New Year.
New Website.
Refined Focus.
We’ve always believed: engineering is the closest thing to magic. Over the last decades we were fortunate enough to experience many “magic moments”. When we founded ip.labs and built the leading photo service software company, we were among the first to move into this emerging market, which was triggered by the advent of the digital camera. We experienced first hand, how new technologies disrupt existing markets. After founding and building several companies, we founded Freigeist Capital with the mission to support European founders.
In our eyes, startups are a key driver for innovation. They are agile, move fast, take risks and rethink. Technology has leveled the playing field. In the digital age anyone who is passionate about a certain challenge, has a vision, and the courage to go through with it, has the potential to disrupt an entire industry. Knowledge has never been more accessible and resources like computing power, data storage and server capacities are practically unlimited. So now more than ever, innovation can come from anywhere. And they are desperately needed.
Innovation is our best chance at saving this planet
The digital revolution has made our lives easier, more comfortable and has created billions in market capitalization with companies like Amazon, Apple and Google. But more importantly, it has paved the way for innovation that makes our lives safer and more sustainable, which allows for a higher living standard for humanity without further harming our planet.
We founded Freigeist, because we felt that with our passion for technology and our experience in building and scaling companies, we can provide the necessary support visionary founders need to build great tech companies. At the same time we shifted our focus more and more to purpose-driven startups in large industries such as Mobility, Energy, Health, Food and Manufacturing with the potential to dramatically change things for the better. Also, we’re looking into new, emerging Focus areas such as Space, New Materials, and Digital Society, which will bring about innovation that we might not even see coming right now. We’re not only looking into these areas, because we believe that there is insane potential, but also, because, we aim at having a positive impact on our environment and our European economy by supporting outstanding European founders.
Over the next months, we will be publishing a series of articles on our focus areas and our thoughts on how technological innovation might affect certain industries.
But before we dive into that, we wanted to take the opportunity and reintroduce ourselves with our new website and a little more information about what it’s like to work with Freigeist. How we create value for startups, why we only make 2 investments per year and why working with us feels more like having a co-founder than a capital investor. Joining your mission at an early stage, we understand that you have a small team and a strong focus on product. We’re here to help you build and scale your company from Product and Marketing to Business Development, Sales, HR, Finance and Fundraising. That’s why we only do Seed and Early Series A investments - this is where we can add the most value.
The people who will help you build and scale your business
Alex Koch
Alex will challenge your technology and help you and your tech team overcome obstacles to build the best possible version of your product or service. He has been studying almost everything from physics to mathematics to engineering to computer science ever since he was a young boy. Alex has an insanely deep understanding of technology.
Frank Thelen
Frank loves building world-class products & brands. He will give his valuable input on product design, UI/UX, sales, marketing and PR. With his extended network, he will also connect you to the right people within your industry, and help you get the right talent on board.
Marc Sieberger
Marc has built and run operations as well as finance- and legal organizations in several companies. He led dozens of financing and M&A transactions across multiple geographies. Marc will work with you on Marketing, Sales and help you develop a solid financial plan and funding strategy.
Niklas Hebborn
Niklas guides you through tough strategic decisions and supports you in business development. He gained valuable experience in these fields during his time as a Roland Berger consultant and as Head of International Business at PEC group, where he scaled up the company from 50 to 120 employees. He will help you get the right talent on board and build up an organization that allows your company to grow fast and sustainable.
Marcel Vogler
Marcel has a deep understanding of operations from managing several McDonald’s franchises as co-owner and will help you bring structure into your team. From OKR’s to KPI’s to financial planning, he will support you in establishing the right BizDev processes.
Lena Heßbrügge
Lena has helped build up Franks brand and has managed both of his book projects. She’s in charge of all of his social channels and PR activities as well as all communication activities of Freigeist. She will be your direct contact regarding PR and Communications. Frank was on the German version of the TV-Show Shark Tank for 7 years, which allowed us to build a strong network and relationship with editors. Lena will not only help you tell your story but also make sure that the world hears it.
Daniel Rauber
Daniel has been working with us for over 10 years, supporting our portfolio companies with web and software development, infrastructure planning and process automation. He has a deep understanding of software and infrastructure and will support you in overcoming obstacles, fixing issues and automating processes.
In addition to our core team, we work with selected partners and experts with both business and technical backgrounds to provide you with 360 degree support. It is our mission to help outstanding founders build European Tech Champions - Companies with the potential to make a significant contribution to our environment, economy and society. We’re not interested in quick exits. Our investment horizon is 10+ years.
If you are working on a disruptive innovation, we’d love to get in touch.