Holtzbrinck Digital

Holtzbrinck Digital, established in 2010, is the corporate venture capital arm of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, headquartered in Munich, Germany. The company specializes in investing in digital businesses across the fields of science, education, content, marketplaces, and e-learning. With offices in Munich, London, and Boston, Holtzbrinck Digital adopts a global approach to identify and support promising business models. The firm emphasizes collaboration with founders and management teams, providing strategic and operational guidance to foster growth and enhance economic value. Their investment strategy includes backing startups that have demonstrated proof-of-concept, offering growth capital to later-stage companies, and acquiring profitable businesses poised to become leaders in their respective markets. Holtzbrinck Digital maintains a rigorous focus on its investment areas while remaining flexible regarding transaction sizes and ownership stakes.

Marc-Orell Dedorath

Investment Manager

Lukas Fechtig

Investment Associate

Julius Jürging

Senior Investment Manager

Dominic Regehr

Investment Manager

Jannik von Wallis

Investment Manager

34 past transactions

Likeminded

Seed Round in 2023
Likeminded is a digital platform dedicated to mental health, offering a variety of courses and support services aimed at enhancing mental well-being. The company provides access to trained psychotherapists, psychologists, and coaches who facilitate both individual and group sessions, catering to the diverse needs of users. All psychological experts at Likeminded have strong academic backgrounds in psychology and receive specialized training, ensuring they are well-equipped to deliver effective support. The platform is designed to help employees during times of crisis and promote personal growth, ultimately enhancing employee satisfaction, retention, and productivity while reducing absenteeism. Ongoing supervision and coaching for its experts further reinforce the quality of care provided.

DeSci Labs

Series A in 2023
DeSci Labs is a company focused on developing software infrastructure aimed at advancing open science. It provides a platform that connects scientists, universities, publishers, and funders, facilitating collaboration and contribution to scientific research. Operating on an open protocol, DeSci Labs allows for unrestricted participation from various stakeholders, ensuring that scientific outputs can be stored, evaluated, and rewarded transparently. This approach is designed to eliminate issues such as vendor lock-in, content paywalls, link rot, and content drift, ultimately fostering a more inclusive and sustainable environment for scientific advancement.

Metaphacts

Series B in 2023
Metaphacts is a software company specializing in the development of an end-to-end platform for creating and utilizing enterprise knowledge graphs. Its innovative solutions cater to various sectors, including life sciences, pharmaceuticals, engineering, manufacturing, finance, insurance, and cultural heritage. The company's software encompasses a range of capabilities, including semantic graph data management, data-driven application development, visualization, tree rendering, and discovery tools. By offering auto-suggestion and validation features, rapid application development, and data access services, Metaphacts enables organizations to gain meaningful insights from their data. The comprehensive nature of its software solutions allows clients to build customer-oriented knowledge graph applications tailored to their specific needs.

AMBOSS

Series B in 2019
AMBOSS GmbH is a digital platform based in Cologne, Germany, that caters to the needs of medical students and physicians. Founded in 2012, the company develops and markets a comprehensive medical study platform that offers valuable resources such as study materials and a question bank. The platform is designed to deliver medical knowledge quickly and efficiently, supporting users in their educational and professional endeavors. Originally established as MIAMED GmbH, AMBOSS has positioned itself as a physician-driven resource, enhancing the learning experience for those in the medical field.

Pflege.de

Venture Round in 2018
Pflege.de is a comprehensive provider of living and care solutions for the elderly, offering a range of options that include outpatient care, assisted living, senior flat shares, and inpatient care. The company operates a medical advisory platform that delivers guidance to individuals and families seeking elderly care services. In addition to its core offerings, Pflege.de provides valuable information and organizational support for caregivers, encompassing counseling, home modifications, lift system installations, maintenance services, and financial and legal advice. This multifaceted approach enables the company to address the diverse needs of elderly individuals, ensuring they receive quality care tailored to their physical, mental, and spiritual challenges.

Lecturio

Series B in 2017
Lecturio GmbH is an e-learning platform based in Leipzig, Germany, that specializes in interactive audio-visual lectures and medical learning content. It offers a range of courses in law, medical education, and business, with a particular emphasis on online medical training for an international audience. The platform features high-quality educational materials developed in collaboration with esteemed instructors from prominent institutions such as Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Lecturio combines advanced teaching methods with cutting-edge technology to deliver flexible learning experiences, allowing users to access courses both online and offline via tablets or PCs.

IFI CLAIMS

Funding Round in 2017
IFI CLAIMS is a company that specializes in developing comprehensive U.S.-based patent databases tailored for patent researchers. Founded in 1955 and headquartered in Madison, Connecticut, it offers a wide array of services, including indexing, database creation and management, patent portfolio analysis, patent intelligence reports, and custom search services. The company provides information on various types of patents, such as chemical, utility, design, plant, and business method patents. Through its CLAIMS Direct web services, IFI CLAIMS enables access to global patent information, supporting developers, analysts, and information professionals in creating scalable applications and analytics solutions. The company has a long history of innovation, having introduced its first in-depth U.S. chemical patent index in 1955 and transitioning to electronic formats in 1967. IFI CLAIMS continues to enhance its offerings by expanding its U.S. patent content to include a comprehensive range of patented technologies, citations, legal status changes, and published applications.

Peerwith

Funding Round in 2017
Peerwith is a peer-to-peer marketplace that connects academics with experts in research services. The company specializes in providing editing and translation services aimed at enhancing the quality and impact of academic work. Through its platform, Peerwith facilitates the matchmaking of academics seeking assistance with language editing, translation, formatting, design, and consulting services from qualified experts. This collaboration not only improves the academic output of authors but also fosters meaningful relationships among peers in various academic disciplines. By enabling organizations to connect with freelancers and project-based experts based on relevant backgrounds and expertise, Peerwith supports the professional development of researchers and the dissemination of scholarly work.

Strateos

Venture Round in 2016
Strateos specializes in automating chemistry, biology, and tissue analysis in closed-loop robotic labs, accelerating drug discovery programs for pharmaceutical partners. By combining advanced robotics, software for imaging and analytics, and remote cloud laboratories, Strateos enables more rapid and efficient discovery of new drug candidates. The company was formed through a merger of Transcriptic, which developed the first robotic cloud laboratory platform for life science research, and 3Scan, which specialized in automating tissue analysis. Strateos aims to express life science methods as data, enabling infrastructure virtualization and driving the next generation of discovery with significant time and cost efficiencies.

iversity

Venture Round in 2016
Iiversity GmbH, established in 2010 and headquartered in Neuenhagen, Germany, operates an online learning platform that makes higher education more accessible and affordable. It partners with universities, nonprofits, and companies to offer a wide range of academic courses, from engineering to philosophy, which can be accessed globally. Learners can audit courses for free, while certified completion with grades and ECTS credits incurs a fee. The platform, iversity.org, also empowers instructors to create innovative teaching formats using multimedia materials and student feedback. As of 2017, iversity operates as a subsidiary of Springer Nature.

Jura Online

Venture Round in 2016
JuraOnline C.S.Q.N. UG is an online learning platform based in Hamburg, Germany, dedicated to supporting law students. The platform provides a comprehensive resource for exam preparation, featuring instructional videos, texts, and all relevant content related to German law studies. It allows users to schedule exams and offers tools for analyzing learning progress and adapting study habits. By providing free access to essential learning units and documents, JuraOnline enables students to prepare effectively for their law exams and complete their coursework.

AMBOSS

Seed Round in 2015
AMBOSS GmbH is a digital platform based in Cologne, Germany, that caters to the needs of medical students and physicians. Founded in 2012, the company develops and markets a comprehensive medical study platform that offers valuable resources such as study materials and a question bank. The platform is designed to deliver medical knowledge quickly and efficiently, supporting users in their educational and professional endeavors. Originally established as MIAMED GmbH, AMBOSS has positioned itself as a physician-driven resource, enhancing the learning experience for those in the medical field.

Searchmetrics

Venture Round in 2015
Searchmetrics, established in 2007, is a global provider of search data, software, and consulting solutions. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with offices in the US, UK, and Croatia, the company specializes in enterprise SEO and content marketing. Its flagship product, Searchmetrics Suite, offers a SaaS solution that empowers businesses to analyze their SEO performance, understand competitors' strategies, and optimize content using real-time data. The suite comprises four modules: Research Cloud, Content Experience, Search Experience, and Site Experience. Additionally, Searchmetrics provides consulting services through its Digital Strategies Group, helping large brands excel in digital marketing. The company's offerings also include Searchmetrics Insights, which delivers unique market research through exclusive search data metrics, and an API for integrating search engine rankings and other marketing analytics into enterprise applications.

Pflege.de

Series B in 2015
Pflege.de is a comprehensive provider of living and care solutions for the elderly, offering a range of options that include outpatient care, assisted living, senior flat shares, and inpatient care. The company operates a medical advisory platform that delivers guidance to individuals and families seeking elderly care services. In addition to its core offerings, Pflege.de provides valuable information and organizational support for caregivers, encompassing counseling, home modifications, lift system installations, maintenance services, and financial and legal advice. This multifaceted approach enables the company to address the diverse needs of elderly individuals, ensuring they receive quality care tailored to their physical, mental, and spiritual challenges.

Symplectic

Series A in 2015
Symplectic Limited is a software development company based in Leicester, United Kingdom, specializing in solutions for academic institutions. Founded in 2003, the company offers a range of products designed to streamline research management and enhance academic productivity. Its flagship product, Symplectic Elements, is a publication management system that automatically retrieves bibliographic data, allowing academics to efficiently maintain their publication records without manual tracking. Other products include Invigilator Student Management, which aids in monitoring undergraduate academic progress, and TOAST, a tool for collecting survey data. Additionally, Symplectic provides a Content Management System that integrates rights management with an intuitive approval process. Through these solutions, Symplectic supports higher education institutions in managing research information and optimizing the grants management lifecycle.

Strateos

Series A in 2015
Strateos specializes in automating chemistry, biology, and tissue analysis in closed-loop robotic labs, accelerating drug discovery programs for pharmaceutical partners. By combining advanced robotics, software for imaging and analytics, and remote cloud laboratories, Strateos enables more rapid and efficient discovery of new drug candidates. The company was formed through a merger of Transcriptic, which developed the first robotic cloud laboratory platform for life science research, and 3Scan, which specialized in automating tissue analysis. Strateos aims to express life science methods as data, enabling infrastructure virtualization and driving the next generation of discovery with significant time and cost efficiencies.

Lecturio

Series B in 2015
Lecturio GmbH is an e-learning platform based in Leipzig, Germany, that specializes in interactive audio-visual lectures and medical learning content. It offers a range of courses in law, medical education, and business, with a particular emphasis on online medical training for an international audience. The platform features high-quality educational materials developed in collaboration with esteemed instructors from prominent institutions such as Harvard and Johns Hopkins. Lecturio combines advanced teaching methods with cutting-edge technology to deliver flexible learning experiences, allowing users to access courses both online and offline via tablets or PCs.

med1

Acquisition in 2014
Med1 is a digital health platform serving German-speaking countries that facilitates interaction between health professionals and patients through social tools and published content. The platform allows patients to access a variety of resources, including a forum, news, and directories of doctors, pharmacies, and health professionals. Additionally, Med1 enables patients to find and schedule appointments for on-site consultations with healthcare providers, streamlining the process of accessing medical care and information.

Searchmetrics

Venture Round in 2014
Searchmetrics, established in 2007, is a global provider of search data, software, and consulting solutions. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with offices in the US, UK, and Croatia, the company specializes in enterprise SEO and content marketing. Its flagship product, Searchmetrics Suite, offers a SaaS solution that empowers businesses to analyze their SEO performance, understand competitors' strategies, and optimize content using real-time data. The suite comprises four modules: Research Cloud, Content Experience, Search Experience, and Site Experience. Additionally, Searchmetrics provides consulting services through its Digital Strategies Group, helping large brands excel in digital marketing. The company's offerings also include Searchmetrics Insights, which delivers unique market research through exclusive search data metrics, and an API for integrating search engine rankings and other marketing analytics into enterprise applications.

Overleaf

Seed Round in 2014
Overleaf is a cloud-based platform designed to facilitate academic authorship and enhance collaboration among researchers and academics. By offering an intuitive online writing and publishing tool, Overleaf streamlines the process of creating, editing, and submitting scientific documents. The platform allows users to collaborate in real-time, manage revisions, and publish manuscripts with ease, mimicking the user-friendly experience of widely used document editing systems. Overleaf partners with publishers and academic institutions to provide tailored writing templates and simple submission processes, effectively bridging the gap between the writing, review, and publication stages. Founded by mathematicians John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller, Overleaf aims to improve the collaborative writing experience by addressing the challenges they encountered in academia.

Patience

Series A in 2014
Patience is a Berlin-based learning technology provider focused on empowering educators to teach online effectively. The company offers a customizable platform that serves as a social hub for a diverse range of educational entities, including tutors, training companies, publishers, schools, universities, and non-profit organizations. By enabling users to create and manage their own online learning applications, Patience facilitates the development and marketing of online courses, making it easier for educators to reach their audiences and share their knowledge globally.

Global Leads Group

Acquisition in 2014
Global Leads Group is operates as a media company that develops and creates technologies and services for individuals and companies. It provides content channels, social media outreach, and advertising tools and content.

Searchmetrics

Venture Round in 2014
Searchmetrics, established in 2007, is a global provider of search data, software, and consulting solutions. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with offices in the US, UK, and Croatia, the company specializes in enterprise SEO and content marketing. Its flagship product, Searchmetrics Suite, offers a SaaS solution that empowers businesses to analyze their SEO performance, understand competitors' strategies, and optimize content using real-time data. The suite comprises four modules: Research Cloud, Content Experience, Search Experience, and Site Experience. Additionally, Searchmetrics provides consulting services through its Digital Strategies Group, helping large brands excel in digital marketing. The company's offerings also include Searchmetrics Insights, which delivers unique market research through exclusive search data metrics, and an API for integrating search engine rankings and other marketing analytics into enterprise applications.

UberResearch

Seed Round in 2013
Our mission is to build decision support solutions for science funding organizations. The team below has created and implemented some of the most advanced solutions for large scientific funders around the world. We hope to leverage this experience to standardized an analytical platform of the very best decision support tools available.

Bettermarks

Venture Round in 2013
Bettermarks GmbH, established in 2008 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, specializes in an adaptive learning system for mathematics. It replaces traditional textbooks and exercise books, offering over 100 interactive math books for primary and secondary levels (grades 4-10, ages 10-16), covering topics like fractions, algebra, geometry, and more. The system provides more than 100,000 questions with detailed explanations, automatic marking, and result evaluation. It connects teachers, mathematicians, and software specialists to guide students through exercises systematically, offering constructive feedback and helping teachers manage diverse learning abilities in the classroom. The platform is available in German, English, and Spanish, providing a personalized learning experience that goes beyond simply indicating correct or incorrect answers, instead analyzing responses to detect errors and propose alternative solutions.

Altmetric

Venture Round in 2012
Altmetric is a research metrics platform that specializes in measuring the attention that scientific articles receive across various channels, including social media, mainstream media, and grey literature. The company provides tools designed to assist research scholars and organizations in collecting and analyzing article-level metrics. By focusing on engineering and data science expertise, Altmetric enables researchers and publishers to effectively track and measure online engagement with academic research. This capability helps to enhance the visibility and impact of scholarly work in the digital landscape.

figshare

Venture Round in 2012
figshare LLP, founded in 2011 and based in London, United Kingdom, operates an online repository that enables users to share and disseminate their research outputs in a citable and discoverable manner. The platform supports various file formats, allowing researchers to upload and visualize figures, datasets, media, papers, posters, presentations, and other files. By facilitating the accessibility of research outputs, figshare addresses limitations inherent in traditional scholarly publishing models, empowering researchers to enhance the visibility and impact of their work.

Savings United

Seed Round in 2012
Savings United is a digital marketing platform that specializes in providing white label couponing solutions for premium media companies. The company connects advertisers with smart shoppers by capturing and analyzing data related to consumer shopping behavior in rapidly growing e-commerce markets, including Spain, Italy, Eastern Europe, and South America. Through its platform, Savings United enables clients to gain valuable insights into customer preferences, allowing them to target leads effectively and enhance profitability.

IONIQ

Series A in 2012
IONIQ Group is an entrepreneurial investment firm based in Berlin, established in 2011 by Jan Beckers, Hendrik Krawinkel, and Tim Koschella. The firm focuses on building platforms of synergistic companies across various emerging digital markets. Initially starting in the data and advertising sector, IONIQ has successfully launched over 20 companies, including notable ventures like Zeotap and finleap, which is now a leading fintech platform in Europe. In 2017, IONIQ expanded into the healthcare sector with its digital health platform, Heartbeat Labs. Employing more than 1,200 professionals across over 10 global locations, many of IONIQ's companies have achieved profitability within three years of launch, establishing themselves as leaders in their respective fields.

Bettermarks

Venture Round in 2012
Bettermarks GmbH, established in 2008 and headquartered in Berlin, Germany, specializes in an adaptive learning system for mathematics. It replaces traditional textbooks and exercise books, offering over 100 interactive math books for primary and secondary levels (grades 4-10, ages 10-16), covering topics like fractions, algebra, geometry, and more. The system provides more than 100,000 questions with detailed explanations, automatic marking, and result evaluation. It connects teachers, mathematicians, and software specialists to guide students through exercises systematically, offering constructive feedback and helping teachers manage diverse learning abilities in the classroom. The platform is available in German, English, and Spanish, providing a personalized learning experience that goes beyond simply indicating correct or incorrect answers, instead analyzing responses to detect errors and propose alternative solutions.

Searchmetrics

Venture Round in 2011
Searchmetrics, established in 2007, is a global provider of search data, software, and consulting solutions. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, with offices in the US, UK, and Croatia, the company specializes in enterprise SEO and content marketing. Its flagship product, Searchmetrics Suite, offers a SaaS solution that empowers businesses to analyze their SEO performance, understand competitors' strategies, and optimize content using real-time data. The suite comprises four modules: Research Cloud, Content Experience, Search Experience, and Site Experience. Additionally, Searchmetrics provides consulting services through its Digital Strategies Group, helping large brands excel in digital marketing. The company's offerings also include Searchmetrics Insights, which delivers unique market research through exclusive search data metrics, and an API for integrating search engine rankings and other marketing analytics into enterprise applications.

Tutoria

Private Equity Round in 2010
Tutoria GmbH is an online tutoring service based in Munich, Germany, founded in 2007. It operates the platform tutoria.de, which connects students of all ages with qualified and certified tutors across various subjects and learning levels. The platform allows users to easily find and book tutors in their region on demand. Tutoria emphasizes the importance of monitoring the learning process, requiring tutors to submit online progress reports after each session. Additionally, the company provides a personal dashboard and other supporting applications to enhance the learning experience. Tutoria's pedagogic support team is available for assistance, ensuring a comprehensive tutoring service that can be managed entirely online. In 2015, Tutoria became a subsidiary of Studienkreis GmbH, expanding its reach in the educational sector.

AdScale

Series A in 2007
AdScale operates as an online advertising marketplace based in Germany, connecting advertisers with website owners. It facilitates trading of digital ad spaces, including display, video, and mobile formats. AdScale's Supply Side Platform empowers publishers to maximize their ad revenue through private deals and auctions. The platform leverages programmatic buying, targeting technologies, and a data management system to optimize ad performance for both advertisers and publishers, ensuring fair pricing.

NetDoktor.de

Acquisition in 2007
NetDoktor.de GmbH is a Munich-based company that operates a health and medical information portal. Founded in 1999, the platform provides users with clear and accessible information on a wide range of topics, including diseases, symptoms, examinations, and medications. By facilitating easy access to medical knowledge, NetDoktor.de enables patients to understand their health better and seek appropriate care. The company became a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media Holding Kommanditgesellschaft in August 2019, further enhancing its reach and resources in the healthcare information sector.
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