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.

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 focused on developing software infrastructure aimed at advancing open science. The company provides tools that facilitate collaboration among scientists, universities, publishers, and funders within an open protocol framework. This approach allows for unrestricted participation and contribution to scientific research, promoting the sharing and assessment of scientific outputs. By eliminating issues like vendor lock-in, content paywalls, link rot, and content drift, DeSci Labs aims to create a more accessible and efficient environment for scientific inquiry and dissemination.

Metaphacts

Series B in 2023
Metaphacts is a software company that specializes in developing end-to-end platforms for creating and utilizing enterprise knowledge graphs. Its offerings encompass a range of functionalities, including semantic graph data management, data-driven application development, and visualization tools. The company serves various sectors such as life sciences, engineering and manufacturing, finance and insurance, and cultural heritage, enabling clients to gain meaningful insights from their data. Metaphacts' solutions include features like tree rendering, discovery and exploration, auto-suggestion and validation, and rapid application development, all designed to facilitate the creation of customer-oriented knowledge graph applications. Through its comprehensive software, Metaphacts supports organizations in leveraging their data for enhanced decision-making and operational efficiency.

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 provider of comprehensive living and care solutions aimed at the elderly and individuals with special needs. The company offers a range of services including outpatient care, assisted living, senior flat shares, and inpatient care. In addition to these living options, Pflege.de specializes in providing valuable information and organizational support for caregivers. Their offerings encompass counseling, bathroom remodeling, lift systems, maintenance, and legal and financial advice. By focusing on the diverse needs of elderly patients, Pflege.de aims to ensure quality care and support for those facing 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 designed to connect academics with experts in research services, facilitating collaboration and enhancing the quality of academic work. The platform offers a range of services, including language editing, translation, formatting, design, and consulting, allowing researchers to find support tailored to their specific needs. By bridging the gap between authors and specialists, Peerwith enables organizations to engage with academics for freelance and project-based collaborations, fostering lasting professional relationships within various academic disciplines.

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
iversity GmbH is a German-based company, established in 2010, that operates an online learning platform for higher education and professional development. It enables universities, non-profits, and knowledge-based companies to share courses, awarding recognized credentials, with learners worldwide. The platform offers a wide range of courses across various disciplines, with some conferring ECTS credits. Learners can access courses for free, but pay for certificates and grades upon completion. Instructors can create innovative teaching formats using multimedia materials and direct 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 provider of comprehensive living and care solutions aimed at the elderly and individuals with special needs. The company offers a range of services including outpatient care, assisted living, senior flat shares, and inpatient care. In addition to these living options, Pflege.de specializes in providing valuable information and organizational support for caregivers. Their offerings encompass counseling, bathroom remodeling, lift systems, maintenance, and legal and financial advice. By focusing on the diverse needs of elderly patients, Pflege.de aims to ensure quality care and support for those facing 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 academic processes. Its key product, Symplectic Elements, is a publications management system that automatically aggregates bibliographic data, assisting academics in tracking their own publications while providing institutions with a centralized database for querying. Additionally, Symplectic provides Invigilator Student Management, which monitors undergraduate academic progress, and TOAST, a tool for collecting survey data. The company's integrated systems support efficient operations across the grants management lifecycle, aiding clients in making informed funding decisions and achieving research objectives.

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 an online platform designed to facilitate collaborative academic writing and publishing, leveraging cloud technology to streamline the process. It allows researchers and academics to write, edit, and submit manuscripts efficiently through an intuitive interface reminiscent of Google Docs. Users can collaborate in real-time, enabling seamless communication and reducing the likelihood of conflicting changes. The platform also provides tools for customizing writing templates and simplifies the linking of references, alongside one-click submission options for publishers and institutions. Founded by mathematicians John Hammersley and John Lees-Miller, Overleaf was created to enhance the academic documentation workflow, transforming the way scholars and professionals manage their research from conception to publication.

Patience

Series A in 2014
Patience is a Berlin-based learning technology provider focused on facilitating online education. Its platform allows a diverse range of educators, including tutors, training companies, publishers, schools, universities, and non-profit organizations, to create, manage, and market their own online courses. By offering customizable solutions, Patience empowers educators to build tailored online learning applications, effectively enabling them to reach a global audience. The platform serves as a social hub, fostering connections among various educational stakeholders and enhancing the overall teaching and learning experience.

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 operates a research metrics platform that measures the attention scientific articles receive across social media, mainstream media, and grey literature. The platform is designed to assist research scholars by simplifying the collection and analysis of article-level metrics. By enabling organizations to track and measure online activity related to academic research, Altmetric supports both researchers and publishers in understanding the impact of their 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 designed to make research outputs accessible and citable. The platform enables users to upload various file formats, allowing for the visualization of figures, datasets, media, papers, posters, presentations, and other research materials. By providing a space for these outputs, figshare facilitates dissemination in a manner that traditional scholarly publishing often does not support. The repository enhances the visibility and discoverability of research, promoting a more open and collaborative approach to scholarly communication.

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, established in 2007 and based in Munich, Germany, offers an online platform, tutoria.de, that facilitates individual tutoring services for students of all ages and subjects. The company serves as a marketplace for home tutoring, connecting users with qualified and certified tutors available in various regions across Germany. Tutors are pre-screened to ensure quality, and users can book sessions on demand. Tutoria enhances the learning experience by providing ongoing monitoring through online progress reports after each lesson and offering a personal management interface and supplementary applications. Additionally, a dedicated pedagogic support team is available to assist users via phone or email, ensuring a comprehensive online tutoring experience. Tutoria operates as a subsidiary of Studienkreis GmbH.

AdScale

Series A in 2007
AdScale operates a marketplace for online advertising in Germany, offering a range of services to advertisers and website owners. The company provides traditional display advertising, video advertising, and text ads, ensuring a transparent trading space for digital ad inventory. Its Supply Side Platform enables publishers to optimize yield management through private deals and auctions, enhancing their inventory control. Additionally, AdScale employs various optimization technologies, including programmatic buying and a data management platform, to improve targeting and overall performance. Through these services, AdScale aims to deliver a fair price-performance ratio for its business partners.

NetDoktor.de

Acquisition in 2007
NetDoktor.de GmbH operates an online health information portal based in Munich, Germany, providing users with accessible medical information on various topics, including diseases, symptoms, examinations, and medications. Founded in 1999, the platform aims to empower patients by enabling them to research health-related concerns and connect with healthcare professionals. As of August 2019, NetDoktor.de has been a subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media Holding Kommanditgesellschaft, further enhancing its reach and resources in the healthcare information sector.
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