"A growing ecosystem is attracting international investment, though local funding sources are limited. [...] According to Nina Wöss, chair of the Austrian Private Equity and Venture Capital Organisation (AVCO), 90 per cent of VC money invested in Austria over the past six months came from international investors and funds. Austria-based venture capital and private equity funds combined managed only around €600m in assets. This was not always the case. Wöss says that, around 15 years ago, there was quite an active venture capital and private equity scene in Austria, but the 2008 financial crisis knocked out most of the funds. “At one point, there were no venture funds left that were active and trusted by the community,” she says. Today, around eight are actively deploying money — a number that Wöss describes as still “far too little”." Read the whole FINANCIAL TIMES article

Wiener Börse Jubiläum: 250 Jahre & Mikrosekunden "Der 2. September 1771 war der erste Handelstag in Wien, nachdem Kaiserin Maria Theresia die Gründung der Nationalbörse zehn Jahre zuvor initiiert hatte. In den bewegten 250 Jahren veränderte sich die Börse kontinuierlich, etwa vom staatlichen Finanzmarktplatz zum modernen Informationstechnologie- und Service-Anbieter. Der Handel verlagerte sich vom Parkett in das digitale Netzwerk. Heute verbindet sie Tradition und Verlässlichkeit mit Zukunft und Schnelligkeit..."

Playbrush: Hansmann, Speedinvest und Uniqa verkaufen Anteile "Das Startup mit Sitz in Wien und London wurde bislang von Hansi Hansmann, dem Venture Capital Fonds Speedinvest, der Uniqa Ventures GmbH sowie dem Privatinvestor Harold Primat und der SevenVentures GmbH finanziert. Nun übernimmt die Schweizer Sunstar Group..."

3TS Capital Partners Announces the First Closing of Its New Fund IV "3TS Capital Partners, a European technology-focused growth capital investor, announces the first closing of its Fund IV with a target size of €150m. The firm’s prior multi-generation funds totaling over €300 million have made a strong, positive impact on the innovation and technology ecosystem development across Europe, by investing in over 50 companies out of which more than half have been successfully exited..."

contextflow Raises €6.7M in Series A Funding "contextflow, a Vienna, Austria – based provider of artificial intelligence for medical image analysis, raised €6.7M in Series A funding round. A second closing included an additional €2M from new co-investor Peak Pride Management GmbH, HPH (Hans Peter Haselsteiner) Start-up Unit and current investor APEX Ventures with its “APEX Best in Class” fund..."

Pitchbook: European Private Capital Outlook: H1 Follow-Up "Midway through the year, our analysts revisit their predictions in the 2021 European Private Capital Outlook: H1 Follow-Up. In January, we forecast that private equity deal activity in the region would top a record €480 billion this year. Already, dealmaking is set to march past that figure—perhaps even beyond €500 billion—thanks in part to rising middle-market and micro-cap activity. [...] In the report, we review 2021 predictions..."

EIF Private Debt Survey The European Investment Fund has launched a study that is conducted together with researchers from Trier University. The purpose of the study is to investigate the European private debt landscape and the current market situation. If you have received an invitation from "EIF Private Debt Survey" to participate, you can click on your personal link in the invitation email (or one of the reminders) to start the survey we warmly encourage you to complete because of its high relevance. If you have not received an invitation, you can request one via EIF-PD-Survey@eif.org 

Wertvollste Unternehmen Österreichs: Bitpanda nun mehr Wert als Post und Uniqa "3,48 Milliarden Euro – das ist [...] die aktuelle Bewertung des Wiener FinTechs Bitpanda. Das Unternehmen ist damit nicht nur das wertvollste Scaleup des Landes, sondern schließt im Unternehmenswert bereits auf die größten Konzerne Österreichs auf. So hat der Krypto-Anbieter etwa Unternehmen wie Uniqa Insurance (2,4 Mrd. Euro Marktkapitalisierung im ATX Prime mit Stand heute), Immofinanz (2,4 Mrd.) und Österreichische Post (2,8 Mrd.) überholt und ist nun auf einem Level mit Mayr-Melnhof Karton (3,6 Mrd.), Strabag (3,7 Mrd. Euro) und EVN (3,8 Mrd.)."

Epoona Impact Invest

Epoona invests long-term in technology companies in the green, med, consumer, and industrial tech sectors. In the first phase after the investment, Epoona provides operational management services. The founders Lothar Stadler and Werner Töpfl contribute their 20 years of C-level experience in sales, finance, operations, and global business. In particular, their expertise as co-investors achieves high added value in company successions, internationalization and scaleups. Together with their network of experts and advisors they guide the strategic direction and ensure a positive development of the portfolio company. More information