D11Z.Ventures

Thomas R. Villinger serves as CEO and Managing Director and is the firm's most senior investment decision-maker. He previously led Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn, a regional innovation fund, giving him deep ties to the local technology ecosystem. Investment memos and deal leads are executed by a compact team that includes a Senior Investment Manager for industrial tech and supply chain, though all final committee authority rests with Villinger as the principal's delegate.

The capital deployed by D11Z.Ventures is generated by the Schwarz Group, the parent company of Lidl and Kaufland, and represents the personal fortune of its founder, Dieter Schwarz. Schwarz is one of the wealthiest individuals in Europe, having built the world's fourth-largest retailer by revenue. The family office was established in 2012 to invest a portion of that wealth into early-stage technology companies.

D11Z is legally a single-family office but operates with the cadence and focus of an early-stage European venture investor. It writes pre-seed, seed, and Series A checks using an evergreen balance sheet that has no fixed fund life, rather than deploying from a closed-end fund. The team includes dedicated investment managers, and the firm co-invests alongside institutional VCs like High-Tech Gründerfonds and Bayern Kapital.

D11Z leverages the industrial and IT infrastructure of the Schwarz Group — particularly its digital division, Schwarz Digits — to surface deal flow in enterprise software, AI, and industrial automation. The firm's Heilbronn location places it at the center of a purpose-built innovation campus that includes the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence, creating a pipeline of spinouts and academic founders. Thomas Villinger's prior role at Zukunftsfonds Heilbronn also provides a long-established network in the German seed-stage ecosystem.

The firm's disclosed activity is concentrated in direct equity and co-investment rounds in startups, spanning pre-seed to Series A. Public records do not show D11Z acting as a limited partner in third-party venture funds. Its model favors direct positions where it can bring the Schwarz Group's operational assets into the relationship.

Philanthropic and educational activities tied to Dieter Schwarz are managed through the Dieter Schwarz Foundation, a separate legal entity from D11Z.Ventures. The foundation owns and operates assets such as the Bildungscampus Heilbronn and Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence, which are adjacent to the investment office but do not co-mingle capital. This separation keeps D11Z's portfolio free from philanthropic or concessionary mandates.

D11Z regularly co-invests alongside German and European venture investors. Its most cited co-investment partner is High-Tech Gründerfonds, the Bonn-based seed investor, and it has led or co-led rounds with Bayern Kapital, the Bavarian state-backed venture arm. The firm's strategy shows a preference for anchoring rounds as lead investor and then syndicating alongside aligned institutional and angel capital.