PTVF II celebrates first close

PolyTechnos Venture Partners has achieved the first closing of its second venture fund, PolyTechnos Venture fund II (PTVF II) at e120 million. Like the previous fund, investments will focus on early stage technology companies in German-speaking countries. The new fund hopes to achieve a significant return on capital through a portfolio of 20 to 25 investments in early stage companies. Target areas for investment include information technology and communications, materials and components and life sciences.

The firm has secured commitments from prominent investors worldwide such as Bank of America, Commonfund, Eastman Chemical Company, Knight Foundation, University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, European Investment Fund and Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau. Allocation is split with around 50 per cent coming from the US, 15 per cent from Asia and the remainder from European investors.

“We are extremely pleased with the support from our existing network as well as our new investors in these difficult markets,” said Dirk Kanngiesser, managing partner of PolyTechnos. “While we believe that the exit markets will take some time before they return, this is a good time to invest at attractive valuations, especially in exciting opportunities at the interface between ITC and Life Science.”

To date, PolyTechnos has invested in 20 companies including Danionics, devgen, Enigma, Fast Technology, Jerini, Micrus, Nanotron, NascaCell and PowerPaper.