After years of experience as a “simple” investor, PUSH Ventures launched its first large and registered investment fund last year. Lukas Püspök and Laurenz Simbruner, the two partners behind the VC, were able to top up the fund with just over 20 million euros. Investments are to be made in health and climate start-ups – with plenty of (family) tailwind.
The focus on climate start-ups is not surprising, as the Püspök family in particular can look back on many years of projects in this sector: the family company has been involved in generating electricity from renewable energy since 1997. The story began more than 20 years ago with the development and construction of one of the first wind farms in Burgenland. More than two decades later, the next generation is taking the next steps, together with Laurenz Simbruner and investment manager David Aigner. In addition to the family business Püspök, Cornerstone investors are RPG Capital, the aws Venture Fund, business angel Hansi Hansmann and the mySugr founder and Themis founder Erich Tauber.
“Together we enable fantastic companies”
Push Ventures focuses on pre-seed and seed startups in the DACH region, with a focus on health and climate issues. “We believe that the megatrends of health and climate tech are intact, regardless of the general economic conditions,” explained Simbruner shortly after the start of the fund. PUSH Ventures is planning for the long term: “We believe it is a good time to invest now because the exits are not expected to take place for seven to ten years, and we assume that technology and digitization will not lose importance.” The belief In any case, there is something there: “We are absolutely convinced that good founders can make a significant contribution to the areas of Health & Future of the Planet if they receive venture capital. Our goal is to enable fantastic companies together and to make our contribution. The energy/climate focus area in particular is more relevant than ever.”
Broad portfolio
The portfolio of the fund speaks a corresponding language, although there is a clear predominance of startups with a health focus: mySugr, 9am.health, &BAM or Zense all take care of health issues, as do myclubs (fitness) or Blub Blub (speech therapy for Children). The portfolio is rounded off by tech and climate startups, but artificial intelligence also plays a larger role, for example at Mostly AI or Exscienta.
Anyline as a possible unicorn
Don’t forget Anyline, which the founders consider to be one of the upcoming unicorns. The chosen strategy seems to be working: “Even if it sounds stupid, both of our focus areas are part of real megatrends,” explains Simbruner. “We believe that a lot of ‘consumerization’ will happen in the health sector in particular and that digitization and a lot more AI will find its way in general. This will take the topic of personalizing health to another level,” the two partners hope. According to Püspök, the same applies to the second major pillar of the fund: “There is so much going on in the climate sector, there will definitely be many new business models that we don’t even know about today. The topics of Energy Transition, Food & Agriculture, Industry & Manufacturing, Mobility and also very strongly the Built Environment are very important here.”
If you have an idea, you are of course welcome at PUSH Ventures – and you don’t have to bring much with you at the beginning: “We want a good mix of team, tech and traction,” say Püspök and Simbruner. There shouldn’t be a cap table yet, i.e. no scattered ownership shares, “because it’s more difficult to repair”. The ROI is not in a hurry either: “We’re patient,” smiles Püspök, who should know – after all, years of tradition don’t happen in one day.
PUSH Ventures
Fund size: around 50 million euros
Founders & Partners: Lukas Püspök & Laurenz Simbruner
Portfolio size: 25 companies
Portfolio Unicorns: anyline, 9amHealth, Exscientia
Ticket sizes: – Pre-Seed: 100-300k, – Seed: 500k-1m
Verticals / search fields: Health & Future of the planet
Pitch Deck Submission: [email protected]
This interview is from our new magazine, Founders Guide. The 60-page magazine can be downloaded here free of charge.
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