Markets operator Deutsche Borse has announced that its Deutsche Börse Venture Network will launch its Venture Match service at the end of September.
Venture Match will facilitate financing rounds involving investors and growth companies. The service will leverage the Venture Network platform launched in June 2015, which currently connects just under 200 international investors with more than 100 growth companies from Germany and Europe.
Hauke Stars, member of Deutsche Börse AG’s Executive Board said:
Investors as well as entrepreneurs are facing major challenges in growth financing. The market is intransparent, forcing businesses to undertake significant efforts in acquiring investors – yet they often fail to achieve their target financing volumes. Investors on the other hand often have inadequate access to gain exposure to attractive investments. With Venture Match, we will bring together growth companies and investors on a neutral platform.
For this purpose, Deutsche Börse Venture Network staff continuously seek to match the preferences of participating investors and companies – submitting customised proposals to investors, based on company reports. Venture Network staff then support the subsequent process amongst the parties, through match-making events, roadshows, and the online platform.
Venture Match forms part of the strategic initiative to establish a comprehensive ecosystem, Ms Stars explained: “We want to gradually expand our traditional exchange business through pre-market initiatives. Our goal is to build an ecosystem for growth, which supports and promotes enterprises from their start-up to the growth phase – and ultimately, an IPO.”
Deutsche Börse Venture Network has organised twelve investor roadshows since its launch, including in Frankfurt, London, New York, Boston, and in the Silicon Valley. Participating growth companies have closed 22 financing rounds with an aggregate financing volume in excess of €700 million.