Investing in futuremarket leadersin life science

Peppermint VenturePartners (PVP) is a private Venture Capital firm based in Berlin, Germany. Grown out of Peppermint Holding, a mid-sized industry group, we are dedicated to supporting outstanding entrepreneurs and innovative scientists in transforming life science.

Along the continuum of care, we invest in disruptive and novel solutions that bring increased efficiency, improved accessibility, cost containment, and digitization of the healthcare system and the life science industry.

Our Mission

Match excellence in technology with excellence in business execution.

Our Vision

Unlock the market potential and accelerate growth of technology-driven early-stage companies in the life science tools & services space.

Our Values

We firmly believe that investing in life science is much more than just providing funding for start-ups. Integrity, fairness, commitment, teamwork, diversity and complying with ESG are therefore strong pillars of our investment decisions.

Our Approach

We love working with dedicated founders and management teams in a collaborative way, supporting them with our unique experience and our strong network of relevant stakeholders in the life science sector.

Our Focus

We invest in life sciences companies – preliminary in Europe with a focus on disruptive innovations.

2000

Start of Peppermint VC

2010

PVP relaunched as independent fund manager

>100

years of Venture Capital and industry expertise of team members

21:14

Ratio of investments and exits of team members

6

Active portfolio companies

9,4x

leverage of CBF 1 funds through co-investments by other investors in portfolio companies

This is us

Our team combines a longstanding history in funding, mentoring and developing transformative Life Science companies with operational business expertise ranging from international C-Level to entrepreneurial business building.

Venture Team

Management

The combination of complementary skills and interdisciplinary technical expertise together with comprehensive national and international networks in the life science sector, allows PVP to support its portfolio companies in their development. The PVP team members have a track record working in various constellations on investments and exits of several start-ups in the field.

 

Ingeborg Neumann

Managing Partner

Ingeborg Neumann

Managing Partner

Ingeborg Neumann is co-founder and Managing Director of Peppermint VenturePartners GmbH (PVP). She is also Managing Partner of Peppermint Charité Biomedical Fund.

In 1997, Ingeborg Neumann established the Peppermint Holding GmbH, which is a medium-sized industrial group based in Berlin. The Peppermint Group develops and produces high-end, innovative textiles for the fields of fashion, home textiles and technical textiles, with a staff of more than 750 employees, achieving worldwide sales of approx. EUR 90 million.

In addition, Ingeborg Neumann started up the first Peppermint Venture Capital Fund in the year 2000.

What’s more, Ingeborg Neumann serves on several supervisory boards and advisory committees;
e.g. German Textile + Fashion Confederation (President) and Federation of German industries (Vice President and Treasurer).

Ingeborg Neumann studied business economics in Münster and Munich. She has a degree in business and the German title of “Diplom-Kauffrau”.

Past Investments

Exits only
  • Scienion AG
  • CellAct Pharma GmbH

Dr. Joachim Rautter

Managing Partner

Dr. Joachim Rautter

Managing Partner

Dr. Joachim Rautter is a co-founder and Managing Director of Peppermint VenturePartners GmbH and Managing Partner of the Peppermint Charité Biomedical Fund.

Prior to the launch of Peppermint VenturePartners, he was Investment Director at Peppermint Holding GmbH. There he was responsible for the investment activities of the Peppermint Venture Capital Fund (VC 1). He has more than 20 years of experience in the venture capital industry and was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Scienion AG, as well as Chairman of the Advisory Board of JADO Technologies GmbH and Innolume GmbH and also served on the Board of CAP-CMV GmbH. He is currently Chairman of the Board of CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH, CellAct Pharma GmbH and Labforward GmbH as well as a Board Member of CryoTherapeutics SA.

Prior to joining Peppermint, he guided innovative start-ups in the field of start-up financing and entrepreneurial development. In addition, he was involved in key functions in the design and implementation of regional innovation strategies such as BioTOP Berlin-Brandenburg and the innovation concept of the German state of Brandenburg.

Joachim Rautter has a degree in physics and completed his PhD at the Max Volmer Institute for Biophysical Chemistry at the Technical University of Berlin.

Portfolio CBF-1

  • CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH
  • CryoTherapeutics SA
  • Labforward GmbH

Past Investments

Trade Sales
  • Scienion AG
  • CellAct Pharma GmbH

Dr. Klaus Stöckemann

Managing Partner

Dr. Klaus Stöckemann

Managing Partner

Klaus Stöckemann is co-founder and Managing Partner of Peppermint VenturePartners GmbH (PVP).

Prior to launching PVP, Klaus Stöckemann was general partner in the international healthcare venture team of 3i plc, an international Private Equity firm based in London. During his time at 3i he was responsible for more than 12 investments in Europe and the US. His track record includes not only the IPOs of Epigenomics, Jerini and Santhera, but also successful trade sales of Amaxa, Elbion and Evotec Neuroscience.

Before his tenure at 3i, he held leading positions in research and business development at Schering AG (now Bayer) and Asta Medica (a former Degussa-Hüls group subsidiary).

Klaus Stöckemann has been a member of the supervisory boards of Combinature, Epigenomics, Jerini, Amaxa, and Immatics, as well as IntelliDx and Zonare in the US. He is currently chairman of the boards of Emperra and Caterna as well as vice-Chairman of Implandata and board member at Humedics.

He has been an experienced venture capital investor for more than 20 years and was on the board of the German Venture Capital association (BVK from 2015-2020) working with politicians to improve the Venture Capital environment in Germany.

He holds a Ph.D in biology and pharmacology from the University of Mainz, as well as an MBA from WHU/Kellogg, Northwestern University in the United States.

Portfolio CBF-1

  • Emperra GmbH E-Health Technologies
  • Implandata Ophtalmic Products GmbH
  • Caterna Vision GmbH
  • Humedics GmbH

Past Investments

IPOs
  • Epigenomics
  • Jerini
  • Santhera
Trade Sales
  • Elbion
  • Amaxa
  • Evotec Neuroscience
  • Imtec
  • Zonare
M&A
  • Combinature

Dr. Magnus Holm

Venture Partner

Dr. Magnus Holm

Venture Partner

Dr. Magnus Holm has fortified Peppermint’s investment team as a venture partner since September 2012.

Holm has many years of operative experience in various executive positions in the medical technology industry. In addition to the development and clinical approval of novel innovative medical products, his duties have included business development, sales and marketing and senior business management.

As General Manager for companies such as Biosense Webster, EMEA and Stereotaxis Inc. (USA), Holm made decisive contributions towards the introduction of new, innovative products and technologies that quickly established themselves in clinical routines in the field of cardiology and electrophysiology (3-D electro-anatomical mapping of heart chambers, drug eluting stents and robot controls of interventional therapeutic heart catheters).

Besides his role as Venture Partner at PVP, Holm is the CEO of a cardiology focused early-stage medical device company in Germany and Belgium, is engaged as mentor and jury member of EIT Health and EIC Accelerator programs and serves as Chairman of the Board and board member for the medical device companies MedBeat Sweden and CathVision (Denmark), respectively.

Magnus Holm has a Master of Science in Biomedical Technology from the University of Linköping and a PhD in Clinical Cardiology from the University of Lund (Sweden).

Portfolio CBF-1

  • Miracor Medical SA

Simone Schöpp

Director Finance

Simone Schöpp

Director Finance

Simone Schöpp joined Peppermint VenturePartners in January 2015. She supports our portfolio companies with her experiences in controlling and in the healthcare sector.

Prior to Peppermint she worked as Senior Financial Analyst with a pharmaceutical Contract Research Organisation first in Berlin and later in the US. Simone holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the HTW in Berlin.

Before and during her studies she gained professional experience in the research and in the finance department of an innovative biotech start-up, giving her a comprehensive understanding of the industry.

Henriette Braun

Executive Assistant

Henriette Braun

Executive Assistant

Henriette Braun has been working as the Assistant to the Managing Directors of PVP since December 2012.

Previously, she worked for several years as an executive assistant in the logistics field and as a scientific project team member in an environmental engineering firm.

Henriette holds a Diploma in Business Administration with a specialization in the fields of Environmental Management and Management of Small to Medium-Size Enterprises (SMEs) from the HTW in Berlin.

Stephanie Schlappa

Project Manager

Stephanie Schlappa

Project Manager

Stephanie Schlappa is working as a project manager for Peppermint VenturePartners since 2022.

She is currently finishing her PhD at the University of Potsdam. She is working on the inline monitoring of emulsion polymerization processes regarding absorption and scattering properties and particle characteristics for industrially relevant processes.

Prior to her PhD Stephanie graduated in Applied Chemistry from TH Cologne in 2018.

Entrepreneurs in Residence

Entrepreneurs in Residence

Hands-on management support to put companies on the right trajectory with the objective of building capabilities within the portfolio companies.

Dr. Holger Eickhoff

Expert Hardware

Dr. Holger Eickhoff

Expert Hardware

  • Founder and CEO of Scienion (8x Exit for PVP)
  • Former SVP & Business Area Director at BICO
  • 20+ years of management experience in the lab automation and diagnostics sector
  • Strong scientific background in automation, multiplex diagnostics and biosensors

Dr. Nicole Faust

Expert Wetware

Dr. Nicole Faust

Expert Wetware

  • Former CEO of CEVEC (7x Exit for PVP)
  • Former General Manager Cell Lines at Cytiva
  • 20+ years of management experience in the biotechnology sector
  • Leadership positions with Lonza and Taconic Biosciences
  • Former chair of the Gene Therapy Advisory
    Committee of the Alliance for Regenerative
    Medicine (ARM)

Dr. Tim Hiddemann

Expert Software & Wetware

Dr. Tim Hiddemann

Expert Software & Wetware

  • Founder & Managing Director of antibodies-online.com
  • Business Leader "Research Reagents" at Rockland Immunochemicals
  • Non-Executive Board Member at Labforward
  • Advisor for Pubgrade
  • 15+ years of management experience in the Laboratory Tools & Services sector
  • Strong spike in Digital Sales, Software Development, PhD in entrepreneurship

Joerg Hoffmann

Expert Hardware

Joerg Hoffmann

Expert Hardware

  • Former CEO of multi-national Lab Infrastructure player (100m+ EUR)
  • CEO of Labforward (LES-Software Company)
  • 20+ years of international C-level management expertise
  • Business Advisor for Shared Laboratory company (500m+ assets under management)
  • Strong spike in B2B sales and international market entry

Advisory Board

Advisory Board

The PVP Advisory Board supports the team as a discussion partner on questions regarding the strategic development of the portfolio. It consists of experienced managers in the healthcare field, clinical experts and successful companies.

Dr. Rolf Zettl

Dr. Rolf Zettl

Dr. Rolf Zettl received his Ph.D. in 1992 in biology at the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, Germany.

From 1995 to 1998, he was Managing Director of the Resource Center in the German human genome project in Berlin, between 1998 and 2005 member of the Board and CEO of two biotechnology companies in Berlin-Buch, and from 2005 to September 2008 he was Head of strategic business development and project management at the Charité in Berlin.

From 2008 to 2016 he was Managing Director of Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren e.V. and from 2016 to 2019 he was Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH).

On January 1, 2019 Dr. Rolf Zettl joined the Managing Board of the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus (RBK) in Stuttgart, a hospital with about 1,000 beds focusing on heart disease and oncology.

In July 2020, he was appointed as Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board of the German Heart Center Berlin (Deutsches Herzzentrum Berlin – Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts). In addition, he acts as project leader for the merger of the Charité and the German Heart Center – aiming to create the leading heart center in Germany.

Johannes Schneider-Littfeld

Johannes Schneider-Littfeld

Johannes Schneider Littfeld studied Biomedical Engineering in Giessen and was involved in diabetes research at the universities of Giessen and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

He began his professional career at Hoechst AG in clinical field sales, subsequently worked in product management at Mallinckrodt Diagnostica and from 1984 to 1988 was Senior Consultant at the consulting firm Sudler & Hennesse. In 1989, Littfeld became Managing Director of Ferring Biotechnik and in 1991 moved to Becton Dickinson, Heidelberg, in order to head up the Diabetes Healthcare unit in German-speaking countries and in Eastern Europe.

Between 1997 and 2000, Littfeld was Managing Director of the German Society for Healthy Life/Precon and from 2000 to 2002 Managing Director Sales & Marketing at Bauerfeind AG (orthopedic supports). Subsequently, he was Corporate Vice President and Chief Executive Officer for Neurostimulation at Otto Bock HealthCare GmbH until 2015.

Since 2016, Littfeld has been Managing Partner at BioMedTechConsult, Frankfurt.

Dr. Bernd Wegener

Dr. Bernd Wegener

Dr. Bernd Wegener studied Veterinary Medicine at the University of Giessen. From 1974 to 1981, he worked at the pharma company Boehringer Ingelheim. In 1981, he moved to Degussa Pharma Group, where until 1984 he worked as Sales Manager for Germany and Head of International Product Management. 1984 he became German CEO of Marion Merrell Dow Ltd and in 1992 Managing Director of Henning Berlin GmbH, which was acquired by Marion Merrell Dow.

In 1994, Wegener led a management buyout of the diagnostics division of Henning Berlin and established BRAHMS Diagnostik in Hennigsdorf, which he headed up as Managing Director. Wegner developed BRAHMS into an international player in the segment of in vitro diagnostics.

In 2009, the company was taken over by Thermo Fisher Scientific from the United States for U$470 million. Since that time, Wegner has been actively involved as an investor and a member of the supervisory bodies in several established companies, as well as numerous start-ups in the healthcare field. In addition to his professional activities, he also volunteers for various public and nonprofit organizations.

Partnerships

Partnerships

PVP has established longstanding relationships with leading research centers in Germany to support them in validating and translating their disruptive scientific ideas into medical solutions.

Since 2010 PVP has been collaborating with the Charité, one of the leading university clinics in Europe. PVP utilizes this relationship for its Peppermint Charité Biomedical Fund (CBF 1), which helps to promote translation of medical research into start-up ideas as well as provide access to a unique clinical research network for its portfolio companies.

In 2011 we started working with the Helmholtz Association, Germany’s largest research organization comprised of 18 centers with more than 43,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion.

Our sister company, PVP Advisors, carries out the external management of the Helmholtz Validation Fund (HVF), which funded 50 internal projects that bridge the gap between research results and their marketable applications.

In addition, PVP team members are deeply embedded as judges, mentors and coaches in a variety of relevant international start-ups initiatives, business plan competitions and funding networks like TechTour, EIT Health, EIC, etc.

Funds

VC 1

Peppermint VC 1 Fund

Size: EUR 21 million

Closing: 2000

VC 1 was launched in 2000 by entrepreneurial Limited Partner with an industry background. With a volume of € 21 million, VC 1 built a portfolio of eight companies in ICT, industrial technologies and life sciences.

Within this portfolio, four investments were made in Life Sciences companies ranging from drug development to tools and services. Two of these companies were successfully exited. 

One of these, Scienion AG, yielded a return of >13x for the fund.

VC 1 achieved a total return of >1.7x.

Investment Details

  • Size: € 21 million
  • Closing/ (Vintage): 2000
  • Intervention: Early Stage
  • Sectors: ICT, Industrial Technologies, Life Sciences
  • Geography: Germany
  • 8 investments
  • Overall return: >1.7x

 

Peppermint VC 1 Fund

VC 1 was launched in 2000 by entrepreneurial Limited Partner with an industry background. With a volume of € 21 million, VC 1 built a portfolio of eight companies in ICT, industrial technologies and life sciences.

Within this portfolio, four investments were made in Life Sciences companies ranging from drug development to tools and services. Two of these companies were successfully exited. 

One of these, Scienion AG, yielded a return of >13x for the fund.

VC 1 achieved a total return of >1.7x.

Investment Details

  • Size: € 21 million
  • Closing/ (Vintage): 2000
  • Intervention: Early Stage
  • Sectors: ICT, Industrial Technologies, Life Sciences
  • Geography: Germany
  • 8 investments
  • Overall return: >1.7x

 

CBF 1

Peppermint Charité Biomedical Fund

Size: EUR 30 million

Closing: 2011

CBF 1 was launched in 2010 within the scope of the cooperation with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. With a volume of 30 million €, CBF 1 has built a portfolio of eight companies in the Healthcare sector. The focus of investments has been in the areas of ophthalmology and cardiology with four portfolio companies.

One company - Humedics GmbH - was created together with the Charité and three had clinical or business relationships during their development and validation. 

The portfolio companies have attracted 185 million € from co-investors from all around the world leveraging CBF 1 investments by a factor of 9.4x.

Investment Details

  • Size: € 30 million
  • Closing/ (Vintage): 2011
  • Intervention: Early Stage
  • Sectors: MedTech, Digital Health, Pharma Platforms
  • Geography: Europe with a focus on DACH
  • 9 investments
  • 6 active portfolio companies

Peppermint Charité Biomedical Fund

CBF 1 was launched in 2010 within the scope of the cooperation with Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin. With a volume of 30 million €, CBF 1 has built a portfolio of eight companies in the Healthcare sector. The focus of investments has been in the areas of ophthalmology and cardiology with four portfolio companies.

One company - Humedics GmbH - was created together with the Charité and three had clinical or business relationships during their development and validation. 

The portfolio companies have attracted 185 million € from co-investors from all around the world leveraging CBF 1 investments by a factor of 9.4x.

Investment Details

  • Size: € 30 million
  • Closing/ (Vintage): 2011
  • Intervention: Early Stage
  • Sectors: MedTech, Digital Health, Pharma Platforms
  • Geography: Europe with a focus on DACH
  • 9 investments
  • 6 active portfolio companies

LIIDO

Peppermint Lab Tech Fund

Size: Target Size EUR 100 million

Closing: Envisioned First Closing 2024

LIIDO (Laboratory Intelligence Innovations Digitalization and Operations)

The LIIDO Fund, aimed to launch in 2024 will invest in Future Market Leaders in the Life Science Tools & Services Space. With a target volume of a 100 Mio EUR, LIIDO will focus on investments in technology-driven companies with market traction and initial revenues.

As founder teams frequently lack go-to-market and execution capabilities the LIIDO team is set up to fill those gaps with providing experts and know-how  for capability building, thereby accelerating revenue growth and access to tier 1 customer institutions and global partners.

Investment Details

  • Target Size: € 100 million
  • Envisioned First Closing: 2024
  • Sectors: LabTech Tools & Services
  • Geography: Europe with a focus on DACH, UK & Scandinavia

Peppermint Lab Tech Fund

LIIDO (Laboratory Intelligence Innovations Digitalization and Operations)

The LIIDO Fund, aimed to launch in 2024 will invest in Future Market Leaders in the Life Science Tools & Services Space. With a target volume of a 100 Mio EUR, LIIDO will focus on investments in technology-driven companies with market traction and initial revenues.

As founder teams frequently lack go-to-market and execution capabilities the LIIDO team is set up to fill those gaps with providing experts and know-how  for capability building, thereby accelerating revenue growth and access to tier 1 customer institutions and global partners.

Investment Details

  • Target Size: € 100 million
  • Envisioned First Closing: 2024
  • Sectors: LabTech Tools & Services
  • Geography: Europe with a focus on DACH, UK & Scandinavia

Active Portfolio

Caterna Vision GmbH

The First Health App on Prescription for Kids with Lazy Eyes (Amblyopia)

CryoTherapeutics SA

Using Cryotherapy to Treat and Prevent Heart Attacks

Emperra GmbH

ESYSTA - The Only Automatic and Seamless Digital Diabetes Monitoring Solution Integrating Insulin and Blood Glucose Data

Implandata Ophtalmic Products GmbH

Transforming Glaucoma Care through Remote Monitoring and Continuous Measuring of Intraocular Pressure

Labforward GmbH

Building the Laboratory of the Future

Miracor Medical SA

Positively Changing the Course for Heart Attack Patients

Exited

CELLACT Pharma GmbH

CellAct Pharma GmbH is a venture backed biotech company focused on the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of diseases with high unmet need for certain cancers. CellAct's drug candidate CAP7.1 was purchased by MundiPharma.

Scienion GmbH

A BICO Company. Global leader in precision dispensing. Enabling miniaturized multiplex assays for diagnostics and other fields of life sciences.

CEVEC Pharmaceuticals GmbH

High Performance Cell Technology For Advanced Biotherapeutics

Humedics GmbH

The First Functional Liver Test LiMAX that Can Save Lives of Patients with Liver Diseases