German Startups Berln GmbH : Group realises profits with two portfolio companies

+++ Press release +++

German Startups Group realises profits with two portfolio companies Berlin, 25 January 2017 - German Startups Group, the second most active venture capital investor in Germany in the time period since 2012 (CB Insights 2015, 2016), reaches an agreement for the near-term sale of shares in two holdings from the midfield of its investment portfolio at book value. Through the sale of the shares in both portfolio companies, German Startups Group will realise notable profits in relation to the acquisition costs. The internal rate of return (IRR) will amount to 7% p.a. in one case and 27% p.a. in the other. The proceeds of 800k euros will increase the cash available position of German Startups Group accordingly. The respective portfolio companies will be named after all formal steps of the sale have been completed.

The decision for the above-mentioned sales is also carried out in the context of the planned focusing of the overall portfolio, which had grown considerably in the past due to numerous new investments. For some of its shareholdings, the company registers unsolicited buying interest by co-shareholders and third parties. The company plans to make use of further attractive opportunities for the realisation of profits in the coming months and thus focus its investment portfolio to some extent. In addition, the management sees exit opportunities for some of its portfolio companies in 2017.

Press contact German Startups Group

Theo Bonick

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German Startups Group - We Love Startups!

German Startups Group is a listed investment company based in Berlin that focuses on young, fast-growing companies, so-called startups. The company acquires majority and minority shareholdings mainly by providing venture capital. The portfolio companies that German Startups Group holds also stand to benefit from German Startups Group's expertise, experience and network with respect to strategy development, financing rounds, restructuring necessities, M&A transactions or selling the company, including a possible IPO. According to its own assessment, German Startups Group provides startups with so-called "smart

money" by acquiring a shareholding. Its focus is on companies whose products or business models represent a disruptive innovation, allow for a high degree of scalability to be expected, and in which it has a great deal of trust in the entrepreneurial abilities of the founders to whom it feels that it obtains early access to due to its close relationships to relevant players in the startup scene. The geographical focus is on the German-speaking region. Since it commenced with operations in 2012, German Startups Group has in its opinion built up a diversified portfolio of investments in young companies and become the second most active venture capital investor in Germany since 2012 (CB Insights, Germany Venture Capital Overview 2015, Venture Pulse Q1 2016). 25 of the 47 minority stakeholdings in operationally active companies are of particular significance to German Startups Group and together comprise 89% of the total value of all 47 active minority stakeholdings. The ten core holdings alone make up 60% of the value of all active minority stakeholdings. According to German Startups Group, its investment portfolio reflects a cross-section of promising German startups of various maturity stages ("Seed," "Early" and "Growth Stage," by German Startups Group's own definition) and includes some of the most successful and best known German startups.

More information is available on our website at www.german-startups.com.