The ZOHO.VC investment team (left to right): Dennis Kirpensteijn, Benjamin Bauer, Judit Klein, and Nicolas Sievers. Individual photos by ZOHO.VC.
ZOHO.VC, the venture arm of incubator Zollhof in the German city of Nuremberg and affiliated with the local Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), has raised €7 million for the first close of its inaugural fund.
The fund has a target of €10 million, and ZOHO.VC expects the final close by the end of the year. However, the team reportedly anticipates an oversubscription, given significant interest in the fund and the fact it’s already made five investments.
“Securing 70% of our capital by the first closing is a massive vote of confidence from our LPs. They support us not only with capital but with their own networks, expert knowledge across a variety of industries and technologies, and immense entrepreneurial experience. It also shows that our approach – being deeply rooted in the operational startup ecosystem – strikes a chord in today’s market.”
Dennis Kirpensteijn, general partner at ZOHO.VC
The capital commitments have come from family offices and startup founders, though none of them have been identified.
ZOHO.VC makes individual investments of €200,000 in early-stage business-to-business companies, focusing on university spinouts and deep tech startups. It can also invest in startups from its network.
Its pipeline primarily comes via Zollhof. The incubator is the heart of the ZOHO Factory, one of ten startup factories selected by the German government in July 2025, which unlocked a €30 million investment.
The FAU spent seven years consolidating its startup activities in Zollhof and aims to turn it into one of Europe’s leading startup hubs by 2030.
