventures
Cavalry Ventures was founded in Berlin in 2016 by Claude Ritter, Stefan Walter, and Rouven Dresselhaus. The three managing partners met as founders — Ritter and Walter co-founded Delivery Hero, taking it public in 2017, and Dresselhaus built and sold two startups — giving the firm a founding narrative rooted in operating experience rather than finance. That origin shapes a partnership that positions itself as a first check into European pre-seed and seed-stage technology companies, often leading rounds with conviction tickets aimed at giving founders an operator-heavy cap table. The firm deploys across enterprise software, fintech, digital health, AI/ML, and climate technology, with a geographic focus on the DACH region, the United Kingdom, and Nordic countries. Cavalry runs a concentrated portfolio strategy, writing initial checks typically in the €500,000 to €2 million range and reserving capital for follow-on investments through the Series A stage. Notable portfolio positions include Forto, the Berlin-based digital freight forwarder that became a logistics-unicorn anchor for the fund, and Bryter, the no-code automation platform for enterprise legal and compliance teams. The firm also participates in follow-on rounds and syndicates where its partners' founder networks create proprietary access to competitive allocations. The firm closed its second flagship fund, Cavalry Ventures II, at €160 million in 2021, roughly doubling the size of its debut vehicle. That capital base supports a lean partnership where all three managing partners invest personally alongside limited partners. In May 2024, the firm promoted Senior Associate Linda Klaassen to Principal, signaling an internal talent development track as the partnership builds capacity ahead of its next fund cycle. Dresselhaus also launched a parallel angel syndicate, 468 Capital, which operates with distinct governance but shares overlapping deal flow and LP relationships. Cavalry's structural differentiator is its insistence that managing partners must have built and exited a company themselves — a hard filter that excludes career VCs from the investment committee. This operator-only partnership architecture, combined with a geographic lock on the tight-knit Berlin founder ecosystem that produced Delivery Hero, Zalando, and N26, gives the firm a sourcing advantage that larger pan-European funds struggle to replicate when competing for founder-friendly pre-seed allocations.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2016
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Germany
City
Berlin
Corporate office
Berlin, Germany
Principals
Claude Ritter
Managing Partner
Stefan Walter
Managing Partner
Rouven Dresselhaus
Managing Partner
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Cavalry Ventures?
Three managing partners — Claude Ritter, Stefan Walter, and Rouven Dresselhaus — make all investment decisions. All three were founders and operators before becoming investors. Ritter and Walter co-founded Delivery Hero, which IPO'd in 2017, and Dresselhaus built and sold Book a Tiger and 468 Capital. No non-operating partners sit on the investment committee.
What is Cavalry Ventures' connection to Delivery Hero?
Cavalry's founding DNA traces directly to Delivery Hero. Managing partners Claude Ritter and Stefan Walter co-founded the food-delivery platform and operated it through its early growth stage and 2017 Frankfurt IPO. That exit generated the personal capital and founder-network credibility that underpins Cavalry's deal flow and LP base. The firm is legally and operationally separate from Delivery Hero.
How does Cavalry Ventures source its deals?
The firm sources primarily through the personal founder networks of its three managing partners, who are anchored in the Berlin startup ecosystem that produced Delivery Hero, Zalando, and N26. Cavalry also runs operator-focused content and community events that bring founders into its orbit before they are fundraising. The firm does not rely on inbound cold applications.
Is Cavalry Ventures a single-family office or a traditional venture fund?
Cavalry operates as a traditional venture capital firm with institutional limited partners, not a family office. The managing partners invest personal capital alongside LPs in each fund, but the primary capital base comes from European fund-of-funds, pension funds, and family offices. The firm closed its second flagship fund at €160 million in 2021.
What is the relationship between Cavalry Ventures and 468 Capital?
Rouven Dresselhaus, one of Cavalry's three managing partners, separately co-founded 468 Capital, a Berlin-based venture firm with a distinct fund structure, LP base, and investment committee. 468 Capital and Cavalry Ventures share overlapping deal flow and co-invest occasionally but operate with independent governance. Dresselhaus sits on the investment committees of both firms.
What investment stages does Cavalry Ventures target?
The firm writes first checks at pre-seed and seed stage, typically deploying €500,000 to €2 million initially with reserved capital for follow-on investments through Series A. Cavalry leads or co-leads rounds and takes board seats selectively. The fund does not participate in growth-stage or late-stage venture rounds.
Which sectors does Cavalry Ventures explicitly avoid?
The firm does not invest in hardware-intensive businesses, deeptech requiring long lab-to-market timelines, or capital-heavy infrastructure plays. Cavalry's partnership has publicly stated a preference for capital-efficient software models where the operator team can materially help founders with go-to-market and organizational scaling, areas where deep-tech capital intensity stretches their fund size and operator skill set.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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