Not content with having already closed six deals in its brief existence, the German Startups Group (GSG) is now expanding its horizons by seeking investments outside the Internet industry. The Berlin-based fund has also announced that it will offer venture capital and private equity in addition to its seed investing.
The founders of GSG want to open up the startup scene in Berlin to Germany’s high number of individual private investors. Eventually, once the portfolio is large enough, anyone will be able to buy shares in GSG, giving access to the high potential of startups without too much exposure to the high risk.
The fund will, it says, continue to offer seed funding for Internet startups while also providing investment for later-stage companies and, in “special situations,” private equity for small businesses.
This means that its ticket size will now rise to a maximum of €750,000, with seed between €50,000 and €250,000.
GSG CEO Christoph Gerlinger, who has already managed two IPOs, said broadening the scope of potential investments for the company would be attractive to its shareholders: “In addition to investments in extremely exciting Internet startups with lots of opportunities and risks, our portfolio will also include investments in more mature companies which, due partly to their special situations, represent substantial upside opportunities with calculable risks.”
Earlier this month, GSG revealed its first six investments, which include fraisr and Startupbootcamp, while this latest move is seemingly evidence of the company’s desire to build up its portfolio quickly to be as attractive as possible to private investors, even if it means stepping away from its core sector.