Fresh capital for online shop windeln.de
- Munich, Bonn, 15 September 2010 – High-Tech Gründerfonds and DN Capital are investing in windeln.de. The online shop for baby products will be launched in September 2010 with more than 80 brands in its product range, including Pampers, HiPP, Avent, Nuk and Penaten. Business angels and the management team are participating in the financing, along with the lead investors mentioned.
“windeln.de is positioning itself as Germany’s large online shop for everyday baby products,” explains founder Konstantin Urban. “And we don’t just deliver diapers – right from the start, we are offering more than 3,300 products catering to the day-to-day needs of babies and their mothers.” Urban was a General Partner at Holtzbrink Ventures prior to founding Urban Brand GmbH together with Alexander Brand, the company behind the new-born online shop. Alexander Brand previously served as Senior Vice President at Siemens Enterprise Communications and was the founder of 12snap AG. The third founder is Dagmar Mahnel, who previously gained experience at Wrigley and Procter & Gamble. All three founders are parents themselves and firm believers in the business model, which is something they have in common with High-Tech Gründerfonds. But it was not just the founding team that convinced the fund. “We anticipate a strong demand for baby products that are delivered promptly and reliably to people’s homes. At present, we don’t see any comparable e-commerce approach in Germany that can supply the whole range of baby products online,” says Dr Björn Momsen, Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds. DN Capital is convinced by the concept, and also by the team. Managing Partner Nenad Marovac says: “In addition to the attractive market, the professional design of the shop and the large product range, we were also very impressed by the experience of the management team.” Along with diapers and related products, windeln.de also offers baby food, baby care items, bottles and dummies as well as maternity and breast-feeding products. A special category for organic items caters to the growing demand for organic baby products. An experienced service provider in Hallbergmoos, Germany, will be in charge of the retailer’s logistics. Two seasoned internet professionals have already been won over, with Oliver Zenglein and Carsten Jaensch in online marketing and technology. Customer service has already been staffed prior to the launch. As a result, Alexander Brand is optimistic about the launch, which is scheduled for mid-September. “We are really looking forward to making a start after the hard work done in the planning phase, and we are confident that word will soon spread about the user-friendliness of the shop, prompt product delivery and our service.”
Contact
Urban-Brand GmbH Machtlfinger Str. 1 81379 Munich GermanyAlexander Brand (Co-Founder and Co-CEO) Phone: +49 89 72 44 66 66 Email: alexander.brand@urban-brand.de www.windeln.de
About High-Tech Gründerfonds
High-Tech Gründerfonds invests venture capital in young, high-opportunity technological companies implementing promising research results in an entrepreneurial manner. The start-up companies are planned to lead their R&D projects to the production of a prototype or a “proof of concepts” or market launch by means of the seed financing of up to 500k EUR. The High-Tech Gründerfonds has a fund volume of around 272m EUR. Investors in the public-private partnership are the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, the KfW bank group as well as the six industrial groups BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss.
Contact:
Dr. Björn Momsen High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH Ludwig-Erhard-Allee 2 53175 Bonn Germany Phone: +49 228 823001-00 E-Mail: info@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de www.high-tech-gruenderfonds.de
About DN Capital
At DN Capital, our mission is to help companies become global leaders in their respective markets. We provide early-stage capital to entrepreneurs, and growth equity to fast-growing companies in the software and digital media sectors. Post investment, we leverage our global network to help portfolio companies develop and refine their strategic direction, recruit and retain management talent, establish distribution channels and partnerships, access reference accounts, secure follow-on financing and expand geographically. We are a Pan-European investor and look to invest €1-10 million per company depending on investment stage. We are also active in helping US companies enter the European market.
Contact:
Nenad Marovac DN Capital (UK) LLP 2 Queen Anne's Gate Buildings Dartmouth Street London SW1H 9BP United Kingdom Phone: +44 20 7340 1600 E-Mail: info@dncapital.com www.dncapital.com