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First Innovation Invest
First Innovation Invest launched in 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Volksbank eG – Die Gestalterbank, a cooperative bank rooted in Offenburg,...
First Innovation Invest
First Innovation Invest launched in 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Volksbank eG – Die Gestalterbank, a cooperative bank rooted in Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg. The founding team — Managing Directors Nina Spraul, Andreas Lieb, and Peter Schweikert — built the vehicle to channel the parent bank's capital into venture-stage companies, translating cooperative banking principles into an equity-investment framework. Unlike most German cooperative banks, which limit innovation exposure to debt products or indirect fund commitments, Volksbank eG chose to operate its own direct-investment arm. The firm targets early-stage and growth-equity investments across enterprise software, industrial technology, and fintech — sectors that align with the economic fabric of Baden-Württemberg, a region dense with Mittelstand manufacturers and emerging B2B software companies. First Innovation Invest structures its activity through direct equity stakes and strategic co-investments, working alongside the State of Baden-Württemberg and the BadenCampus startup hub to source deals. The firm does not disclose a formal fund structure; it appears to invest off the parent bank's balance sheet, giving it permanent capital and no fixed deployment timeline — a posture that affords patient underwriting. Team size and total deployment figures are not publicly disclosed. The firm's management group includes Andreas Lieb, who concurrently practices law at SNP Schlawien, and Peter Schweikert, suggesting an operating model that blends in-house investment judgment with external professional services. Former Managing Director Jürgen Streif has moved to lead payment systems at the parent bank, indicating career pathways between the venture arm and the core banking operations. The firm has not publicly announced a major fund close or portfolio exit within the last 24 months. The structural differentiator is the balance-sheet adjacency: First Innovation Invest is not a third-party fund manager raising outside LP capital, but a captive corporate venture vehicle funded entirely by a cooperative bank. This eliminates the fund-cycle pressure to exit positions on a fixed schedule, allowing the firm to hold portfolio companies for periods that match the long-duration relationships the parent bank maintains with its regional business clients — an architecture that separates it from conventional German venture capital managers.
General information
Firm type
Corporate Investor
Year founded
2017
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
Europe
Country
Germany
City
Offenburg
Corporate office
Offenburg, Germany
Principals
Nina Spraul
Managing Director and Investment Manager
Andreas Lieb
Managing Director and Investment Manager
Peter Schweikert
Managing Director and Investment Manager
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at First Innovation Invest?
Nina Spraul, Andreas Lieb, and Peter Schweikert serve as Managing Directors and Investment Managers, collectively responsible for deploying the firm's capital. Andreas Lieb is also a practicing lawyer at SNP Schlawien, giving the investment team direct access to legal structuring expertise in-house. The team reports to Volksbank eG's leadership, maintaining close alignment with the parent bank's strategic objectives.
How does First Innovation Invest source proprietary deal flow?
The firm sources primarily through the Baden-Württemberg innovation ecosystem, working in partnership with the State of Baden-Württemberg and the BadenCampus startup incubator in Offenburg. The parent bank's regional commercial-lending relationships also surface founder referrals from within the cooperative's member base. This tri-lateral arrangement — bank, government, campus — gives First Innovation Invest early visibility into companies forming in southwestern Germany.
Is First Innovation Invest a fund manager or a corporate venture arm?
It operates as a corporate venture arm — a wholly owned subsidiary of Volksbank eG, not a third-party fund manager raising outside LP commitments. The firm does not appear to market commingled funds to external investors, instead deploying capital directly from the parent bank's balance sheet. This permanent-capital structure removes the standard venture-fund constraint of returning capital to limited partners on a 10- to 12-year cycle.
Does First Innovation Invest participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
The firm's public disclosures emphasize direct equity investments and strategic co-investments rather than fund-of-funds commitments. By positioning itself as a 'strategic financing partner,' First Innovation Invest signals a preference for balance-sheet stakes where it can add value beyond capital, leveraging the parent bank's network. The absence of any reported LP positions in third-party venture funds suggests a direct-only or direct-primary posture.
What investment stages does First Innovation Invest typically target?
The firm targets venture capital investments, with an apparent focus on early-stage and growth-stage companies. The connection to BadenCampus — a pre-seed and seed-stage incubator — implies deal flow at the very earliest stages, while the parent bank's balance-sheet capacity supports follow-on capital as portfolio companies scale. No public data defines precise check sizes or stage boundaries.
Which sectors does First Innovation Invest explicitly focus on?
The firm's positioning and regional context point to enterprise software, industrial technology, and fintech as primary sectors of interest. These align with Baden-Württemberg's economic strengths in manufacturing, automation, and B2B software, as well as the parent bank's strategic interest in financial-technology innovation. Explicit exclusion criteria have not been published.
How is First Innovation Invest related to Volksbank eG?
First Innovation Invest is a 100% subsidiary of Volksbank eG – Die Gestalterbank, a cooperative bank headquartered in Offenburg. The parent bank created the venture arm in 2017 to add equity-investment capability to its existing commercial-banking and lending operations. Former Managing Director Jürgen Streif moved into the Head of Payment Systems role at the parent bank, illustrating the operational integration between the two entities.
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