Based in Frankfurt, London and Munich, Digital+ Partners is a leading growth equity investor focused on DACH and European B2B technology companies with over USD 750 million assets under management. Digital+ Partners led PriceHubble’s USD 34 million Series B round last year. We sat down with Patrick Beitel, Partner and Managing Director of Digital+ Partners, to get to know more about their involvement.
What is unique about your fund?
Digital+ Partners is a pure-play B2B tech investor. We differentiate ourselves through our deep B2B domain expertise and a global corporate network which we leverage to provide our portfolio companies with high-impact, strategic support, and access to key decision makers. We are an active investor supporting our portfolio companies much beyond the quarterly board meetings – exemplary support initiatives include i) sparring regarding strategy, technology roadmap and finance processes, ii) assistance and advise around identifying and on-boarding key senior management talent and iii) advise and support in the identification and evaluation of strategic M&A opportunities. Additionally, we enable best-practice sharing across our portfolio – as 100% of our 22 portfolio companies are B2B tech business in the growth stage and most of them have an international footprint (incl. the US), there are a lot of synergies which we enable through dedicated round tables (e.g., CEO, CRO, or CTO roundtables).
What investments do you prefer to look at?
Our investments usually have the below profile:
- Sector focus: B2B Technology businesses (mostly software but also hardware-enabled software).
- Financial profile: Growth stage which we define as businesses with at least USD 5.0m in revenues/ARR and at least a 40-50% annual growth rate.
- Investment profile: we invest between USD 20m and USD 50m initially. With more than USD 750m in assets under management, we have the ability to support our portfolio businesses also in future funding rounds with total commitment per portfolio business of up to USD 75m.
- Company profile: Strong technological differentiation, large market opportunity and a management team with the ambition to scale their business into a global category leader.
Which part of a business do you most enjoy discussing with a founder?
With the founders, we deeply enjoy discussing their vision and the strategy of how they plan to get there. E.g., right after our investment in PriceHubble, we met Julien, Markus and Stefan in Zurich and sat down for a half-day workshop to discuss the strategy going forward including organic vs. M&A growth opportunities and key management amendments.
What are your top 3 tips for founders?
I would give the following tips for founders:
- Focus on a few key use cases initially and make sure your customers understand what you do. We have seen the best technologies fail because management lost focus and customers simply did not understand the product/technology.
- Over-invest in your HR function and build a best-in-class HR organisation as early as possible to enable future growth.
- Know your cap table. If you decide to go for external funding, make sure to spend a lot of time building the relationship with the investor upfront and over time, because you will be working with them for various years and you need to get along.
What made you decide to invest into PriceHubble?
We believe PriceHubble is best positioned to become the international category leader in providing premium, connected and data-driven solutions and workflows for all players in residential real estate and finance marketplaces. Why? First, we see a strong need for a new arising category of market leading analytics and insights in real estate to enable real estate agents, banks and brokers to support existing and open additional revenue streams. Second, the European market is made up of many local AVM vendors with no or at least a limited international footprint. In contrast to those local vendors, PriceHubble already successfully operates in more than 9 international markets (with many more to come). Finally, and just as importantly: The team. PriceHubble combines an excellent management team around Julien, Markus and Stefan as Chairman, and a mature technology-driven organisation. We believe the company is therefore ideally equipped to accelerate further growth opportunities including M&A, attract further top talent and scale-up the go-to-market organisation internationally.
See also
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Real estate wealth management: Secure long-term financial success in an evolving market
Real estate wealth management has emerged as a crucial element of a successful investment strategy in today's ever-evolving market. With the total value of global real estate estimated at approximately $379.7 trillion in 2022, according to Savills, a London-based real estate consulting firm, the importance of effective management cannot be overstated. These global figures also hold significant implications for Europe’s market, underscoring the need for strategic asset management.
Automated valuation models (AVMs): How real estate professionals benefit from them
In today’s fast-paced property market, automated valuation models (AVMs) are revolutionising property valuation with remarkable speed and efficiency. These cutting-edge solutions reduce the need for traditional, time-consuming physical appraisals, enabling quicker decisions and smoother transactions. While AVMs offer significant advantages, they are best suited to specific scenarios.
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