A new startup investor recently opened its doors, pardon office space. Loonshot Ventures GmbH, based in Tyrol and Vienna, is the new star in the investor sky. The faces behind it, however, are experienced and old acquaintances. Sebastian Scholda (Weilburg Ventures), Bernhard-Stefan Müller (Tantum - The Company Builder) and Hermann Schmidt (also Tantum) have taken the plunge and joined forces to form Loonshot Ventures GmbH.
"Already in the past months we were confronted more and more often with the question during investments how to better structure the cap table. In the process, it occurred to us that our background gave us the skills and, at the same time, an affinity for taking the lead often feared by other investors. This insight gave rise to the idea of Loonshot Ventures," says Managing Director Bernhard-Stefan Müller.
The trend is towards risk diversification - several investors invest in smaller tickets. The cap table is in danger of looking like a Swiss cheese and thus unattractive for follow-up rounds. In addition, many business angels are reluctant to go into the lead due to resources. This is also shown by the just published Austrian Investing Report 2022.
"We invest in a startup and invite other co-investors to bundle their already planned investment through our company. In this way, even smaller tickets starting at 20,000 euros can be implemented in a meaningful way. Investors enjoy the benefit of bundling forces and startups have a contact person as well as a proper cap table," says Müller further.
The business model is very simple: If an exciting startup is scouted in which one would like to invest, Loonshot starts negotiations. Other investors who are also interested in the startup can bundle their capital behind Loonshot Ventures. Loonshot subsequently takes over the management of the investment.
"For us, this is a win-win. In the industry we are known for taking very active care of our investments and boosting them. Therefore, it is not difficult for us to take the lead. If an investor wants to diversify in small tickets, there is much less risk with our concept - on the one hand, because less capital is tied up, on the other hand, because we have a larger investment, which is worth managing and boosting. We are convinced that investments will develop much more strongly in this way and that there will be significantly fewer defaults," says Sebastian Scholda.
The focus of the new venture is on Fast Moving Comsumer Goods (FMCG), agrartech and digital business models. "We have a clear focus. We invest in startups with valuations up to €5 million with rounds up to €500,000. This enables us a phase, in which we can also contribute a lot through our network and we know how and to really add value to the startup," states Hermann Schmidt.
For the year 2023, Loonshot Ventures is planning another 5–6 investments. One of them is about to be signed, another one is currently under negotiation.
"We are very much looking forward to being able to shape the startup scene even more actively than before and to support founding teams with fresh capital and experience and to spur them on to top performance. #bettertogether remains, as before, our motto for startup investments," Bernhard-Stefan Müller concludes.
