Following the success of its first fund, Smart Infrastructure Ventures has announced the launch of its second fund, SIVentures II. The venture capital fund, headquartered in Leipzig, invests in early-stage startups focused on technologies in AI, IT infrastructure and energy.
After the successful closing of the first fund in 2024, more than 75% of the target value of €30 million has already been achieved. The fund's management plans to double its volume compared to the first fund. The fresh capital comes from companies, banks, family offices, successful founders and funds of funds across Germany.
"We have already recorded two successful exits, such as the sale of the Leipzig-based digital
health startup mementor to the US medical technology group ResMed. This significant exit after a short period of time has naturally had a positive impact on our fundraising for SIVentures II," explains Dirk Frohnert, one of the two managing directors of SIVentures.
Other successful investments from the first fund generation include the cybersecurity-company Enginsight from Jena and the Custum-Startup traide AI from Berlin. In total, portfolio companies have created more than 300 new jobs in Germany to date.
The new fund focuses on B2B startups in the pre-seed and seed phase and has already made four investments in the fields of AI, software development and enterprise software. Other potential investments are now in the Due-Deligence. The current investment strategy plans to invest in a total of around 30 startup teams, above all in the DACH region, with up to €500,000 being made available for initial investments.
“As an active investor, we not only offer startups capital, but also see ourselves as a proactive sparring partner,” adds Björn Bauermeister, the second Managing Director of SIVentures.
The SIVentures team has more than 20 years' experience in investment and entrepreneurship. The founding team - consisting of Björn Bauermeister, formerly a trader at BNP Paribas in New York and London, and Dirk Frohnert, formerly a fund manager at JPMorgan in London is supported by experienced companies and Falk Trietsch as an investment manager. SIVentures also works closely with the SpinLab group, which manages several renowned accelerator programmes in Germany and has an extensive partner network.