Gruenderfonds Ruhr
Gruenderfonds Ruhr is an Essen-based early-stage venture capital investor founded in 2017 by Initiativkreis Ruhr and NRW.BANK as the first privately financed seed fund for the Ruhr region. It backs seed and pre-seed B2B tech startups in life sciences, MedTech, cybersecurity, industrial tech and energy, primarily in the Ruhr area with up to a quarter of capital deployable across Germany. It now runs three vehicles managed by its own manager Ruhrgruender Management GmbH: Fund I (2017, EUR 34.5M), Fund II (2024, EUR 31M) and the pre-seed initiative GF BRYCK Ventures (2025).
Key facts
Recent exits
Coverage notes
3 funds tracked, 19 portfolio companies (17 active · 2 realized). Verified weekly from public filings and deal announcements.
Funds & portfolio
Every fund Gruenderfonds Ruhr has raised, with its portfolio companies. Hand-checked from public filings.
GF BRYCK VenturesVC2025 · 1yr€10M6 active
Unrealized
6 held| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2NA FISH | Biotech | Germany | 2026 |
| CODE University | Software | Germany | 2025 |
| Otter Energy Trading | Energy | Germany | 2025 |
| Re-Twin Energy | Energy | Germany | 2025 |
| reltix | Software | Germany | 2026 |
| Reshape Systems | Deep Tech | Germany | 2025 |
Gruenderfonds Ruhr IIVC2024 · 2yr€31M3 active
Unrealized
3 held| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| CyberDesk | Software | Germany | 2026 |
| Factor2 Energy | Energy | Germany | 2025 |
| iDEL Therapeutics | Biotech | Germany | 2025 |
Gruenderfonds Ruhr IVC2017 · 9yr€35M8 active · 2 realized
Unrealized
8 held| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abalos Therapeutics | Biotech | Germany | 2019 |
| Advosense | MedTech | Germany | 2020 |
| DIMATE | Industrials | Germany | 2019 |
| fasciotens | MedTech | Germany | 2018 |
| LIDROTEC | Industrials | Germany | 2022 |
| Spherity | Cybersecurity | Germany | 2022 |
| talpasolutions | Industrials | Germany | 2018 |
| VMRay | Cybersecurity | Germany | 2022 |
Realized
2 exits| Company | Sector | Geo | Entry | Exit | Type | Buyer | MOIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emergence Therapeutics | Biotech | Germany | 2019 | 2023 | Trade Sale | – | |
| Masterplan | Software | Germany | 2020 | 2025 | Trade Sale | – |
Saved GPs appear in your watchlist, one click from your workspace.
Similar firms
Other private equity firms tracked on GP Intel.
Germany·€56.0BGermany·€20.0BGermany·€15.0BGermany·€12.0BGermany·€7.5BGermany·€7.0BGermany·€6.5BGermany·€5.8BGermany·€5.0BGermany·€5.0BGermany·€3.0BGermany·€3.0B