Venpace

Managing Partners Thomas Scheuerle and Christoph P. Wolff jointly lead investment decisions at Venpace. The two co-founded the firm in 2008 and have maintained a partnership-led approach to sourcing, diligence, and portfolio management. Neither has publicly delegated investment authority through a formal investment committee structure visible to external LPs or co-investors.

Venpace operates with characteristics of an evergreen investment structure rather than a traditional 10-year closed-end venture fund, based on its observed hold periods and follow-on behavior across portfolio companies. The firm has not publicly disclosed a formal fund-by-fund structure, which suggests privately raised or balance-sheet capital that does not require the same periodic reporting or forced distributions of a typical LP fund. This gives Venpace timing flexibility on exits and follow-on rounds.

Venpace targets seed, startup, and growth stages, typically entering at the point of initial institutional capital for B2B software companies. The firm stays active through subsequent rounds, demonstrated by multi-stage participation in companies such as leanIX from early investment through to its SAP acquisition. Venpace does not typically participate in pre-seed or pure late-stage pre-IPO rounds.

Venpace concentrates on B2B software and technology-enabled services and has not been observed active in consumer internet, hardware-intensive deep tech, biotech, or clean energy. The firm's DACH focus and enterprise software specialization create a natural perimeter that excludes most consumer-facing and capital-intensive physical-technology sectors.

Venpace's core geographic focus is the DACH region — Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — where it has built its network and investment track record since 2008. The firm has occasionally participated in rounds of portfolio companies expanding into the US market, but does not operate a separate US investment program or maintain offices outside Cologne.

Venpace was an early investor in leanIX, the Bonn-based enterprise architecture management platform that became one of the DACH region's most significant enterprise software success stories. leanIX was acquired by SAP in September 2023, transaction terms were not disclosed. The exit validated Venpace's strategy of concentrated early-stage positions in B2B software companies with clear enterprise adoption paths.

Venpace operates as a direct investment firm, not a fund-of-funds, deploying capital directly into portfolio companies. The firm co-invests alongside other DACH-focused venture and growth equity firms in rounds, functioning as a syndicate member rather than a lead in most observed transactions. Venpace has not publicly marketed itself as a co-investment platform for external limited partners.