Munich Startup: Please introduce yourselves briefly.
Christoph Baumeister: We are Possible Ventures. We help ambitious founders to make the impossible possible. With capital, our network and our own entrepreneurial experience.
Munich Startup: What do you prefer to invest in?
Christoph Baumeister: We invest in companies that are working on the biggest problems of our time using cutting-edge technologies. These can be roughly divided into three categories: Deeptech (which for us includes everything like Climate Tech, Energy Transition, new Sensors & Compute, Space Tech), Healthtech (including TechBio, Psychedelics, etc.) and Software Platforms. We invest as early as possible, which means pre-seed or seed. Often the teams we invest in come from the best universities, such as TUM or LMU. But we invest all over Europe, the US and also Australia.
Possible Ventures invests “in companies working on the biggest problems of our time”
Munich Startup: What kind of startup would you never invest in?
Christoph Baumeister: We do not invest in startups that do not advance humanity. We are an “SFDR Article 8” fund because we value investing in “good”. (Editor’s note: SFDR stands for Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, and “Article 8” funds consider environmental and/or social aspects when selecting their investments).
Munich Startup: Do startups have to worry about you interfering too much?
Christoph Baumeister: Absolutely not. Through our own entrepreneurial experiences, we know very well what you need as a startup: someone you can call or text at any time if you have a problem. Someone who is well networked. And above all, someone who doesn’t think they know everything better, but listens and asks the right questions. We don’t go into the boards of our startups, but informally support the founding team in all important issues – for example, also in communicating with other investors.
Munich Startup: How long does it take from the first contact to the signing of the contract?
Christoph Baumeister: We are a very small team and have very flexible processes. When it is necessary, we are very fast.
Munich Startup: To be successful, a startup must…
Christoph Baumeister: … find a balance between ambition and realism in order to both pursue big goals and set achievable milestones along the way.
Munich Startup: Tell us the knockout criterion for the pitch!
Christoph Baumeister: Not mentioning his co-founders with a single word in an initial conversation with us – startups can only be built in functioning teams.
A bet on the team
Munich Startup: What have you ever miscalculated?
Christoph Baumeister: From our point of view, investments at a very early stage are primarily a bet on the team. In one such case, we were very enthusiastic about the team and their vision and decided to invest. However, just two months later it turned out that the team could not agree on a common vision. The founders then decided to return the almost untouched investment to the investors. The damage was thus minor, but it was also a reminder to us that we usually invest in very young and therefore often still fragile structures. That also gives us a special responsibility.
Munich Startup: The trend of the year is…!
Christoph Baumeister: … AI (but it remains to be seen how many good investment opportunities will result from this).
Munich Startup: What is the Munich startup scene doing right from an investor’s point of view? What could it do better?
Christoph Baumeister: There are numerous excellent (technical) universities and university-related institutions with a strong entrepreneurial focus, such as the CDTM, Manage & More, the LMU Entrepreneurship Center or UnternehmerTUM.
These have been around for some time, but we have the feeling that they are slowly becoming known throughout Germany or even Europe and can develop their full effect. Of course, we would like these programs to have a stronger model effect for other universities.
Munich Startup: Last but not least: Who do startups approach when they want to talk to you?
Christoph Baumeister: Thebest way is through a mutual contact, but a personalized LinkedIn message or a meaningful submission on our website also work very well.