Well-known founders join tech funds

According to Handelsblatt, the founders of Flaschenpost, Sonnen and Zooplus will become backers and investment partners at Ecapital.

The founders of Flaschenpost, Sonnen and Zooplus are joining Ecapital's new fund as backers and investment partners. The company founded by Paul-Josef Patt is one of the oldest venture capitalists in the tech sector. The new "Fund V" has been presented to the Handelsblatt has already raised 100 million euros and wants to double this amount. The aim is to invest in companies that focus on high-tech innovations.

The three founders, who have been appointed venture partners according to Handelsblatt, have succeeded in making major exits. Christoph Ostermann sold the battery storage specialist Sonnen to Shell in 2019 for a mid three-digit million euro sum. Stephan Weich's company Flaschenpost was acquired by Oetker for around one billion euros in 2020, according to industry sources. And the online retailer Zooplus, which Cornelius Patt co-founded, was acquired by Hellman & Friedman and EQT for several billion euros.

"We are not primarily interested in making money," Christoph Ostermann told Handelsblatt. "We want to discover the pearls of tomorrow together, support them and make them big."

The first investments have already been made from the pot, including in the Hamburg start-up 1Komma5 Grad. The start-up invests in smaller electrical companies and connects them to its network and platform. The companies then install solar systems, electricity storage units, heat pumps and charging infrastructure for the start-up's customers.