Up to Eleven

Investment decisions are made by the four founders: Toto Wolff, René Berger, Martin Pansy, and Jürgen Pansy. Each is an active operator in addition to their role at the firm — Wolff as Team Principal of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One, Berger as Managing Partner of nextmarch, Martin Pansy as CEO of Nuki, and Jürgen Pansy as the former founder of sms.at. This operating-partner model means sourcing and diligence draw directly on their respective industries.

Deal flow originates primarily through the founders' deep operational networks in the DACH technology and motorsport communities. The firm is a member of the Austrian Angel Investors Association and the Austrian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, which provide additional local sourcing channels. Co-investors like Runtastic founders' vehicle 8eyes and corporate partner Allegion also generate cross-referral opportunities.

It operates as a founder-syndicate and partnership rather than a traditional family office or closed venture fund. The capital deployed is the founders' own alongside select co-investors, and the principals remain active in their primary operating roles. This creates a hybrid structure that blends characteristics of an angel syndicate, a venture firm, and an operator-led investment partnership.

The known posture is exclusively direct deals — the firm invests directly into portfolio companies and uses special-purpose vehicles for syndicating co-investors. There is no public record of Up to Eleven making fund-of-fund commitments or acting as a limited partner in third-party venture funds.

The firm covers a broad venture spectrum from seed and start-up stages through expansion and late-stage growth. This flexibility reflects the founder group's preference for committing to companies where their operational expertise can materially influence outcomes, rather than being constrained to a single-stage mandate.

Confirmed portfolio positions include proptech (smart access via Nuki) and digital health (mental health platform Instahelp). The firm's stated strategy also targets enterprise software, mobility, and consumer technology, with an emphasis on hardware-enabled digital products that benefit from the founders' product-design and engineering experience.

Up to Eleven co-founder Martin Pansy serves as CEO of Nuki Home Solutions, the Vienna-based smart-lock company that is a portfolio holding of the firm. Allegion, the publicly traded global security-products company, is both a strategic partner and an investor in Nuki, creating a co-investment relationship with Up to Eleven through that position.