HV Capital

HV Capital is the long-running Munich-based venture firm that anchors much of German technology investing. Founded in 2000 with more than two and a half billion euros under management and approximately two hundred fifty to two hundred ninety active portfolio companies, HV is among Europe’s most prolific venture investors, with thirteen unicorns, eight IPOs, and notable outcomes including Zalando, Delivery Hero, FlixBus, HelloFresh, and Lazada. For physician-founders building healthcare AI tools, HV Capital represents a partner with the institutional infrastructure to support a software-driven healthcare or digital therapeutics company from earliest stages through growth, with stage flexibility from Pre-Seed and Seed through Series A, B, C, and growth rounds, and check sizes of one to five million dollars at the early-stage entry point and meaningful follow-on capacity beyond.

The investment thesis is technology-broad and software-led. HV broadened its focus over time to include B2B and SaaS, logistics, healthcare, AI, and blockchain, with an emphasis on consumer tech, fintech, e-commerce, marketplaces, and increasingly healthtech, climate tech, and AI as standalone categories. Within healthcare and digital health, the firm concentrates on software-driven B2B healthcare and digital therapeutics where the underlying business looks like a software company and the unit economics match. AI is evaluated horizontally across the portfolio, with healthcare applications assessed against the same software fundamentals the firm applies to its broader portfolio. The firm leads early-stage rounds from approximately five hundred thousand to ten million euros, growth-stage investments of up to sixty million euros, and follow-on investments of up to one hundred million euros per company. Founders should expect a partner with stage flexibility but with clear views on unit economics, sales motion, and capital efficiency.

The portfolio illustrates the breadth of the platform. HV has backed category-defining European companies including Zalando, Delivery Hero, FlixBus, and HelloFresh, with healthcare and digital health investments emerging more recently as the firm has built dedicated focus in the area. The firm’s healthcare-active partner team includes Mina Mutafchieva, who carries a healthcare investment background. Across nearly three hundred active companies, HV’s pattern is software-driven businesses with strong unit economics and global ambitions; healthcare investments are evaluated against that same template, with clinical and regulatory dimensions assessed alongside the standard software diligence.

Stage and check size give HV unusual flexibility. The firm engages from Pre-Seed and Seed through Series A, B, C, and growth, with one-to-five-million-dollar checks at the early-stage entry point and the capacity to write much larger checks as companies scale. Founders raising small Seed rounds can engage HV alongside specialized Seed funds; founders raising defining Series A rounds in the five-to-fifteen-million-euro band fit naturally with HV taking lead or co-lead positions. The firm reserves capital generously, supports portfolio companies through multiple rounds, and is comfortable scaling its position as evidence accumulates. Companies expecting passive Seed capital without operating engagement are unlikely to find the fit; companies looking for an active partner across multiple rounds align well.

Decision-making sits with a senior partnership in Munich, supported by sector specialists across consumer tech, fintech, B2B SaaS, healthtech, and other categories. The investment process is partnership-led, with sponsoring partners owning the relationship through diligence and post-investment support. Investment committees provide structured review, and the firm’s healthcare-active partners draw on operating advisors and clinical references when relevant. The recent partnership with Rabo Frontier Ventures in 2020 expanded HV’s co-investment relationships in agriculture and food technology, complementing healthcare engagement.

Warm-intro paths run through existing HV portfolio CEOs, leading European Seed funds whose Series A graduates align with HV’s stage range, the firm’s network of business angels and international co-investors, and the broader Munich and Berlin technology ecosystem. Founders previously backed by HV are effective references, since the firm maintains long-term relationships across cycles. Cold inbound through generic forms is workable, but introductions through people who have done diligence with the firm move materially faster.

Founders should approach HV Capital when they have a software-grade business with healthcare-specific application, a credible go-to-market motion, and ambition to build a European or global category leader. Pure clinical-stage device companies without software fundamentals may find better-aligned specialist partners; software-led digital therapeutics, B2B healthcare software, and healthcare AI platforms are the natural fit. The firm rewards founders who arrive with rigorous unit economics, a clear sales motion, and a defined plan for converting early traction into category leadership. For European founders building software-driven healthcare AI companies, HV Capital is among the most institutionally capable early-stage and growth partners on the continent.