b.value AG
Impact by Deep Tech
We invest in deep tech startups with exceptional founders and breakthrough technologies that offer solutions for a sustainable tomorrow.
As core technologies, biotechnology and new materials are key enablers of sustainable processes and products as the foundation of tomorrow's world. Therefore, b.value AG invests in talented and courageous entrepreneurs who want to build the companies of the future with highly scalable business models and, disruptive and proprietary biotechnology and material technology based innovations. Our unique fund structure and our operative experience allow us to act flexibly and for the long term.
Our world is transforming and with it the industries. With biotechnology (including precision fermentation, sustainable chemicals, food/feed, life science tools) and advanced materials as b.value’s investment focus, we address future markets of the future that are characterized by above-average growth.
Goals
Our goal is to build a future-oriented portfolio of fast-growing, deep tech start-up companies that define the production processes and markets of the future. In doing so, we bridge the gap from research and development to global markets. Our specialization, deep market and industry understanding as well as our operational experience are the key to success - for our portfolio companies and investors alike.
Investment focus
We invest within the D-A-CH region in pre-seed and seed stage companies whose products or business models address the future markets of biotechnology and advanced materials. We acquire minority stakes and invest together with other co-investors.
Entrepreneurial experience in building successful biotech and high tech companies
Support from experts with exceptional technology understanding
Extensive network of experienced supervisory board members, scientists, executives, investors, political decision-makers, and industrial and academic thought leaders
Unique opportunity in Germany to participate in future biotechnology and advanced materials companies at a very early stage of development
For a sustainable world of tomorrow
Investment Portfolio
b.value Team
A partnership of equals
We know from first hand experience, what matters to founders!
25 years of entrepreneurial experience as a founder, scaling expert and investor underpinned by an extensive track record is the basis of our proactive support - from founders for founders.
Support by a team of experts with an exceptional understanding of technology
The profound knowledge of our operational team, consisting of scientists with doctorates in various fields, builds partnerships with the founders on an equal footing and enables a technology assessment that goes beyond the usual and looks "under the hood".
Supervisory Board
Experienced, successful, well-connected
b.value benefits from the supervisory board's many years of industry, transaction and IPO experience
Prof. Dr. Manfred Niewiarra
- former Head of M&A
- Bertelsmann AG &
Member of the Executive Board Axel Springer AG, - Member of the Board CLT UFA
Prof. Dr. Michael Dröscher
- Former Managing Director Evonik Creavis GmbH
- President of GdCh
- Member of the Board of Trustees of MPI-P (Mainz) and LIKAT (Rostock)
Dr. Jürgen Eck
- CTO and Co-CEO SymbioPharm
- Co-Founder & former CEO of B.R.A.I.N AG
- Member of the Board of BIO Germany and DECHEMA
Dr. Dahai Yu
- Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Röhm and Caldic
- Member of the supervisory boards of Sinochem International, allnex and GETEC,
- Former member of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG
- Operating Partner for Advent International
- Corporate Advisor for Temasek International
News
you can find more news on our LinkedIn page
20.02.2023
It is the traceless team’s mission to provide a solution for global plastic pollution with its innovative novel biocircular material. Not that this is ambitious in itself, the team aims to set new standards in biocircularity. Thus, the traceless® base material has 100% biobased carbon content - without any conflict to food production and land use - and consists of no plastic, thereby, making use of renewable resources only. These facts are currently confirmed by two eco-labels, DIN Geprüft biobased product und „flustix plastic free„. Both certificates are proofs by the independent test institutes DIN CERTO and flustixand further are the most demanding labels of its kind. They create credible transparency for converters, brand owners and end consumers by trustmarking traceless materials’ pioneering role and credibility of its mission “designed by nature – designed for nature”. Congratulations and Go adhead!
If you want further information on both labels and their high standards of requirements, have a look at the traceless blog articles Officially certified 100% biobased carbon content and The Plastic-Free Guarantee.
It is the traceless team’s mission to provide a solution for global plastic pollution with its innovative novel biocircular material. Not that this is ambitious in itself, the team aims to set new standards in biocircularity. Thus, the traceless® base material has 100% biobased carbon content - without any conflict to food production and land use - and consists of no plastic, thereby, making use of renewable resources only. These facts are currently confirmed by two eco-labels, DIN Geprüft biobased productand “flustix plastic free”. Both certificates are proofs by the independent test institutes DIN CERTO and flustix and further are the most demanding labels of its kind. They create credible transparency for converters, brand owners and end consumers by trustmarking traceless materials’ pioneering role and credibility of its mission “designed by nature – designed for nature”. Congratulations and Go adhead!
If you want further information on both labels and their high standards of requirements, have a look at the traceless blog articles Officially certified 100% biobased carbon content and The Plastic-Free Guarantee.
03.02.2023
Our portfolio company Cellbricks GmbH was featured in the latest episode of the Handelsblatt Disrupt podcast.
Every Friday, Handelsblatt invites CEOs, women entrepreneurs, politicians, investors and innovators to talk about the big changes in business.
Cellbricks CEO Joachim von Arnim caught up with noted tech journalist Larissa Holzki to talk about the potential, status and challenges of 3D bioprinting and large-scale human tissue replication.
Enjoy listening!
Our portfolio company Cellbricks GmbH was featured in the latest episode of the Handelsblatt Disrupt podcast.
Every Friday, Handelsblatt invites CEOs, women entrepreneurs, politicians, investors and innovators to talk about the big changes in business.
Cellbricks CEO Joachim von Arnim caught up with noted tech journalist Larissa Holzki to talk about the potential, status and challenges of 3D bioprinting and large-scale human tissue replication.
Enjoy listening!
18.01.2023
We at b.value are excited to kick off 2023 with a fresh new look! Our team has worked hard to complete a new corporate design and we can't wait to share it!
Our new logo and slogan states in a more modern style what we are, and what we do. Starting our investments in the biotech field including precision fermentation, sustainable chemicals, food/feed, life science tools, our portfolio became more diverse over time with interesting startups offering advanced materials. We believe in biotech and advanced materials as the core technologies of the future shaping our tomorrow’s world and addressing future markets. From our point of view, impact will be driven by deep tech.
While our look is new, our core values remain the same: we will continue working alongside our portfolio companies, co-investors, and network partners with our usual reliability, profound technological knowledge and operational expertise. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023!
We at b.value are excited to kick off 2023 with a fresh new look! Our team has worked hard to complete a new corporate design and we can't wait to share it!
Our new logo and slogan states in a more modern style what we are, and what we do. Starting our investments in the biotech field including precision fermentation, sustainable chemicals, food/feed, life science tools, our portfolio became more diverse over time with interesting startups offering advanced materials. We believe in biotech and advanced materials as the core technologies of the future shaping our tomorrow’s world and addressing future markets. From our point of view, impact will be driven by deep tech.
While our look is new, our core values remain the same: we will continue working alongside our portfolio companies, co-investors, and network partners with our usual reliability, profound technological knowledge and operational expertise. We are looking forward to an exciting 2023!
09.12.2022
Congratulations on the New Economy Award 2022
Last Friday, 02.12.2022, CEO Anne Lang received the Next Economy Award 2022 in behave of the whole traceless team. The Next Economy Award (NEA) is the startup competition of the German Sustainability Award (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis) - Europe's leading award for ecological and social engagement. The NEA prizes founders who drive social and ecological change with innovative business models, and is awarded in cooperation with Evonik Industries. Traceless is one of three winning startups elected through a public voting. Congratulations to the whole traceless team – well deserved for your continuous engagement to make the world a better place! More information and pictures at https://www.traceless.eu/post/traceless-is-one-of-the-next-economy-award-winners.
First traceless® product hits C&A shelves
Traceless‘s vision is to remove more and more products of our daily live by sustainable alternatives made of the traceless® granulate. Therefore, we are very proud that the company published its collaboration with the fashion retailer C&A yesterday. First pilot product are traceless® sock-hooks. On the 8th of December the product was launched in the C&A Store in Hamburg Altona. We have already had the hooks in our hands and were very impressed.Looking forward to the next traceless® products! More information and impressions on the traceless® sock-hooks at https://www.traceless.eu/post/collaboration-with-c-a-first-traceless-product-hits-the-shelves.
Congratulations on the New Economy Award 2022
Last Friday, 02.12.2022, CEO Anne Lang received the Next Economy Award 2022 in behave of the whole traceless team. The Next Economy Award (NEA) is the startup competition of the German Sustainability Award (Deutscher Nachhaltigkeitspreis) - Europe's leading award for ecological and social engagement. The NEA prizes founders who drive social and ecological change with innovative business models, and is awarded in cooperation with Evonik Industries. Traceless is one of three winning startups elected through a public voting. Congratulations to the whole traceless team – well deserved for your continuous engagement to make the world a better place! More information and pictures at https://www.traceless.eu/post/traceless-is-one-of-the-next-economy-award-winners.
First traceless® product hits C&A shelves
Traceless‘s vision is to remove more and more products of our daily live by sustainable alternatives made of the traceless® granulate. Therefore, we are very proud that the company published its collaboration with the fashion retailer C&A yesterday. First pilot product are traceless® sock-hooks. On the 8th of December the product was launched in the C&A Store in Hamburg Altona. We have already had the hooks in our hands and were very impressed.Looking forward to the next traceless® products! More information and impressions on the traceless® sock-hooks at https://www.traceless.eu/post/collaboration-with-c-a-first-traceless-product-hits-the-shelves.
03.10.2022
Cellbricks GmbH wins this year's Spark Award, which is presented by McKinsey & Company and Handelsblatt. Cellbricks successfully competed in a highly qualified field of 750 medical technology start-ups. The renowned jury described Cellbricks' 3D bioprinting capabilities as a "quantum leap in medicine" and highlighted the scalability to replicate human tissue and print entire organs in the future.
Further information:
Cellbricks GmbH wins this year's Spark Award, which is presented by McKinsey & Company and Handelsblatt. Cellbricks successfully competed in a highly qualified field of 750 medical technology start-ups. The renowned jury described Cellbricks' 3D bioprinting capabilities as a "quantum leap in medicine" and highlighted the scalability to replicate human tissue and print entire organs in the future.
Further information:
13.09.2022
What an incredible news: The founders of our portfolio company traceless materials, Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, have won the prestigious award Deutscher Gründerpreis 2022 (German Entrepreneur Award) last night. Congratulations!
These inspiring ladies and their team did a fantastic job over the last 18 months which has been honored by numerous awards - absolutely justified since they work hard for the vision to substitute 1 Mio t plastics until 2031. It is a great pleasure to be at your side together with our partners Johannes Weber at High-Tech GründerFonds as well as Tobias Seikel and Christian Schad at Planet A Ventures. It is an exciting journey with you! Looking forward to what is coming next!
What an incredible news: The founders of our portfolio company traceless materials, Anne Lamp and Johanna Baare, have won the prestigious award Deutscher Gründerpreis 2022 (German Entrepreneur Award) last night. Congratulations!
These inspiring ladies and their team did a fantastic job over the last 18 months which has been honored by numerous awards - absolutely justified since they work hard for the vision to substitute 1 Mio t plastics until 2031. It is a great pleasure to be at your side together with our partners Johannes Weber at High-Tech GründerFonds as well as Tobias Seikel and Christian Schad at Planet A Ventures. It is an exciting journey with you! Looking forward to what is coming next!
25.05.2022
Seed round for market entry of Revoltech GmbH's sustainable leather alternative LOVR.
Darmstadt, May 25, 2022 - Darmstadt-based startup Revoltech GmbH signs a joint investment agreement with b.value AG, BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH and HEAG Holding AG. Revoltech is developing an innovative and sustainable leather substitute made from purely plant-based material with the product name LOVR. The seven-figure seed investment is intended to advance the development of the operating business.
Revoltech was founded in 2021 by Lucas Fuhrmann, Julian Mushövel and Montgomery Wagner and is a spin-off from the TU Darmstadt. The company's goal is to develop and market a sustainable leather substitute with the product name LOVR. LOVR stands for "leather-like-without-plastic-vegan-residue-based." The plastic-free and purely plant-based alternative to the animal-based product not only looks like leather, but also feels like it. It is made with a unique technology using agricultural residues and purely plant-based additives. The textile is recyclable and biodegradable. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Lucas Fuhrmann had the original idea for the product after an internship at a fashion company known for its fair and green products. After realizing that much of the purported sustainability is often greenwashing, he began researching alternatives for leather that did not use chemicals or plastic. The result is LOVR, whose manufacturing process uses residual materials from hemp grown in Germany. It also requires only 0.3% of the CO2 emissions produced by conventional leather manufacturing.2"Our breakthrough technology ensures that we can produce LOVR with a minimal carbon footprint. Our material will play an important role in the fight against climate change and for the preservation of our ecosystems," affirms Julian Mushövel, Co-Founder & CTO.
The seed investment will be used to develop operations and expand production of the revolutionary textile. "The seed funding is a big step for LOVR. I am very happy that we have found partners who share and support our vision of a sustainable circular economy," says Lucas Fuhrmann, Co-Founder and CEO. Montgomery Wagner, Co-Founder & COO, is also excited about the prospects offered by the investment: "With this seed round, we are financing our market entry. The next two years will be about making the step from lab to industry. We are pleased that b.value, BMH and HEAG are supporting us in this endeavor."
Peter Kallien, CEO of b.value AG, stated, "We are pleased to support Revoltech GmbH in its mission to revolutionize the leather market with its sustainable leather alternative LOVR, which is based on a strong and scalable technology foundation and a highly competent and enthusiastic founding team."
"LOVR has developed the first truly sustainable alternative to leather and is thus making a major contribution to a resource-conserving leather and textile industry," Helge Haase, responsible investment manager at BMH, is convinced. "We see significant growth potential as the trend towards sustainable business has reached all industries and is here to stay."
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Ahrend and Dr. Markus Hoschek, members of HEAG's Management Board, look to the joint future with confidence: "One of HEAG's main goals is to support start-ups that use innovative concepts to address ecological and social challenges. With its idea of sustainable alternatives to leather, Revoltech GmbH is a perfect fit for HEAG and HEAG Gründerfonds."
About Revoltech
Revoltech GmbH develops, produces and distributes LOVR, a plastic-free and 100% plant-based alternative to leather made from hemp fibers. The company's goal is to transform the leather industry by introducing a truly sustainable material made from agricultural waste. Production is based on the principles of the circular economy and does not use chemicals. www.madewithlovr.com
About b.value
b.value AG not only invests as an early-stage investor in the fields of synthetic biology and advanced materials, but also actively supports its portfolio companies in their development with the unique "b.value Company Building" approach: The portfolio companies benefit from the high technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The management team has more than 40 years of experience in founding, managing and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. In addition, they benefit from the concentrated experience of the supervisory board and the broad network of b.value AG. www.b-value.de
About BMH
Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH ("BMH"), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba). Through Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), BMH Hessen is actively involved in the economic development activities of the State of Hesse. As a medium-sized investment and venture capital company, BMH bundles public investment interests and financing instruments for early-stage, growth and medium-sized companies in Hesse. BMH currently manages seven investment funds with an invested investment volume of around 125 million euros. Since its foundation, BMH has invested over 250 million euros in a total of more than 500 companies. Investment focuses include the software & IT, life sciences, mechanical and plant engineering, industrial goods, professional services and e-commerce sectors. www.bmh-hessen.de
About HEAG
HEAG is the holding and management company of the HEAG Group. It is also the investment management company of the City of Darmstadt. HEAG supports the economic participations of the City of Darmstadt and anchors the city's objectives, especially in the case of the approximately 110 majority shareholdings. HEAG is the central advisor to the city of Darmstadt in all economic matters relating to municipal companies. www.heag.de
Seed round for market entry of Revoltech GmbH's sustainable leather alternative LOVR.
Darmstadt, May 25, 2022 - Darmstadt-based startup Revoltech GmbH signs a joint investment agreement with b.value AG, BMH Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH and HEAG Holding AG. Revoltech is developing an innovative and sustainable leather substitute made from purely plant-based material with the product name LOVR. The seven-figure seed investment is intended to advance the development of the operating business.
Revoltech was founded in 2021 by Lucas Fuhrmann, Julian Mushövel and Montgomery Wagner and is a spin-off from the TU Darmstadt. The company's goal is to develop and market a sustainable leather substitute with the product name LOVR. LOVR stands for "leather-like-without-plastic-vegan-residue-based." The plastic-free and purely plant-based alternative to the animal-based product not only looks like leather, but also feels like it. It is made with a unique technology using agricultural residues and purely plant-based additives. The textile is recyclable and biodegradable. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Lucas Fuhrmann had the original idea for the product after an internship at a fashion company known for its fair and green products. After realizing that much of the purported sustainability is often greenwashing, he began researching alternatives for leather that did not use chemicals or plastic. The result is LOVR, whose manufacturing process uses residual materials from hemp grown in Germany. It also requires only 0.3% of the CO2 emissions produced by conventional leather manufacturing.2"Our breakthrough technology ensures that we can produce LOVR with a minimal carbon footprint. Our material will play an important role in the fight against climate change and for the preservation of our ecosystems," affirms Julian Mushövel, Co-Founder & CTO.
The seed investment will be used to develop operations and expand production of the revolutionary textile. "The seed funding is a big step for LOVR. I am very happy that we have found partners who share and support our vision of a sustainable circular economy," says Lucas Fuhrmann, Co-Founder and CEO. Montgomery Wagner, Co-Founder & COO, is also excited about the prospects offered by the investment: "With this seed round, we are financing our market entry. The next two years will be about making the step from lab to industry. We are pleased that b.value, BMH and HEAG are supporting us in this endeavor."
Peter Kallien, CEO of b.value AG, stated, "We are pleased to support Revoltech GmbH in its mission to revolutionize the leather market with its sustainable leather alternative LOVR, which is based on a strong and scalable technology foundation and a highly competent and enthusiastic founding team."
"LOVR has developed the first truly sustainable alternative to leather and is thus making a major contribution to a resource-conserving leather and textile industry," Helge Haase, responsible investment manager at BMH, is convinced. "We see significant growth potential as the trend towards sustainable business has reached all industries and is here to stay."
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Michael Ahrend and Dr. Markus Hoschek, members of HEAG's Management Board, look to the joint future with confidence: "One of HEAG's main goals is to support start-ups that use innovative concepts to address ecological and social challenges. With its idea of sustainable alternatives to leather, Revoltech GmbH is a perfect fit for HEAG and HEAG Gründerfonds."
About Revoltech
Revoltech GmbH develops, produces and distributes LOVR, a plastic-free and 100% plant-based alternative to leather made from hemp fibers. The company's goal is to transform the leather industry by introducing a truly sustainable material made from agricultural waste. Production is based on the principles of the circular economy and does not use chemicals. www.madewithlovr.com
About b.value
b.value AG not only invests as an early-stage investor in the fields of synthetic biology and advanced materials, but also actively supports its portfolio companies in their development with the unique "b.value Company Building" approach: The portfolio companies benefit from the high technological expertise and operational experience of the b.value team. The management team has more than 40 years of experience in founding, managing and developing technology companies and commercializing biotechnological developments. In addition, they benefit from the concentrated experience of the supervisory board and the broad network of b.value AG. www.b-value.de
About BMH
Beteiligungs-Managementgesellschaft Hessen mbH ("BMH"), based in Wiesbaden, was founded in 2001 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale (Helaba). Through Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), BMH Hessen is actively involved in the economic development activities of the State of Hesse. As a medium-sized investment and venture capital company, BMH bundles public investment interests and financing instruments for early-stage, growth and medium-sized companies in Hesse. BMH currently manages seven investment funds with an invested investment volume of around 125 million euros. Since its foundation, BMH has invested over 250 million euros in a total of more than 500 companies. Investment focuses include the software & IT, life sciences, mechanical and plant engineering, industrial goods, professional services and e-commerce sectors. www.bmh-hessen.de
About HEAG
HEAG is the holding and management company of the HEAG Group. It is also the investment management company of the City of Darmstadt. HEAG supports the economic participations of the City of Darmstadt and anchors the city's objectives, especially in the case of the approximately 110 majority shareholdings. HEAG is the central advisor to the city of Darmstadt in all economic matters relating to municipal companies. www.heag.de
05.05.2022
Actome has released the first commercial products to the EU market based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology. The PICO assay kits for measuring proteins and protein interactions are available through the online webshop .
Actome GmbH is a life-science startup form Freiburg adapting digital PCR (dPCR) technology for the ultra-sensitive measurement of proteins and protein interactions. Our first products based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology enable the use of the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN for measuring proteins and protein interactions. The assay kits contain all necessary materials for labeling of antibodies with the unique PICO Labels and to prepare the assay for readout by dPCR. Registered customers can use the Actome’s AMULATOR software free of charge to analyze proteins and protein interactions with hitherto unseen performance.
Actome has released the first commercial products to the EU market based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology. The PICO assay kits for measuring proteins and protein interactions are available through the online webshop .
Actome GmbH is a life-science startup form Freiburg adapting digital PCR (dPCR) technology for the ultra-sensitive measurement of proteins and protein interactions. Our first products based on the Protein Interaction Coupling (PICO) Technology enable the use of the QIAcuity dPCR product line of QIAGEN for measuring proteins and protein interactions. The assay kits contain all necessary materials for labeling of antibodies with the unique PICO Labels and to prepare the assay for readout by dPCR. Registered customers can use the Actome’s AMULATOR software free of charge to analyze proteins and protein interactions with hitherto unseen performance.
01.02.2022
Two of our portfolio companies, traceless materials and FibreCoat GmbH are among the Top 50 Start-ups 2021 in Germany.
FibreCoat could improve from rank 43 in 2020 up to rank 17 in 2021 and traceless leads the ranking. Congratulations to the founders and their teams! (further information)
Our newest portfolio member FibreCoat and its production partner Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH (DBF) received the approval of a 1.73 mio € grant from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt to expand its production capacity at the DBF site located at Sangerhausen. (further information)
Futhermore, the Lufthansa Group announced its cooperation with the traceless materials GmbH. With help of the start-up, Lufthansa will provide sustainable packaging solutions for its on-board meals which will be fully compostable under natural conditions. (further information)
We are looking forward to futher potentially upcoming good news this week!
Two of our portfolio companies, traceless materials and FibreCoat GmbH are among the Top 50 Start-ups 2021 in Germany.
FibreCoat could improve from rank 43 in 2020 up to rank 17 in 2021 and traceless leads the ranking. Congratulations to the founders and their teams! (further information)
Our newest portfolio member FibreCoat and its production partner Deutsche Basalt Faser GmbH (DBF) received the approval of a 1.73 mio € grant from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt to expand its production capacity at the DBF site located at Sangerhausen. (further information)
Futhermore, the Lufthansa Group announced its cooperation with the traceless materials GmbH. With help of the start-up, Lufthansa will provide sustainable packaging solutions for its on-board meals which will be fully compostable under natural conditions. (further information)
We are looking forward to futher potentially upcoming good news this week!
Contact Person
Dr. Georg Lentzen (Managing Director)
Georg.Lentzen@b-value.de
Peter Kallien (Managing Director)
Peter.Kallien@b-value.de
Contact
b.value AG
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
D-44227 Dortmund
+49 (0) 231/79300196
Impact by Deep Tech
