DGAP-News: German Startups Group GmbH & Co. KGaA: German Startups Group is rapidly making progress in expanding its business model

+++ Press Release +++

German Startups Group is rapidly making progress in expanding its business model

- G|S Market - the first secondary market platform for tech assets in Germany has successfully started

- Initial transactions near completion

- Collaboration with leading US platform

- Preparing for asset management activities

Berlin, 19 July 2018 - German Startup Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, a publicly listed, leading venture capital investor in Germany and at the same time also a digital agency with 150 employees based in Berlin, is making rapid progress in the expanding its business model.

The German Startups Market GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the listed German Startup Group GmbH & Co. KGaA, has launched a secondary market platform G|S Market on 19 June 2018, and reports the successful start of its operations after the first four weeks.
The marketplace currently lists thirteen tech assets valued at over 20 million Euros, including startup shares owned by both founders and business angels and the parent company of German Startups Market GmbH. In addition, there are a new type of venture capital fund announced for the fourth quarter as well as several venture loans listed on the platform. Further some well-known German VC funds are showing interest in offering shares of future fund generations on the platform. An increasing number of investors, especially family offices, who do not yet have direct access to the asset class , are watching out for such alternative investment opportunities on the platform.

Already in the first four weeks, the platform generated specific demand for assets with a value of 5 million Euros, for which contracts shall be closed soon. These deals alone would generate commission income exceeding the total investment of German Startups Group into German Startups Market and its platform.

In the future G|S Market will work together with the leading secondary market platform in Silicon Valley, in order to give German investors access to investments in US startups. German Startups Asset Management GmbH, a majority holding of German Startups Group and a registered investment management company (KVG), will pool the investment amounts of German investors within its own special purpose vehicles.

At the same time, German Startups Asset Management GmbH intends to set up its own, novel VC fund named G|S Tech50(TM) in the fourth quarter. It will also provide SPVs for G|S Market to pool multiple investors in order to acquire larger investment opportunities.

The German Startups Group pursues a transformation from a pure asset owner to a combined asset owner, asset manager and open market platform in its business. The purpose is to expand its existing business model of generating value gains of its holdings within its own balance sheet and of generating revenues in the digital agency business, by transaction-based commissions, management fees and carries from investments outside its own balance sheet. This substantial expansion of its profit base is already gaining in shape.

Investor relations contact
German Startups Group
Marcel Doeppes
ir@german-startups.com
www.german-startups.com

German Startups Group - We Love Startups!

The German Startups Group, a publicly traded company comprises one of the leading VC providers in Germany with a digital agency employing 150 staff in Berlin. With a focus on Germany's young, fast growing companies - so called startups - the company acquires majority and minority shareholdings by providing venture capital. The core investment focus is on those tech companies whose products or business models include disruptive innovation, allow for a high degree of scalability and are run by strong entrepreneurial management teams. Since it commenced operations in 2012, German Startups Group has built a diversified portfolio of stakes in such companies and has become the most active private venture capital investor in Germany (CB Insights 2015, Pitchbook 2016). With the launch of G|S Market(TM) via a wholly owned subsidiary German Startups Market GmbH, the company operates a secondary market platform for tech assets since June 2018. Its majority holding, German Startups Asset Management GmbH, will launch its own novel type VC funds in the future and provide SPVs for G|S Market(TM) on the acquirer side in order to enable several investors to acquire larger investment opportunities through pooled investments.

More information at www.german-startups.com.