Vorwerk Ventures is an independent € 150m Venture Capital Fund with € 400m under management. We define ourselves through a strong commitment towards startups that drive positive change for the people and the planet. We lead seed rounds within our clearly defined focus areas: Consumer, Food, Health, and Climate.
Our unique experience in addition to an outstanding track record provides added value for forward-thinking tech entrepreneurs. Headquartered in Berlin Germany, we are constantly on the look-out for promising opportunities starting with Seed/Series A investments of €1m to €5m and ensuring continuous support by reserving up to €15m for upcoming financing rounds. An outstanding founding team, a unique product or service addressing a substantial market framed by a strong business model are key requirements to us when it comes to making an investment decision.
* The investments marked with an asterisk were made by Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures GmbH. Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures GmbH is a limited partner (Kommanditistin) of Vorwerk Ventures III GmbH & Co KG. The managing directors of Vorwerk Direct Selling Ventures GmbH are also the managing directors of MM Venture Management GmbH, which acts as managing limited partner (geschäftsführende Kommanditistin) of Vorwerk Ventures III GmbH & Co KG.
MM Venture Management GmbH
Charlottenstr. 43
10117 Berlin
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Dirk is a Managing Partner of Vorwerk Ventures which he joined in early 2007 as the second team member. He has more than 25 years of international investment management experience in venture capital and private equity. He has been instrumental for the firm´s investments in Meinauto, HelloFresh, Gestigon and Neato Robotics. Currently he is in charge of the fund´s investments in habyt, Smartfrog, Rebike, Thermondo, Ottonova and many others. Prior to his assignment at Vorwerk Ventures he managed an extensive emerging markets investment portfolio mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa at Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft, one of the largest development finance institutes in the world. His career originated in Deutsche Bank´s venture capital arm DVC Deutsche Venture Capital, where he was a Partner with responsibility for investments in digital technology companies. Dirk holds an MBA from ebs European Business School, graduating with distinction.
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Marie-Sophie (Marie to her friends and everyone else) joined Vorwerk Ventures in 2023. Prior she was one of the first team members at Foundamental, a global early-stage construction-tech fund. Marie has worked on investments and built a network across Asia, Europe, and the US. Besides focusing on investments, she built up the internal processes of the fund. Before joining the venture ecosystem, she gained hands on experience and deep industry insights, be it working in business development at Trumpf in Singapore or consultancy roles at the Fraunhofer Institute for production technology. Marie holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering and business from RWTH Aachen University. Born in Japan and raised in Germany, food has always been her medium to stay connected to her heritage, which turned into a passion for cooking and exploring foods & culture from across the world.
Emanuel joined Vorwerk Ventures in 2023 as Head of Finance, in order to support the growing investment team and to keep the company in checks with the increased regulatory and administrative requirements. Before joining Vorwerk Ventures, he was working in a similar position at a large German Venture Fund, equipping him with the necessary skillset and knowledge to build and lead the finance function at Vorwerk Ventures. Prior to working on the backend of Venture Funds, he made his first career steps as an audit professional with EY in Zurich. He studied International Business at Maastricht University and holds a Double Master Degree in International Business and International Management from Maastricht University and Queen’s University (today: Smith School of Business) in Kingston, Canada. Moreover, Emanuel is a certified auditor (eidg. diplomierter Wirtschaftsprüfer) in Switzerland. When not at work, he frees his thoughts at a vast range of sports activities, including football or tennis, as well as outdoor activities such as hiking, snowboarding and sailing.
Hanna joined Vorwerk Ventures in early 2023. Previously, she was at the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund, investing in female (co)founders building early-stage B2B ventures in Europe. Hanna has worked in the tech ecosystem in Germany and the U.S., be it an accelerator in Berlin and startups in New York and California. Before entering VC and transitioning her passion for the sciences into technology and startups, Hanna did medicine and neuroscience at Harvard Medical School and University of Southern California. Hanna holds a Masters degree in Strategy and Digital Business at ESCP Business School and a Bachelors in Psychology at University of Long Beach in California. Outside of VC, Hanna is an avid tennis player and film and arts enthusiast.
Jörg studied Biotechnology at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.). He performed his Ph.D. research work in genetic engineering of mammalian cell cultures at the Gesellschaft of Biotechnologische Forschung mbH (GBF) and received his Ph.D. with summa cum laude from TU Braunschweig in 1997. In addition, he studied economics at TU Braunschweig and Harvard Business School.
After a brief stint in management consulting, he started his career in life sciences venture capital in 1996 with Atlas Venture as an associate. In 1998 he joined DVC Deutsche Venture Capital, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, as an investment manager; there he built the Life Science franchise and became Partner in 2000 and Managing Partner in early 2002. In 2007 he joined LSP Life Sciences Partners as a Partner in their Munich office and was Managing Director of LSP’s German subsidiary until 2020. During his time at DVC and LSP he evaluated several hundred life science deals and invested as lead investor in more than 20 biotech companies. Most of them he accompanied as a board member through various financings to an IPO or M&A. In 2021 and 2022 he served as CEO of the Göttingen based longevity start-up Curexsys. In early 2023 he joined Vorwerk Ventures as a Venture Partner. He also serves on the boards of several biotech companies and invests in selected companies.
Dominik joined Vorwerk Ventures in 2022 as a Partner. He has an extensive background as an operator from small to large scale companies, having founded, scaled and sold Lendico, a Fintech, or working as divisional board member for Commerzbank, a large bank, in charge of its digital transformation and all central functions of the corporate client’s segment such as sales management, financial steering or strategy. Most recently he helped to build FRIDAY, an insurtech, as CFO. In the early years of his career, Dominik worked as an investment banker for Rothschild and as a consultant for BCG. Given this background, Dominik is particularly interested in all things financial services, software to help companies transform the way they do business, and sustainable technologies. He holds a PhD in Economics from RWTH Aachen and a Diploma in Economics from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.
Norbert is a Managing Partner of Vorwerk Ventures since its inception in 2007. He is the initiator and driver of the Corporate Venture Capital activities from the very beginning which culminated in the independent setup of the most recent Fund. He was responsible for the firm´s investments in Flaschenpost, Ringana, Enjo and Tennispoint from identifying the investment opportunity until its exit. Today he is, among other things, responsible for the fund´s investments in Lillydoo, CrossEngage and Dinner for Dogs. Prior to Vorwerk Ventures, Norbert led Project Management at Vorwerk Group and was involved in numerous strategy and M&A-projects. He started out his career at Vorwerk as a trainee in sales followed by growing responsibilities in various field management and sales support management roles. Norbert studied Business Administration in Mannheim and Tübingen, graduating top of his class.
Constantin joined Vorwerk Ventures in early 2020. Prior, he was part of the investment team at the early stage VC Project A, focusing on early stage B2B topics in Europe and more specifically the Nordics. During his business development time at the digital health startup Careship, he had hands-on operational exposure to growing a business at speed. Before jumping into the startup ecosystem, Constantin gained first experience in finance in Private Banking and Asset Management at LGT Group in Hong Kong and later in M&A at the global construction firm CPB Contractors in Sydney. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Politics and Economics from Zeppelin University. Apart from his VC activities, Constantin is a passionate Alpinist in his home country Austria.
Before joining Vorwerk Ventures as an Executive Assistant early 2020, Julia has held several positions within the Vorwerk Group. After starting off as an Executive Assistant in 2016, she transitioned to the Sustainability Department in order to push the company towards an even greener future. In 2018 Julia supported an internal restructuring program by assisting in drafting new structures and processes as well as a new IT infrastructure. In her last role, she was part of the Vorwerk IT Department as an Executive Assistant. Julia holds a BSc in Psychology from FOM University in Düsseldorf. Besides being the “good soul” in our office, Julia enjoys pampering her two dogs and taking them on runs and hikes.
Before joining Vorwerk Ventures as a Partner in late 2019 Holger has been active in Venture Capital for 12+ years. He worked in several high-ranking positions at Project A Ventures being responsible for the fundraising and fund administration, supporting portfolio companies in raising follow-on funding, making new seed and early stage investments as well as generating ideas for incubation projects. Before joining Project A, he was Head of New Business and Online Investment Manager at Bauer Media managing the online portfolio and developing media-related business models. In addition, Holger has several years of experience as a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young and Arthur Andersen. He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City and (unsuccessfully) founded his own digital business gaining viable operational experience. In his free time, he enjoys all kinds of sports and came to love the campervan and hiker life during a long sabbatical in 2018/2019.
Before joining Vorwerk Ventures early 2020, Katharina gained experiences in the consulting and start-up world in London. To follow her passion for the entrepreneurial space, she joined the fashion-tech start-up Lyst as a Country Manager being responsible for the company’s largest international region. Prior to Lyst, she was a Vice President at AlixPartners, where she advised Private Equity clients and helped them to optimize their portfolio companies to maximize their exit value. Projects have allowed her to work in over 10 countries and thereby experience the beauty of working with a diverse team. She studied Business Administration at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management and Bocconi University and holds a MSc in Economics & Strategy from Imperial College London. Besides hunting exciting ventures, Katharina is an avid runner and modern art lover. She passionately scuba dives and explores untraveled countries – amongst her favourite trips is a three weeks hike in the Himalayas by herself.
Peter joined Vorwerk Ventures in 2018 and experienced the company´s development during its CVC stage, helping to relaunch Vorwerk Ventures as an independent fund entity in late 2019. Before joining Vorwerk Ventures, Peter worked in the Treasury Department of the Vorwerk Group in Wuppertal, where he was mainly responsible for foreign currency management and liquidity management besides assisting in managing Vorwerk´s investment fund. Peter holds a BA in Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a MA from Bergische Universität Wuppertal in European Studies. He has always enjoyed playing (semi) professional football in his spare time, thus you will most likely find him on a football pitch if not hunting for the next unicorn out there.