amberra successfully closes first fund for over 100 million euros

The venturing studio amberra has reached the final closing of its first venture fund. With a target volume of EUR 100 million, the cooperative FinanzGruppe is providing pooled innovation capital of this magnitude for the first time.

Around 180 cooperative banks and companies in the FinanzGruppe, which together represent more than half of the Group's consolidated total assets, are participating in the fund. The aim is to make targeted investments in innovative business models and thus open up new growth areas for the banks.

Already five start-up investments since 2024

Since the fund was launched in March 2024, amberra has already invested in five German start-ups as part of Series A financing. The portfolio includes:

• Impleco (real estate)
• ubiMaster (education)
• LillianCare (health)
• Gardia (HealthTech)
• nuuEnergy (ClimateTech)

Further investments are already in preparation. In total, the portfolio is to be expanded to up to 20 start-ups by 2028.

Innovations for new living environments

The fund invests primarily in business models from the four strategic areas of housing, health, sustainability and regional economy. The aim is to develop innovative products and services that benefit members and customers of the cooperative banks.

At the same time, new solutions should create additional business areas that strategically complement the traditional banking business. More than 300 banks are already using at least one of the first solutions.

Marija Kolak, President of the National Association of German Cooperative Banks, sees this as an important step for the future of the Financial Services Network. The "Beyond Banking" approach will establish a second strategic pillar alongside the traditional banking business, anchoring banks more firmly in people's everyday lives.

Björn Schmuck, Managing Director of amberra, also emphasizes the strategic importance of the fund: now it is a matter of expanding scalable business models in a targeted manner and rolling them out together with the cooperative banks.

Three venturing models for innovation

The Venturing Studio works in three central areas:

• Corporate venture capital: investments in start-ups
• Venture clienting: structured cooperation with start-ups
• Venture building: development of own business models together with cooperative banks

In addition to investments, we also develop our own solutions. Examples include stroya, a platform for tenant electricity, and the cooperation with mykori, a start-up for regional funding and donation management.

With the successful conclusion of the fund, amberra is now entering the next phase: the systematic development of a scalable innovation portfolio. The aim is to combine bank-related and non-bank services more closely with traditional financial services in future and thus further develop the role of cooperative banks from pure financial partner to life companion for customers.