The seed investor High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) finances tech start-ups with growth potential and has supported more than 700 start-ups since 2005. With the launch of its fourth fund, HTGF now has about 1.4 billion euros under management. Its team of experienced investment managers and start-up experts support young companies with expertise, entrepreneurial spirit and passion. HTGF’s focus is on high-tech start-ups in the fields of digital tech, industrial tech, life sciences, chemistry and related business areas. To date, external investors have injected about 5 billion euros of capital into the HTGF portfolio via more than 2,000 follow-on financing rounds. In addition, HTGF has already successfully sold shares in more than 170 companies. Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries. Fund investors in this public-private partnership include the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, KfW Capital and 45 companies from a wide range of industries.

HTGF | High-Tech Gruenderfonds

We are neoteq ventures. As an earlystage VC based in Cologne, we support founding teams from the very beginning in building companies that change industries. Digitalization is changing entire markets. We are convinced that the accompanying change opens up countless opportunities for exciting business models and companies. As an early-stage VC with a clear tech focus, we invest in companies from the (pre-)seed stage to Series A that are able to solve a relevant customer problem with their product, regardless of their industry, and have the potential to become market leaders in their market segment. We invest throughout Germany with a focus on the Rhineland.

neoteq ventures

Notion is an entrepreneur-led venture capital firm that focuses on high potential businesses in the Cloud Computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) markets. It is an early-stage venture fund that focuses mainly on technology and cloud computing markets. The firm helps European tech companies fulfill their potential and achieve a massive scale. Notion invests early when it can build strong relationships and help to shape the future success of its companies. Notion Capital was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in London, England.

Notion Capital

Robin Capital focuses on software and technology solutions that address meaningful problems but am vertical agnostic.

Robin Capital

Tomorrow Things

Tomorrow Thing is an intelligent automation platform that generates digital twins of technical assets.  It enables third-party AI services based on digitized assets to improve the world's sustainability and efficiency.

<div>Germany-based Tomorrow Things is focused on developing a digital twin product that creates a virtual replica of physical assets, processes, and factories. Its platform utilizes AI-generated blueprints, comparable to a machine's fingerprint, enabling rapid and simplified digital twin construction. The company claims the platform can save up to 90% of integration costs for users.&nbsp;</div>

Using real-time data to create dynamic virtual representations of the real world

Digital Twin

<div>
 
 Germany-based Tomorrow Things is focused on developing a digital twin product that creates a virtual replica of physical assets, processes, and factories. Its platform utilizes AI-generated blueprints, comparable to a machine's fingerprint, enabling rapid and simplified digital twin construction. The company claims the platform can save up to 90% of integration costs for users.&nbsp;
 
 
 The platform enables manufacturers to optimize production lines, predict potential issues, and make data-driven decisions without disrupting real-world operations.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company operates a D2C and B2B business model offering its cloud solution on a subscription basis at EUR 150 per month for individuals and EUR 15,000 per month for enterprises.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27592">
 March 2024
 </a>
 , Tomorrow Things secured EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.6 million) in a funding round co-led by High-Tech Gr&uuml;nderfonds and neoteq ventures. The funds were allocated to developing the company&rsquo;s operating system and expanding its digital twin product.
 
</div>

Norway-based Cognite is a provider of digital twin modeling software for an entire operation through complex industrial data. With machine learning and physics simulators, companies are able to use these for predictive maintenance, production optimization, and better decision-making.&nbsp;Its main solution Cognite Data Fusion offers an open industrial digital twin by integrating IT, operational, and engineering data from sources such as ERPs, MES, and IoT platforms. The data is cleaned and contextualized into a single location and turned into insights for actionable advice, which then is used to build and automate workflows. The company claimed to be the first company to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17445">achieve DNV-RP-A204 compliance </a>for its core product, Cognite Data Fusion.&nbsp;In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16217">February 2023</a>, the company advanced with new data-modeling capabilities to accelerate (up to 10–25x) deployments of industrial digital solutions and reduce cost and complexity for users. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25399">January 2024</a>, the company launched the beta version of a GenAI remote operations control room at the Celanese facility to deliver real-time operational transparency.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company provides its solution mainly to the oil and gas, power and utilities, and manufacturing sectors. Its key customers include Siemens and Rockwell Automation.&nbsp;The company had partnered with Microsoft in January 2024 to integrate Cognite Data Fusion with Microsoft Fabric and deliver an AI-powered industrial data operations solution. In June 2022, Cognite formed a joint venture, CNTXT, with Saudi Aramco to provide its digitization services in the Middle East region for the private and public sectors. Also, in October 2022, the company partnered with industrial automation company Rockwell Automation to develop an industrial data hub for the manufacturing sector by combining Rockwell’s software, FactoryTalk, and the Cognite Data Fusion.Furthermore, in September 2022, the company partnered with Schlumberger to integrate the Cognite Data Fusion to Schlumberger’s Enterprise Data Solution to contextualize data in an interoperable platform.&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 150 million in May 2021 in an equity funding round from TCV, which brought the valuation of the company to USD 1.6 billion. The funds were allocated toward expanding its platform to global industries.&nbsp;Furthermore, in January 2022, petroleum and gas company Saudi Aramco purchased 100% of Aker BP's shares in Cognite to own a majority stake of 7.4% at a value of USD 183 million.

Cognite

Nexar is a developer of smart dash cams that gathers real-time street footage to create a digital twin of the physical world and provide data to users for decision-making. As of June 2024, the company had covered over 1.5 billion miles of imagery and holds 4T images in a neural library.&nbsp;Using AI and computer vision, captured images and videos from cars are localized on a map to detect any changes in roads to provide actionable changed data across the platform CityStream and Nexar network. The platform provides features such as detecting changes on the road (such as road blockages, potholes, and construction), driver behavioral maps, autonomous vehicles systems, and compute and connectivity optimization.&nbsp;In August 2022, the company acquired Portugal-based Veniam to combine its data with Veniam’s communications technology and provide real-time mapping for mobility applications.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company operates a B2B business model providing its services to enterprises and institutions in the logistics, road construction, and insurance industries. Its key customers include the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada, which partnered with Nexar in May 2021 to improve road management in Las Vegas. Also, in August 2021, the company partnered with Black Car Fund to provide cameras for Black car operators (rideshare drivers) in New York to protect Black Car Fund members in the case of accident or assault.&nbsp;It also partnered with AWS to deploy images, videos, and AI detections using AWS.&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 53 million in November 2021 in a Series D funding round led by Qumra Capital. The funds were used to scale its digital twin service using dash cam footage for automotive OEMs and cities.

Nexar

Seeq is a provider of data analytics enabling insights, predictions, and collaboration for better production and business outcomes.The company’s product portfolio includes softwares for data analytics including 1) Seeq Workbench for advanced analytics, 2) Seeq Organizer for publishing reports and dashboards, 3) Seeq Data Lab for accessing Python libraries, and 4) Seeq Cortex for IT governance, data connectivity, and calculation features. Furthermore, the company provides deployment via cloud, SaaS solutions, and on premise depending on the customer’s system.Key customers and partnershipsThe company provides its services in more than 40 countries focusing on process manufacturing industries, including oil and gas, pharmaceutical, chemical, energy, mining, and food and beverage. In June 2024, Seeq partnered with Equinor, an international energy company, to leverage Seeq's platform across Equinor's global assets.Seeq’s software is built on long-term vendor partnerships such as SIsoft, Honeywell (since 2017), and Siemens (since 2017). Seeq has also partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure to develop features specific to their offerings, recognizing Seeq's expertise in providing cloud solutions for the manufacturing and industrial sector. Other partners include Schneider Electric and Inductive Automation.

Seeq

Q Bio provides a predictive assessment platform to analyse existential risk in an individual’s health. The company claims its platform, Gemini Digital Twin, is the fastest and safest scanner, which takes 15 minutes for the whole body to be scanned.&nbsp;The company provides the Q Exam, which gathers millions of data points from the individual’s body, such as blood, saliva, and vitals, and sends results via a web-based Q Dashboard to the individual’s physicians. Data is facilitated via the Gemini platform that captures whole body patient vitals in a non-invasive manner.&nbsp;&nbsp;The company operates a B2B2C business model offering services via employers and to individuals. It charges membership plans for one year at USD 3,495 for one exam and USD 6,495 for two exams.&nbsp;Q Bio's is developing the Mark I scanner which uses proprietary tensor field mapping technology to offer full-body scans with 3,000 anatomical measurements in just 10 minutes, creating digital twins and large biological models for health insights. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31878">July 2024</a>, Q Bio secured USD 27 million in strategic funding to propel the Mark I scanner toward market launch.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn May 2021, the company partnered with Amazon Web Services to provide Q Bio’s services on its cloud platform.

Q Bio

Israel-based Locusview has developed a digital construction management platform to allow companies to manage projects from start to end. The platform is supported by technological capabilities in physical assets, such as plastic and steel pipes, to enable a digital thread (information of an asset such as model or size) and for supply chain and asset traceability.&nbsp;The platform provides features to manage construction projects in and off the field including GPS and sensor-based data collection, fieldwork validations, cloud-based deployment and scaling, real-time progress tracking, online approvals, and built-in reports. Furthermore, companies can lease the complete solution or get a consultation for a customized solution.The company operates a B2B business model, providing its services mainly to the energy, utilities, and telecom industries.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company’s customer base includes more than 30 leading energy utilities and telecom companies. The company has a market presence in India, the US, Australia, Mexico, the UK, and Israel.&nbsp;The company had partnered with Esri to offer a complete end-to-end solution for Esri-based utilities. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 64 million in April 2021 in a Series A funding round led by Israel Growth Partners. The funds were used to expand the platform capabilities and for market expansion.

Locusview

Companies that facilitate the creation of digital twins to monitor and maintain assets, including buildings and network infrastructure.

Platforms that facilitate digital twin modeling by either collectively or individually offering any combination of data capture and analytics solutions.

Companies offering digital twins to gain insights for use in commercial planning, logistics and distribution, and other supply chain processes.

Companies that offer digital twins to assess risks and recommend solutions in areas such as disaster management, DNA testing, clinical trials (to simulate effects of treatments), etc.

Used to design and build components contributing to smart cities, roads, airports, public transportation systems, etc.

Digital twins are the primary enabling technology for the digital twin industry

Startups can create digital twins of cities; enables modeling/simulation to improve efficiency/quality of life

Digital twins can be applied in the telecommunications industry for remote monitoring of communication towers

Startups can use digital twins to automate and proactively monitor industrial production lines and facilities

Uses edge computing for cost-effective and real-time data processing by reducing transmission costs

Uses AI/ML for the creation of digital twins and when running simulations

Digital twin startups use IoT for remote data collection from sensors to create digital twins

Tomorrow Things

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