Rainer Märkle is the General Partner of HV Capital, €380m Venture and €400m Growth fund, with almost €3BN AUM.
Rainer joined HV 15 years ago. In his third week at the firm, HV invested in Zalando. Accompanying the founders of Zalando from seed to IPO and beyond has been the most rewarding chapter in his VC career.
It taught him that anything is possible, boundaries are imaginary, and amazing things can happen by working in the right set-up. Aside from this, he has been involved in big exit stories with HelloFresh, Quandoo, and Stylight. Some of his other highlights include working with Scalable Capital, Alasco and finn.auto.
In his spare time, Rainer is a family guy. He also likes to push boundaries in sports, participating in the Ironman World Championships Hawaii and many other endurance events.
Being able to seize the opportunities we see with the smartest people we know in setups we can create is an absolute privilege we must honor each day.
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Table of Contents | Scroll ⏬ for all guest show notes ✍️
Episode chapters.
Davor’s journey into venture.
Shout-out.
Three biggest learnings in VC.
Top tips for emerging VCs who are fundraising.
Most counterintuitive learning.
Up for a party? Cue the music and listen to this episode’s soundtrack while reading the key learnings below 👇
This episode is part of the State of European VC Fundraising Report 👀
Together with our good friends at Isomer Capital and Floww, we’ve made a report filled with graphs, beautiful narratives, and video interviews, providing an entirely new and engaging experience on the topic that has us all traveling across the world ✈️
Chapters:
03:16 Rainer’s Journey: From Engineer to VC
04:04 Diving Deep into HV Capital
07:21 Transitioning from Corporate VC to Independent Fundraising
10:56 Raising Funds in a Challenging Market
13:26 Maintaining Trust with Existing LPs
16:03 Keep Your Principles Against Market Hype
30:57 Strategies for Achieving Fundraising Goals
32:39 The Importance of DPI in Fundraising
34:33 Balancing Act: Liquidity vs. Value Potential
37:34 Decision-Making Dynamics Within the Firm
39:29 Adjusting Strategies and Narratives in Changing Markets
42:05 Insights for Emerging VCs and Fundraising Challenges
44:30 Shout Outs to Emerging Managers and Partners
48:26 Key Learnings from the Latest Fundraise
51:43 Advice for Younger Selves and Emerging VCs
✍️ Show notes
We always ask our guests to write tweet-style notes for the conversation so we can share them with you all afterward. These are the words of the guest, no alterations made. Feast.
Rainer’s journey in VC.
Engineer turned VC
By now 20 years in VC and having worked with many companies from Seed through IPO
Personal side: family and sports (adrenaline and endurance)
Shout-out.
LPs: EIF and KfW as strong and loyal partners, alongside our large funds of funds and endowments
Co-investors: we work with all leading GPs and happy with all of them:-)
3 learnings from the last fundraising.
Need a combination of strong existing investor base plus new ones
Better set a clear end date for the raise to not drag on forever
Stay humble in good times, and you will get rewarded in hard times
Advice for 10 year younger self.
Courage for brave steps, take hard decisions earlier.
Top tips for emerging European VCs.
Start small and fast, scale up later upon success.
One counterintuitive thing learned in VC.
As a super analytical person I have to admit that with experience, overall impression trumps analytics.
🎓 Upcoming Academy Sessions
🌍 Virtual | 📅 Thursday, May 16 | 🕰️ 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM CET
An advanced session on creating a VC fund model assumptions sheet, focusing on defining Core Assumptions, Asset Development, and Equity Valuation Dynamics. Attendants will receive a template and work with this based on their own fund and learn how adjusting assumptions influence fund performance.
👋 Upcoming in-person events we’re hosting
There’s nothing we like better than getting Europe’s best and brightest together with good food, drinks, and conversations that go truly deep.
Fund Modelling Workshop & Mixer | 5th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Join waitlist.
European VC Awards | 4th of June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany | Get tickets.
📅 Upcoming virtual events
From time to time, a podcast is just not enough. Check out our roundtables and live events below.
🏆 Firesides with the winners of the European VC Awards
Fireside with the Newcomer of the Year Winner | 13/6, 12-1:30 PM | Register here. Hundreds of new VC funds come to market every year. But only ONE will win Newcomer of The Year. This is your chance to meet the winner firsthand.
Fireside chat with the Winner of the Hall of Fame | 25/6, 12-1 PM | Register here.
Hear firsthand from a true giant upon whose shoulders the European tech ecosystem stands tall.
🗓️ The VC Conferences You Can’t Miss
There are some events that just have to be on the calendar. Here’s our list, hit us up if you’re going, we’d love to meet!
0100 Conference CEE 2024 | 📆 14 - 16 May | 🌍 Prague, Czech Republic
Iceland Innovation Week | 📆 15 - 16 May | Reykjavik, Iceland
EBAN Congress Tallinn 2024 | 📆 20-22 May | 🌍 Tallinn, Estonia
SuperVenture | 📆 4 - 6 June | 🌍 Berlin, Germany
Nordic LP Forum & TechBBQ | 📆 September | 🌍 Copenhagen, Denmark
North Star & GITEX Global | 📆 14 - 18 Oct | 🌍 Dubai, UAE
GITEX Europe 2025 | 📆 23 - 25 May 2025 | 🌍 Berlin, Germany
On going from a CVC to venture capital with Rainer Märkle, General Partner at HV Capital