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5. August 2021Schenker Ventures, the new unit of DB Schenker, supports innovative ideas for the logistics industry. Venture capital investments in emerging startups and business models are the business model. A venture studio will be established together with MVP Factory. DB Schenker is already collaborating worldwide with more than 50 startups and tech companies.
(Essen) DB Schenker has today launched its new unit Schenker Ventures, which aims to drive innovations in logistics by supporting and collaborating with entrepreneurs. Founders and startups will be supported with capital, industry experience, and resources. Schenker Ventures will consolidate and expand the existing corporate venture activities and related investments of DB Schenker. Additionally, Schenker Ventures will create a venture studio together with the Berlin agency MVP Factory, combining entrepreneurial freedom with the strength of an established global partner.
Jochen Thewes, CEO of DB Schenker: “We want to be the driving force of new ideas in the logistics industry. And we want to shape the future to be digital and climate-friendly. Schenker Ventures will unleash the important innovations needed through entrepreneurial freedom, creativity, and determination. As a strategic initiative alongside our day-to-day business, Schenker Ventures will be closely integrated with DB Schenker but is intentionally not located within the company itself. A new chapter for startups in the logistics industry is beginning now.”
Big Ideas Need Entrepreneurial Freedom
Patric Hoffmann, head of Schenker Ventures: “At Schenker Ventures, we have a guiding principle: Big ideas need entrepreneurial freedom. Therefore, founders must retain control over their companies. To achieve this, we want to create an environment where they remain owners and retain full strategic leeway. As an experienced company with an extensive network, we can support founders with capital, expertise in supply chains, logistical infrastructure, and contacts to exciting customers worldwide.”
The new unit consists of two pillars. The first pillar consolidates all existing venture capital activities of DB Schenker. Schenker Ventures will act as a long-term investor. The focus here is on financing rounds from the seed phase to Series B+. In selecting suitable startups, Schenker Ventures focuses on the development and design of new business models that are oriented towards digital, technology-driven, and sustainability-focused logistics concepts.
New Path to Founding Logistics Companies
The second pillar is a venture studio that has been set up together with the startup incubator MVP Factory. The goal is to pave a new way for the founding of logistics companies. The venture studio enables suitable entrepreneurs to drive the ongoing and profound transformation of the logistics industry. Each company is based on its own ideas but can also draw on concepts developed jointly by Schenker Ventures and MVP Factory. Selected founders receive all the resources needed to start a successful business, including capital, mentoring, and expertise.
Philipp Petrescu, CEO of MVP Factory: “Building a company is not an easy task. Together with the founding teams, we leverage our expertise in product development to quickly validate ideas, develop prototypes, and find initial paying customers, which increases the chances of success. Together with DB Schenker, we now offer outstanding entrepreneurs the opportunity for a head start to launch the next generation of successful logistics companies.”
16 Startups from the German-speaking Region
DB Schenker is already collaborating worldwide with more than 50 startups and tech companies from various business areas and functional units, including currently 16 startups from the German-speaking region. Recent successes of this collaboration include investments in and partnerships with Volocopter, the pioneer of Urban Air Mobility, and with Gideon Brothers, a developer of autonomous mobile robots.
Startups and potential founders with logistics and supply chain relevance are invited to find out how Schenker Ventures can support them on their journey.
Photo: © DB Schenker / Image caption: from left to right: Patric Hoffmann, head of Schenker Ventures, Jochen Thewes, CEO of DB Schenker, and Philipp Petrescu, CEO of MVP Factory
