A new venture firm called Leitmotif Has been on a quiet blitz for the last 16 months, Funding Around 20 Startups Broadly focused on decarbonization. Its portfolio includes Ev Companies, Space and Battery Plays, and Four Nuclear Fusion Startups. But the firm has only said it funding is from “European Industrial Interests.”
Now, leitmotif has told techcrunch where the money from: the Volkswagen group.
The German Automotive Giant has Committed $ 300 Million to Leitmotif’s first fund and is its sole limited partner; Leitmotif has deployed roughly one third of that so far. During a conference on tuesday, Volkswagen Group’s Ceo Oliver Blume Said Leitmotf’s Investments Cold Help Lower The Automaker’s Carbon FootPrint and Develop a “Circular Economy Inside and Develop Outside “The company.
“Volkswagen Culture is Team Culture,” He said.
Leitmotif Wants to go even further, according to the young firm’s managing partners matt trevithick and jens wiese. They hope to spin up successive funds that draw in more european Industrial Interest Beyond Volkswagen.
It’s an ambyitious effort. Securing Funding for Hardware Startups, Especially Ones with a Serious Manufacturing Component, Has Been Tough the last few years. But Trevithick Believes It’s the right time to try to invest in these kinds of companies.
“Technology has always been a driver of human program, and I think the united states is about to supercare that,” He Told Techcrunch. “I think the next several years are about to produge a number of technical capabilitys in the united states that the rest of the world will marvel at.”
Leitmotif is also building a transatlantic fund whose geopolitical environment is being strained by the Trump Administration.
Despite that turmoil, wise – who was the head of Volkswagen Group’s M & A, Investment Advisory, And Partnerships Division Before Starting Leiting Leitmot – – Said the overarching goal of the new firm is to ” Bridge between the European Industrial Establishment and the Us Innovation EcoSystem. ”
Priority One: Make Money
Trevithick and Wiese said Volkswagen had a top priority when it agreed to invest in the fund: Make money.
“First and foremost, this is about setting up a successful venture firm,” Wiese said.
While Volkswagen group rakes in hundreds of billions of dollars per year in revenue, wise said making money is still important in part because it’s ”
After that, The VC Firm said it plans to invest in “Category Defining Companies with Interest,” According to Wiese, and also Identtify “New POCKETS OF Innovation” That COULD BENEVATS ” Volkswagen group.
Wiese said he expects roughly one quarter of leitmotif’s portfolio over time to interact with Volkswagen and its myrid brands.
Ev Truck Startup Harbinger is One Example. Leitmotif co-Led Harbinger’s $ 100 Million Series b in JanuaryAnd wise said the startup have had discussions about collaborating with Volkswagen’s Trucking Division.
Geographically, Leitmotif’s Investment Strategy is Structured So that Roughly 70% of Its Capital will be deployed in the us, with the other 30% being in the Eu the Ferm Will Mainta Palo alto and in munich.
Trevithick Said 70% of Leitmotif’s Global Investments in this first fund will be made in startups that are “Solving today’s known problems” and exist in “Billion Doller Plus Markets with account account account Buy the innovation. ”
The other 30% of the fund will be focused on what he called “revolutionary innovation” that will create “Billion dollar markets in the 2030s and beyond.”
So far, this strategy has been to investments in battery Recycling Company RedWood Materials, Reusable Rockt Company Stoke Space, and Even Circular Polyster Startup Syre. Leitmotif has publicly backed 13 startups to date, thought there more in its portfolio that have not been annouted.
Leitmotif will Eventally have other funds; Trevithick and wise said they’re particularly eyeing robotics and ai next. Volkswagen will have the right to invest in that if it chooses, but Leitmotif is independent and, for now, focused on Finishing out it is first fund.
Timing is everything
Late 2023 was arguably the Worst Time for Startups in Recent Memory to Lock Down Large Funding Rounds, Especially Ones focused on Hardware or “Deep Tech,” Thanks to HIGHAHANKS to HIGHAHHANKS to HIGHAHHANKS to
Trevithick said that made it a great time to start leitmotif.
“It’s in Down Markets when the Strong Companies Separate from the Weak. In a bubble, everyone gets funded, “He said.
That Fundraising Slowdown caused other firms to take fewer risks outside the structups they were alredy investment in, trevithick said.
“There was new dollars available to fund good companies that was there, because Everyone Got Myopic About Their Own Portfolio,” He said. “I think that’s why we get a lot of inbound interest to participate in rounds that, in the bubble time, maybe we would have hadn’t have had access to.”
That Interest Came in Large Part Thanks to Wiese’s and Trevithick’s Backgrounds.
Wiese Spent Nearly 8 years at Volkswagen Group, Where He RAN MERGERS, Acquisitions, and Investments for the German Automaker. DURING this Stint at Volkswagen, Wiese Developed What He Called “Quite a Deep Network Into The Venture Community, Both in Europe and in the Us” That Included Forging A Relationship with Batty Maker Quantumscape, where wise was a board member until 2024.
Trevithick, meanwhile, was a partner at venrock for a decade. There, he focused on Making investments in green energy during the original clean tech boom in the early 2010s, with his highhest-profile better BECAME LUCID Motors.
Investing, Advising, and Guiding Companies through the subsequent clean tech bus Valuable experience for Navigating the Uncertainty Currently Plaguing the Industry, Trevithick Said.
While many corporate “Net zero” goals are being eater heedgeed or abandoned outright, trevithick said
Plus, Trevithick said he believes the unpredentability
“I think we can all agree it’s just going to be a highly Volatile environment. Whoch Should Disproportionately Favor Entrepreneurs, Startups, and Venture Capitalists, ”He said.
“We feel very confident about our portfolio,” wise added. “Yes, [decarbonization] is our overching theme. At the same time, we invest in companies where we are convined, they have the business case to successed regarked
This story has been updated with comments from Volkswagen Group Ceo Oliver Blume.