HV Capital is one of Europe's longest-running venture capital firms. Founded in 2000 as the corporate venture arm of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, it has operated independently since 2010 and rebranded from HV Holtzbrinck Ventures to HV Capital in 2020. From offices in Munich and Berlin, it manages approximately €2.8 billion across nine fund generations and has backed around 200 companies.

Investment thesis and focus

HV Capital is a rare multi-stage investor: it supports internet and technology companies from seed through growth, deploying between roughly €500,000 and €60 million per company. That lets it be one of the few European VCs that can stay with a founder from the first cheque to a late-stage round. The firm is broadly sector-agnostic within digital technology, with recent emphasis on software, fintech, logistics, mobility, cloud infrastructure and defence-adjacent deep tech. It closed its ninth fund, HV Capital Fund IX, at €710 million in 2023 for early- and growth-stage investments.

Notable portfolio companies

  • Zalando — Europe's largest online fashion retailer
  • Delivery Hero — the global food-delivery giant
  • FlixBus — long-distance mobility across Europe and beyond
  • SumUp — point-of-sale payments for small merchants
  • Isar Aerospace — European space launch systems
  • Exein — cybersecurity, raised $270 million at a $1.7 billion valuation
  • Quantum Systems — drone technology for defence and industry
  • Earlier wins include investments in companies such as Audible

Team and operating model

The firm is led by founding partners including Lars Langusch, and describes itself as an "entrepreneurial" investor that brings operating experience alongside capital. It does not run a public accelerator, startup school or credits programme; its value-add is delivered through long-horizon partnerships, board-level involvement and a network built over 26 years of investing across economic cycles.

Beyond its core funds, HV Capital has embraced continuation vehicles to hold its winners longer: in 2022 it raised a €430 million continuation fund, one of the larger such structures in European venture capital. The firm’s edge is cycle discipline — it has invested through the dotcom bust, the 2008 financial crisis and the 2022 tech downturn — and the conviction that a single investor can carry a company from a €500,000 seed cheque to a €60 million growth round.

Why it matters for founders

HV Capital is unusually founder-friendly on one specific dimension: because it can write cheques from seed to growth, you may never need to switch investors as you scale. For European startups that want a long-term European partner rather than hopping from seed fund to transatlantic growth fund, the combination of a €710 million ninth fund and a 26-year track record makes it a natural first conversation.