T-Systems is one of Europe’s leading providers of information and communications technology (ICT). Within the Deutsche Telekom group, the T-Systems brand symbolizes the strategic business area “Business customers”: this comprises some 60 multinational groups and large public authorities, as well as 160,000 large and medium-sized companies.
The T-Systems Venture Fund was founded in July 2004 and has 50 million Euro corporate venture capital under management - for all T-Systems' businesses worldwide. The Fund’s purpose to generate capital gain comes along with a window of opportunity for T-Systems getting access to innovative products, technologies and solutions developed by start-up companies. The investments of the T-Systems Venture Fund are part of T-Systems´ business strategy and afford the opportunity to all involved parties to participate at the synergies of a close cooperation. In respect to identifying scalable and sustainable business models and managing the portfolio of the T-Systems Venture Fund, the professionals are skilled in industry, management and technology competence. Overall T-Systems Venture Fund is known as the strategic investor for all start-ups as well as other investors at the ICT-market.
The fund has the two primary objectives - strategic and financial. The fund seeks leading edge technologies and solutions that will make T-Systems and its corporate customers more competitive by expanding and improving the product portfolio of T-Systems. The fund seeks to partner with entrepreneurs who have innovative and scalable business ideas with synergies to T-Systems, and assist them in building profitable and sustainable operations.
Beside the pure strategic investment criteria, the other key element of investment decisions is capital gain. The fund invests in companies that have the greatest potential to achieve sustainable profitability and that offer attractive exit opportunities through a trade sale or IPO. These objectives are achieved by investing directly as lead- or co-investor in start-up companies with experienced management teams and scalable business models. For the start-up companies a major benefit of an investment by the fund arises from the access they gain to T-Systems’ businesses, partners, customers and new markets.
The investment focus is on minority participations in European and North American start-up companies in the early- and expansion stage. Investments in other regions are also possible if attractive opportunities are identified.
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