Matthias Schanze and Jens-Philipp Klein
Rethink Ventures, a German investment firm, has unveiled a new €50 million fund to back mobility, automotive and logistics start-ups.
The Munich-based fund will invest in European companies at their early stages.
The fund is headed up by experienced mobility investors Jens-Philipp Klein, previously of Atlantic Labs, and Matthias Schanze, who led the mobility team at Siemens’ venture fund Next47.
Rethink’s fund is backed by corporations including car parts maker ZF, logistics operator Hellmann and manufacturer KION Group as well as a number of family offices.
"With more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions coming from this sector and additional negative externalities such as congestion and the significant usage of physical space, there is a lot of pressure to rapidly change the way we move people and goods," Klein said.
Rethink Ventures will back early-stage start-ups addressing these challenges to help them scale and connect with the corporate partners that have invested in the fund.
The fund has made three investments so far, in automotive charging platform Deftpower; Shipzero, a platform to help reduce emissions in freight transport; and Rydes, a software-as-a-service mobility start-up.
Rethink Ventures invests between €500,000 and €2 million in companies at the seed and Series A rounds.
"Our mission is to back early-stage startups that address these challenges and help them scale their technologies and products using our capital, deep expertise and access to a strong network of corporates," Klein added. "Together with all stakeholders in the industry, we aim to foster solutions that eventually will provide clean, digital and safe mobility for everyone."
According to the investors, it has built a sustainability framework to assess its investment with KPIs regularly monitored. Rethink is regulated as an SFDR article 8 fund, referring to a set of EU regulations around disclosing the sustainability of investments.
"As a specialist fund, our top priority is to provide unparalleled support to our portfolio companies while adding long-term value to our corporate partners," Schanze said. "We are creating a mutually beneficial ecosystem that creates a positive impact for all."
Other partners and investors linked to the fund include Sven von Loh (Leasingtime), Artur Hasselbach (VW Commercial Vehicles Lab, Orderbird) and Heiko Huber (Techfounders, eGym).
