Holtzbrinck Ventures

Holtzbrinck Ventures has been investing in new media start-ups since 1998. In roughly half of the companies it has been involved in, Holtzbrinck Ventures has acted as a founding investor. The company sees its role as that of a fellow entrepreneur. Through the firms it has founded solely (such as PARSHIP and Experteer) or via joint ventures (such as Audible.de and buecher.de), Holtzbrinck Ventures has been able to acquire valuable experience in growth management.

Holtzbrinck Ventures is a short-term, exit-oriented investor. In addition to providing capital, the company supplies added value in the form of content, customer relationships, brands, and the network of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. The emphasis is on a strong and independent management that pursues new avenues off the beaten track of established media strategies. Working with established financial and strategic investors, Holtzbrinck Ventures encourages close communication between the portfolio companies, acting both as a lead investor and as a co-investor.

Preference is given to customer-based business models, as these allow a convincing business idea to blossom into fast growth through viral marketing concepts and word of mouth. The services offered have to meet the current needs of customers and differentiate themselves significantly from competitors’ projects. The actual investment focus at this time is on online networks (dating, social networks, professional networking), media commerce (auctions, marketplaces, classifieds), entertainment, information commerce (portals, LBS, UGC) and on supporting technologies and applications.

Holtzbrinck Ventures currently holds shares in more than 70 companies, among them:

• brands4friends, Germany’s #1 shopping club for name brand articles
• DaWanda, a market place for hand-made and unique articles
• erento.com, an internet-based marketplace for rentable goods and services
• Experteer, the leading premium career service portal within the German-speaking Internet
• GameDuell, Germany's most visited internet gaming platform
• Mindmatics AG, one of the leading mobile service businesses in Europe
• Online dating agency PARSHIP
• Tutoria, an innovative tutoring service

Further companies that were given a start in business, but have since been sold include:

• Audible.de, the leading download platform for audio books and audio content
• bol.com, the largest Dutch online retailer for books, CDs, DVDs, etc.
• buecher.de, one of the largest German online retailers for books, CDs, DVDs etc.
• The online realty exchange portal Immowelt
• The career and job portal Jobline.de