For years, Clever Clover, led by Heinrich Prokop and Marie-Louise Vormanns, has been an integral part of the DACH startup scene. Almost everyone who wants to launch a food, beverage or cosmetic product sooner or later ends up at one of the largest FMCG accelerating companies in Europe.
Heinrich Prokop’s company became known not least through his involvement in the Puls4 startup show “2Minuten 2 Millionen” where he invests in startups as well as through the cooperation with Erste Bank and Rewe Austria in the “Startupticket” and the “Glaub an dich Challenge”.
“Already for more than 10 years we shape the Austrian startup market, be it through our network, our experts but also our investments We know the trends, possible producers and especially the retailers and work according to the motto “we walk the walk and talkt he talk” always in the sense of our startups” said Heinrich Prokop introductory.
It is precisely these investments that now lead to a cooperation with the recently introduced FMCG and AG-Tech investor Loonshot Ventures.
“The market and also the competition, both for customers and investors is becoming increasingly difficult for startups due to the past Covid crisis and the ongoing economic crisis. In addition, many investors do not dare to invest, especially in the FMCG and AG-Tech sector, because the network or the expertise is missing,” says Loonshot CEO Bernhard-Stefan Müller.
Loonshot Ventures wants to change this and continue to pool angel tickets behind it as a lead investor in order to be a strong partner for startups from the DACH region.
“Through our close cooperation with Clever Clover, we create a win-win situation for both sides and can join forces to develop more startups and ideas develop, finance and together provide the needed boost to success. ” Müller continues.
The cooperation with Loonshot Ventures is a logical consequence for us in our effort to always bring out the best for our startups and to have the best partners on board. “We only want to work with nice people” is the philosophy of Loonshot and the Clever Clover team, so we see a significant strengthening for all sides in the future joint approach, Heinrich Prokop continues.
Both, startup and co-investors would benefit from a strong lead investor who brings in money and network as well as expertise.
“Through our networks and with our partner Clever Clover, we are able to bring products quickly to market and into the trade or other sales channels. This is a unique advantage for our investments. On the other hand, Clever Clover startups now have a partner for future financing rounds who understands the market and the startup-need, can decide and act quickly and, last but not least, can provide further boost via the in-house company builder Tantum,” concludes Bernhard-Stefan Müller.
Text: Loonshot Ventures
