+++ Press release +++
German Startups Group acquires software technology for livestream auctions from the insolvency estate of Auctionata AG
Berlin, 06 June 2017 – German Startups Group, the most active private venture capital investor since 2012 (CB Insights 2015, PitchBook 2016), acquires the entire software technology for online livestream auctions from the liquidator of the insolvency estate of Auctionata Paddle8 AG. Auctionata was a formerly very successful, internationally active Berlin-based startup with over 300 employees, which had to file for bankruptcy in the beginning of 2017. Auctionata invested a double-digit million amount in the development of its unique, patented software technology in the time period from 2012 through 2016. It makes it possible to host online auctions globally in real-time, in which participants can bid live via PC, tablet, or smartphone, no matter where in the world they are. The development team of Auctionata is considered to be the inventor of the “livestream auction“. Over 800 global online auctions have been hosted and countless online record prices have been realised using this technology–for example the sale of a Chinese clock for 3.4 million euros via smartphone. Auctionata was valued at as high asover200 million eurosas an individual company, but eventually failed becauseof the over-ambitious takeover of the US counterpart Paddle8.
Christoph Gerlinger, CEO of German Startups Group, comments, “Auctions are a core pricing mechanism within the market economy and applied in countless areas. They will increasingly take place online since, across national borders, a much higher number of bidders can be reached. This is why we strongly believe in the value of a leading software technology for livestream auctions. It provides a basis for the digitalisation of the auction business. With its help, online auctions in all branches are possible–ranging from art, antiquities, jewelry, watches, vintage cars, and wines to estates, inventories, special items, real estate, and securities.”
Investor Relations Kontakt
German Startups Group
Marcel Doeppes
ir@tpgholding.com
www.tpgholding.com
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 most active private venture capital investor in Germany since 2012 (CB Insights 2015, PitchBook 2016). 24 of the 43 minority stakeholdings in operationally active companies are of particular significance to German Startups Group and together comprise 91% of the total value of all 43 active minority stakeholdings. The ten core holdings alone make up 62% 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 at https://tpgholding.com/.