Rheingau Founders logo

Rheingau Founders

Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin

Description

Rheingau Founders is a prominent Berlin and Munich-based venture capital firm that operates with a dual identity as both an early-stage investor and a venture builder. Established with a clear focus on the German and broader European startup ecosystem, the firm primarily targets scalable digital business models. Their investment thesis is concentrated on high-growth sectors such as B2B SaaS, FinTech, InsurTech, PropTech, and HR Tech, where they leverage their deep operational expertise to foster innovation and accelerate growth. This unique approach allows them to not only provide capital but also actively participate in the foundational development of their portfolio companies.

The firm typically engages with startups at the crucial pre-seed and seed stages, identifying promising ventures at their earliest phases. Rheingau Founders is known for its initial investment checks, which generally range from €250,000 to €1.5 million. This financial commitment is complemented by significant hands-on support, including strategic guidance, operational assistance, and access to a robust network of industry experts and potential partners. Their model emphasizes a collaborative partnership, aiming to de-risk early-stage ventures and prepare them for subsequent funding rounds and sustainable scaling.

Since its inception, Rheingau Founders has built and invested in an impressive portfolio of over 30 companies, demonstrating a consistent track record in the European startup landscape. Their success is underscored by notable exits, such as simplesurance, an insurtech platform acquired by Allianz, and itembase, a data integration platform that was acquired by Supplyframe. These successful exits highlight the firm's ability to identify, nurture, and scale innovative companies, ultimately delivering strong returns for their investors and contributing significantly to the digital economy. Their ongoing involvement extends to providing crucial follow-on funding, ensuring continued support as companies grow.

Investor Profile

Rheingau Founders has backed more than 81 startups, with 1 new investments in the last 12 months alone. The firm has led 22 rounds, about 27% of its total and boasts 11 exits across its portfolio.

Investment Focus Highlights

  • Concentrates on Seed, Series A, Pre Seed rounds (top funding stages).
  • Majority of deals are located in Germany, United States, Poland.
  • Strong thematic focus on Software, Internet, E-Commerce.
  • Typical check size: $270K – $1.6M.

Stage Focus

  • Seed (44%)
  • Series A (23%)
  • Pre Seed (14%)
  • Series Unknown (9%)
  • Series B (6%)
  • Angel (2%)
  • Series C (1%)

Country Focus

  • Germany (79%)
  • United States (7%)
  • Poland (6%)
  • Canada (2%)
  • Switzerland (1%)
  • The Netherlands (1%)
  • United Kingdom (1%)
  • Singapore (1%)

Industry Focus

  • Software
  • Internet
  • E-commerce
  • Health Care
  • Apps
  • Analytics
  • Big Data
  • Information Technology
  • Advertising
  • Financial Services
circle-line
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn who this investor regularly partners with—both firms and angels—and explore their latest activity.

Who does Rheingau Founders frequently co-invest with?

Target Global
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Co-Investments: 2
KfW
Europe, Hessen, Germany, Frankfurt
Co-Investments: 3
Earlybird Venture Capital
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Co-Investments: 3
Born2Grow
Europe, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany, Heilbronn
Co-Investments: 5
EQT Ventures
Europe, Stockholms Lan, Sweden, Stockholm
Co-Investments: 2
Mountain Partners
Europe, Zurich, Switzerland, Zürich
Co-Investments: 11
HV Capital
Europe, Bayern, Germany, Munich
Co-Investments: 4
Runa Capital
Europe, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Co-Investments: 4
WestTech Ventures
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Co-Investments: 3
GS
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Co-Investments: 6

Which angels does Rheingau Founders often collaborate with?

MZ
Europe, Mazowieckie, Poland, Warsaw
Shared Deals: 2
BV
North America, California, United States, Los Angeles
Shared Deals: 1
MA
Europe, Mazowieckie, Poland, Warsaw
Shared Deals: 1
RW
Europe, Noord-Holland, The Netherlands, Amsterdam
Shared Deals: 1
RD
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Shared Deals: 6
MG
Europe, Grad Sofiya, Bulgaria, German
Shared Deals: 2
KH
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Shared Deals: 8
BR
Europe, Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Shared Deals: 1
CG
Europe, United Kingdom
Shared Deals: 1
ML
Europe, Hovedstaden, Denmark, Copenhagen
Shared Deals: 1

What are some of recent deals done by Rheingau Founders?

Akhetonics

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Akhetonics is creating the world's first all-optical XPU - a general-purpose photonic RISC processor for high-performance computing

Network HardwareSemiconductorSoftware
SeedNov 28, 2024
Amount Raised: $6,336,152
MoleQlar

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

MoleQlar is a longevity company that provides nutritional supplements and health tracking services.

E-CommerceManufacturingNutritionWellness
SeedNov 6, 2023
Qualifyze

Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany

Enhancing healthcare supply chains with data-driven compliance solutions, worldwide.

Supply Chain Management
Series UnknownAug 21, 2023
Amount Raised: $12,000,000
Akhetonics

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Akhetonics is creating the world's first all-optical XPU - a general-purpose photonic RISC processor for high-performance computing

Network HardwareSemiconductorSoftware
SeedJun 13, 2023
Amount Raised: $2,300,000
NetBird

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

NetBird is a cybersecurity company that is building an open-source platform to simplify the deployment of Virtual Private Networks.

Cyber SecurityIaaSInformation ServicesInformation Technology
Pre SeedMay 3, 2023
Amount Raised: $1,217,535
OpenReplay

New York, New York, United States

OpenReplay is an open-source, self-hostable, and developer-friendly session replay stack.

Developer ToolsInternetOpen SourceSoftware
SeedJun 28, 2022
Amount Raised: $4,700,000
neptune.ai

Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland

The MLOps stack component for experiment tracking

AnalyticsArtificial Intelligence (AI)Information TechnologyInternetSoftware
Series AApr 12, 2022
Amount Raised: $8,000,000
Adaptyv Biosystems

Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland

Adaptyv Biosystems developing a protein engineering platform using cell-free synthetic biology and nanofluidics.

BiotechnologyInformation TechnologyLife Science
Pre SeedFeb 14, 2022
Amount Raised: $2,703,968
dstack

Munich, Bayern, Germany

dstack is an open-source tool that enables defining ML workflows as code.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)Cloud Data ServicesInformation Technology
Pre SeedJan 18, 2022
Akhetonics

Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Akhetonics is creating the world's first all-optical XPU - a general-purpose photonic RISC processor for high-performance computing

Network HardwareSemiconductorSoftware
Pre SeedDec 13, 2021