Partnership with Iris Capital
Iris Capital is one of the leading growth and development capital investors in media and entertainment, communication and IT in Europe. For early-stage investments, Iris Capital pursues a multi-corporate approach by making use of the OP Ventures Fund, in which Orange and Publicis jointly invested.
Capnamic Ventures co-invests together with Iris Capital for early-stage investments in Germany. Our portfolio companies benefit from this partnership by having better access to the French market, a larger global network and additional growth financing opportunities. Iris Capital has offices in Paris, Dusseldorf, San Francisco, Montreal, Riyadh, Dubai, Beijing and Tokyo. Over € 1 billion were invested in more than 250 companies since Iris Capital has been founded in 1986.
Christian Siegele
Christian is managing partner and founder of Capnamic Ventures.
He holds a diploma in physics from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and a diploma in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) in Bologna, Italy. Between 1997 and 2008, Christian worked at 3i where he last worked as senior partner for the German venture capital business. Throughout his career, Christian was responsible for major venture capital portfolios and numerous successful IPOs and trade sales.
In his leisure time he appreciates good wine, crime thrillers and spending time with his family. He also enjoys being outside and gathering firewood with his chainsaw for the cold winter time.
Maurice Kock
Maurice is a technical advisor and in charge of the in-house developed deal flow software and further internal tools.
Maurice studied information science and business administration at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and is currently doing a master´s program in management and leadership. He is a passionate cineaste, loves soul music and comics and keeps in shape by doing fitness, climbing and badminton. He is a co-founder and organiser of the progressive start-up event “European Pirate Summit” in Cologne.
Jörg Binnenbrücker
Jörg is managing partner at Capnamic Ventures. He created the multi-company fund and initiated it together with Christian.
Jörg has been active in the VC scene for more than 13 years. He is part of the advisory board of the initiative Digital Economy of the state North Rhine-Westphalia, advisory of the House of Ventures at European Business School (EBS) and supports the German founders award (Deutscher Gründerpreis) as an industry expert in the nomination of experts. As an expert for early-stage investments, he was awarded “investor of the decade” by the German start-up magazine “Gründerszene”. As a founding partner and managing director of DuMont Venture, Jörg has built up the investment business of the DuMont media group and thereby contributed significantly to the digital strategy of the publishing house.
Jörg is a passionate entrepreneur, sports enthusiast and great supporter of 1. FC Köln, the soccer club of Cologne.
Kristina Piljek
Kristina is an executive assistant and her desk is the organisational hub at Capnamic Ventures. She is the right hand for Jörg & Christian, organising trips and meetings, caring for event planning and marks the gateway to human resources and finance.
Kristina holds a diploma in international administration and management in English and Spanish. She worked as a reporting and office manager at a mobile content company in Cologne. In her free time she reads tons of books, she loves music and also plays the guitar.
Thorben Rothe
Thorben has worked for several internet start-ups before he started as a financial analyst at DuMont Venture. As a Principal at Capnamic Ventures, he is responsible for deal-sourcing, public relations and human resources.
Thorben studied in Los Angeles, Melbourne and Daejoen and holds a diploma from Technical University of Munich in technology- and management-oriented business administration. In his leisure time, Thorben tries to engage in new kinds of sports or excitedly looks forward to the next victory of his hometown club Hertha BSC.
Christian Knott
Christian’s responsibilities as analyst are deal sourcing, business development, corporate Finance and fund controlling.
Christian received his bachelor’s degree in International Business from Cologne Business School. During his studies he spent a semester abroad at the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands and did an internship with the European Commission in Luxemburg. After his graduation, Christian became an Investment Controller at High-Tech Gruenderfonds, where he was responsible for around 80 portfolio companies.
In addition, Christian sucessfully completed a part-time MSc. program with a focus on Entrepreneurship at Handelshochschule Leipzig.
Olaf Jacobi
Olaf is managing partner at Capnamic Ventures.
He studied business administration in Hamburg. Olaf benefits from over 20 years of experience as a manager, entrepreneur and investor. Between 2007 and 2015 he was partner and co-owner of Target Partners. In the past, Olaf has invested as a Business Angel in emerging entrepreneurs in the Internet- and IT-sector. From 1999 to 2007 he founded and established multiple prosperous start-ups, which led to several successful exits (trade-sales and IPOs).
Besides his professional career Olaf is an ambitious beach volleyball player.
FATMAP operates an ultra high-resolution 3D mobile mapping platform.
Staffbase offers a SaaS solution which enables companies to implement a mobile first intranet application.
CrossEngage offers a cross-channel marketing platform that consolidates user data from various data sources and enables companies to make decisions on which user should receive which marketing campaign through which channel on the basis of those data.
GetSafe is Germanys first digital and mobile insurance manager.
zeotap is a technology company that helps telecom operators activate and monetize their data assets.
unu is a smart electric scooter for urban mobility.
COBI develops a hardware solution that turns every bike into a connected smart bike.
The ADEX operates a data management platform (DMP) technology, which provides advertisers, publishers and agencies with information on their target groups and allows for data-supported access to digital real-time marketplaces.
tausendkind is an online shop for clothing and equipment for kids and babies.
LeanIX offers an innovative software-as-a-service solution for Enterprise Architecture Management (EAM).
CHRONEXT is a global marketplace for luxury watch trading.
Happycar operates an online price comparison service for rental cars which is convenient, fast and user-friendly.
Agorize offers a platform for open innovation challenges enabling corporations to succesfully co-operate and hire from startups and universities.
Mediakraft Networks is the largest online TV broadcaster in Central Europe.
Travador is an online travel provider for hand-picked short-haul trips, city tours and wellness holidays.
adjust is a specialist in the field of mobile analytics and attribution tracking.
Glamloop is the recommerce marketplace for preloved fashion and accessories of premium brands and designers. The company was acquired by Hamburg based Rebelle in August 2014.
reBuy is a platform for buying and selling used books, CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, game consoles etc..
doo is a personal, fully-automatic document management solution.
navabi offers the broadest selection of plus size design fashion in Germany through its online shop.
ZooRoyal is an online shop for pet food and supplies.
Dufthaus operates an online perfumery shop.
Lieferando offers an online based food order platform for individuals and enterprises across various countries. The company was aquired by Takeaway.com in April 2014.
plista is a data-driven content and advertising platform for Content, Branding and Performance Marketing. The company was sold to GroupM/WPP in January 2014.
simfy is a music platform and pioneer for music solutions since 2006. Users can listen to over 20m songs at home and on their mobile devices, compose playlists and discover new artists.
Picanova is one of the fastest growing photo product companies worldwide and leading in the field of individual prints on canvas, acryl glass and aluminium.
Learnship offers effective, live language teaching over the Internet – anytime, anywhere – in English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Mandarin, Dutch and Norwegian.
Tanked offers fully customisable jerseys and accessories for team sports.
MovingIMAGE24 is a cloud-based video streaming and video management specialist.
Servtag runs a leading mobile ad network in Europe. The company was sold to Ströer AG in May 2013 which is a leading European company in the field of out-of-home-media.
popula is Germany´s leading event calendar.
Contilla specialises on individual 360° solutions in the field of content-marketing.
Fairrank is a leading specialist in online marketing services and solutions for SMEs.
radio.de is a leading German internet radio service with about 7000 radio stations, internet radios, streams and podcasts.
Tradoria is an award-winning web-based platform where small dealers can trade their goods in their own online store and via various distribution channels. Tradoria has been successfully sold to Rakuten in 2011, a leading global ecommerce company from Japan and is now operating under the name Rakuten.de shopping.
Farbflut Entertainmen is a developer and publisher of browser and online games. In Germany alone, Farbflut reached several million gamers with their browser game “Pennergame” and their social game “Streetrivals”. The shares were sold in December 2008 to Internet Consumer Services GmbH.
On the basis of their own game engine, Northworks Software developes complex browser games such as the football manager Goalunited. Northworks was sold to Travian Games GmbH in March 2010.
Solegro is an online provider for youth travels to popular summer and winter destinations. The company was acquired by the Dutch @Leisure Group in October 2011.
Saperion is a European-based leader in enterprise content management solutions, focused on providing document archive and workflow solutions. The company way acquired by Lexmark International Inc. in August 2013 for 72m USD.
Founded in Cologne in 1999, Firstgate Internet AG developed the internet payment system clickandbuy. Today, online and mobile purchases of more than 14 million customers in more than 120 currencies in all major national and international payment methods are handled by the system worldwide. Over 16,000 international registered online shops support this payment system. In 2010, the company was acquired by Deutsche Telekom.
Demand Media is a leading digital media and domain services company that informs and entertains one of the internet’s largest audiences, helps advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and enables publishers, individuals and businesses to expand their online presence. In 2001 the company floated on NYSE.
Element5 AG is a provider for ecommerce infrastructure. Developers of consumer applications such as anti-virus software providers used the service of Element5 to sell their products safely and efficiently on the internet. In spring 2004, the company was acquired by its direct U.S. competitor, Digital River. The transaction was nominated for the EVCA/ Real Deals “Venture Capital Deal of the Year 2004”.
Empruntis was founded in 2000 in Paris and has quickly become France’s leading online broker of financial products. Its website allows consumers seeking a mortgage, personal loan or insurance (car, home or health insurance) to obtain a real-time comparison of a variety of products provided by banks and insurance companies. In 2008 Empruntis was acquired by groupe Covéa.
Beeing founded in 2006, BuyVIP is a leading European online shopping club. The company offers brand manufacturers to sell their brand products at special prices in a closed user group. The Spanish company was acquired by Amazon in 2010.
FastBooking is a pioneer in e-marketing and internet-based technologies for independent hotels and hotel groups. FastBooking increases the hotel’s net revenue by maximizing highly profitable direct website bookings and by rationalizing inventory and pricing across all online sales channels. 2012 Fastbooking generated a gross bookings value of over €500m via 8,000 hotels.
DocMorris is Germanies leading online pharmacy. Being founded in 2000, the company was acquired by Celesio AG in 2007 and employs 400 people.
piano media is among the leaders in providing payment solutions to the media publishing industry. The Slovak based company enables publishers to monetize web content without fear of losing either website ad revenue or audience share. With piano, participating publications decide what content they place behind the pay-wall and piano provides paid content know-how to achieve optimum subscription revenue.
Mindjet is the pioneer of mind-mapping technology. Today, more than two million users, thousands of small businesses and 83% of the Fortune 100 companies use Mindjet to develop ideas, structure information, save and exchange data, control their work flow and tap the whole potential of cooperation.
Founded in December 2007, Mister Spex is the largest online retailer for designer glasses in Germany. The company offers an extensive selection of high-quality glasses and contact lenses on the internet at reasonable prices. The product range includes over 5000 different glasses, sunglasses and sports glasses from more than 90 well-known brands and designers.
Interhyp is Germanies leading mortgage lender. Founded at the end of 1999, the company floated on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in September 2005. In 2007, the transaction was nominated for the EVCA/ Real Deals “German Deal of the Year 2006”. ING DiBa took over the majority of Interhyp AG in mid-2008. Having a mortgage volume of EUR 7,6 bn in 2011, the company is the largest broker for private mortgage lending in Germany. Interhyp itself does not grant loans but vendor-neutrally selects the optimal financing for customers from over 300 banks and saving banks.
