High-Tech Grunderfonds

Alex von Frankenberg is a Managing Director and co-founder who has led the firm since 2005. He is part of a broader investment committee that includes both venture professionals and representatives from the German government, KfW Capital, and corporate limited partners — a hybrid governance structure that distinguishes HTGF from purely private venture firms.

HTGF operates as a public-private partnership. It was created in 2005 as a private asset manager with backing from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital, and over 40 industrial corporations including BASF and Bosch. The fund makes commercial investment decisions but carries a developmental mandate to bridge the equity gap for early-stage German technology companies.

The firm writes initial seed-stage checks of up to EUR 1 million and reserves up to EUR 4 million for follow-on participation across a company's lifecycle. HTGF covers seed through late-stage venture, often serving as the first institutional investor in German university spin-outs and research-driven startups. The fund is structured to support companies that require longer technical development timelines than typical software startups.

Deal flow comes primarily from Germany's network of research institutions, including Max Planck institutes, Fraunhofer societies, and technical universities such as RWTH Aachen and TU Munich. HTGF maintains investment managers and technology scouts in Bonn, Berlin, and other German tech hubs to identify commercialization opportunities emerging from publicly funded research. The firm also operates a San Francisco office to help portfolio companies access US markets.

HTGF maintains a broad multi-sector mandate spanning enterprise software, industrial tech, AI/ML, digital health, energy transition, and cybersecurity. The fund's public-private origins orient it toward capital-intensive and deep-tech verticals, including hardware, robotics, and IoT infrastructure, alongside traditional B2B software companies. The breadth reflects a national mandate rather than a specialist technology thesis.

HTGF IV held its first close in November 2023 at EUR 400 million, with a target of EUR 600 million (per public record, 2023). The latest vehicle is expected to expand HTGF's capacity to anchor seed rounds in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, with continued support from the German government, KfW Capital, and a widening consortium of industrial backers. Each successive fund generation has increased in size, reflecting the program's longevity and the growing volume of research-based startups reaching commercialization.

HTGF primarily invests in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, consistent with its federal mandate to strengthen the DACH startup ecosystem. The San Francisco office supports existing portfolio companies expanding to US markets rather than sourcing new US investments. The fund is not structured as a pan-European vehicle and does not typically compete for deals in France, the Nordics, or the UK unless a DACH-based company has meaningful operations across those markets.