Liebenberg Ventures is an angel investment network created within the alumni community of the Foundation of German Business (Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft), one of Germany's most prestigious scholarship foundations. Liebenberg Ventures aims to enable a new way of giving while bringing top alumni together to champion a strong European ambition and support the next generation of founders.
Since its creation in 1993, the foundation has supported students based not only on academic excellence but also on civic engagement and leadership, creating a strong network of alumni who went on to found successful startups (e.g., Parloa, Billie, Magazino), join or found leading VC firms (e.g., Visionaries Club, La Famiglia VC, Project A), or take leadership roles in global companies (e.g., OpenAI, SAP, BWM).
As informal angel investments became more common within the community, alumni saw an opportunity to make venture investing more accessible to a broader group, rather than limiting deals to close personal circles. The Liebenberg Syndicate was created to provide a platform for the immense swarm intelligence hidden in the alumni network of the Foundation of German Business. Through the platform, members gain access to curated deal flow, invest alongside one another, and leverage shared experience. Today, the network includes nearly 130 angels and has completed multiple early-stage investments in Germany and abroad, with a focus on pre-seed and seed companies where members can actively support founders through their strong ties into the DACH region.
To operate this model efficiently and keep it aligned with its non-profit mission, Liebenberg Ventures needed a flexible and cost-effective way to structure investments on a deal-by-deal basis. Using Roundtable, the team can create SPVs for each opportunity, onboard investors, and execute deals without managing the legal and administrative overhead themselves. This enables the network to remain lean and scalable while ensuring that investment returns are reinvested into the Foundation of German Business, helping fund future scholarship recipients, entrepreneurs, and changemakers.
Key takeaways:
- The Liebenberg Syndicate brings together more than 130 alumni of the Foundation of German Business (Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft) to co-invest in early-stage startups, primarily in Germany and Europe, where their networks can create tangible impact.
- The team operates voluntarily, in alignment with its mission, requiring a flexible, cost-efficient SPV solution that supports smaller allocations (€50k–€200k+) without the overhead of a traditional fund; Roundtable was the best solution for this.
- Roundtable's Luxembourg SPV setup allows the syndicate to execute investments deal by deal, streamline onboarding and capital calls, and maintain clear documentation for investors, keeping alignment with the community's trust-based model.
- The syndicate collects carry on successful exits, with 100% of all carry donated to the foundation, creating a self-sustaining cycle of support for future founders, leaders, and people who take responsibility for future societies.
Roundtable: Can you tell us more about the Liebenberg Syndicate? What is your focus, how was it created, and do you have a geographical investment scope?
Alexander Keller: The structure behind the Liebenberg Syndicate is unique: we originate from the Foundation of German Business (Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft), which is one of the 13 major scholarship foundations in Germany. Unlike some other foundations that are politically affiliated (for example, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which is aligned with the Christian Democrats, the CDU), the sdw is non-partisan and focuses strongly on personal responsibility, civic engagement, and leadership.
Admission to the foundation involves a three-step selection process, and one of the core criteria is proven social engagement and volunteer work. The foundation was established in 1993 and has since built an impressive alumni network.
Over the years, many alumni have founded successful companies or taken on senior leadership roles internationally. For example:
- Stefan Ostwald and Malte Kosub, the founders of Parloa
- Robert Lacher and Judith Dada from Visionaries Club
- Martin Schilling, founder of Deep Tech Momentum
- Matthias Knecht, founder of the fintech company Billie
Beyond venture capital, many alumni now hold international leadership positions in private equity and large corporations.
Given the strong entrepreneurial base within the alumni network, some members had already started investing informally. However, those opportunities were often limited to people who were directly connected.
A few years ago, the idea emerged to create a more structured platform that would give a broader group of alumni access to high-quality deal flow. Initially, there were discussions about setting up a traditional venture fund, but over time the concept evolved. Since the foundation's name is involved, alignment and reputational considerations were also key.
About a year ago, at the end of January, Min-Sung Sean Kim and Manuel Hinz began formalizing the initiative. Min-Sung is managing director and founder of NGS Capital, a venture firm focused on health tech and cybersecurity. Manuel Hinz previously founded and exited two startups, including CrossEngage, which raised around €12 million from Project A. Both are very active in the alumni and startup network.
The idea was to bring together the most successful entrepreneurs and investors from the alumni community into a structured investment network. Through this platform, members can share investment opportunities and give others within the network the chance to co-invest.
We started working more seriously on it in the first half of 2025. The first investment was closed in September. Since then, we've reviewed around 20 to 30 high-quality deals and have already completed several investments.
In terms of capital, we currently have around €1,000,000 under management, with roughly another €200,000 still in decision-making. For every deal we see, we first share it within a smaller circle of experienced members to get an initial sense of its quality.
We're not strictly limited to any specific industry or country. For example, we've invested in the United States, and we're currently doing so again. That said, every company we've invested in either comes from Europe or has a strong ambition to enter the European market. That way, our angels can actively support them through their contacts and experience.
In terms of stage, we focus primarily on pre-seed and very early-stage investments. That's where our angels can truly add value.
Roundtable: Can you tell us more about your investment community? What are the different investment profiles you work with?
Mohamed Moussa: We currently have around 130 angels in the syndicate. Broadly speaking, we have three main groups: experienced investors, founders, and corporate leaders.
On the investor side, we have several established venture capital professionals. For example, Anton Grabovski, CFO of Project A. We also have Felix Leonhardt from Oyster Bay Venture Capital, which focuses on food investments. Otto Birnbaum from Revent VC is also part of the network, as well as Robert Lacher from Visionaries Club.
On the founder side, we have entrepreneurs at different stages, from highly successful founders to business owners with smaller teams of 10 to 50 employees.
Corporate leaders are, amongst others, executives at Mars, Mercedes-Benz, and JP Morgan.
Roundtable: Are there any deals you're particularly proud of, or that you'd like to highlight?
Victor Neumann: Yes, a few come to mind.
One is Nemox, in which we co-invested alongside EWOR. There was strong competition for the allocation, but in the end it was only EWOR and us in the round. It was a competitive and high-quality deal.
Another one is Silvernova. What makes that special for us is that all three founders come from the Foundation of German Business. So it's essentially sdw alumni investing in sdw alumni, which is fully aligned with our mission.
Currently, our largest investment is CareerOS, a platform that connects universities, students, and employers; essentially, a career planning and job marketplace ecosystem. That's our biggest investment so far, and probably one of the strongest deals in our portfolio.
Roundtable: I'd be curious to know more about the ways you're using Roundtable in this context. But first, how did you discover the platform?
Alexander Keller: Min-Sung had already used Roundtable for another initiative called 2hearts, which operates separately from us. He shared a link to Roundtable's site with us and said, "We're using this for 2hearts, what do you think?"
Roundtable: Did you feel it was a good fit for your structure and needs?
Mohamed Moussa: Yes, very much so.
Let me first share some context. What we are building is largely volunteer-driven. Manuel Hinz and Min-Sung Sean Kim serve as mentors and senior decision-makers. Alexander Keller, who previously worked at Project A, is currently completing his management studies at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Victor Neumann has been active in the startup ecosystem since his school days and currently works at Corgi. As for me, after finishing my degree in business computing I joined the CEO Office at Aleph Alpha. Soon I will be joining Cohere.
We are all doing this voluntarily: for the experience, the network, and because we believe in the mission. We collect 20% carry on successful exits, but 100% of that carry goes back to the Foundation of German Business.
The long-term vision is to make the foundation independent from external supporters and build something like an entrepreneurship academy within the foundation (potentially in collaboration with professors who are part of the network) to support the next generation of founders. We want to create a structured path: from scholarship holder, to founder, to successful alumni, and then back to supporting the next generation.
So, because of this setup, we needed a structure that was:
- Not too complex to manage
- Affordable
- Flexible on a deal-by-deal basis
Every euro we collect should ideally go back to the foundation. At the same time, we want to offer alumni access to strong venture deals. If they invest through a traditional VC fund, they typically pay 20% carry, and that goes to the fund managers. In our case, the same amount ultimately benefits the foundation that originally supported them.
You could summarize it as a "new way of giving." Traditional donations or sponsorship models aren't always easy in Germany. The foundation is supported by companies and long-term partners, but we wanted to create a self-sustaining model rooted in entrepreneurship and venture investing.
Operationally, we invest deal by deal, and each opportunity is shared within the network. Through Roundtable, we can create an SPV per deal, see how much allocation we receive from the network, and if it passes a certain threshold, we move forward. The Roundtable team sets up the SPV, handles the structure, and we can execute capital calls on a deal-by-deal basis.
That allows us to grow assets gradually, stay lean, and maintain full flexibility.
Roundtable: What's your overall experience with the platform and the team?
Alexander Keller: Starting with the platform: we've received very positive feedback from our angels.
As I mentioned, many of them are experienced investors. Some had already used Roundtable before, but many hadn't. The feedback has consistently been very positive; they all see that it's a very strong solution. Before Roundtable, it was difficult to structure SPVs efficiently at the €50k–€200k range without incurring disproportionate costs.
The Luxembourg SPV structure is particularly attractive for our angels, as it fits well into their broader investment portfolios. The documentation for tax purposes is clear, the explanations are straightforward, and the overall structure is transparent. In one case, I even connected an investor directly with Roundtable, and they later started using Roundtable for their own SPVs and syndicate investments.
Additionally, the KYC process is smooth, onboarding works well, and support is very responsive. If we have questions about anything, we get feedback very promptly: within hours or sometimes even minutes.
That leads directly to our experience with the team. We communicate through a WhatsApp community, and the responsiveness is impressive. Even on a Sunday evening, if we send a question, we often get a reply within minutes. And whatever needs to be done is typically taken care of within hours.
As a young team, we're still learning. We're also working from different locations: Victor was in Los Angeles, Mohamed is in Berlin, and I was in Hamburg and am now in Switzerland. Sometimes we've asked the same questions more than once while figuring things out, but the team has been nothing but supportive in helping us navigate things and move forward. This has been invaluable to us.
Roundtable: Thank you, that's great to hear. For you, what's the main advantage of using the platform?
Victor Neumann: Our model is built around giving back to the community. Without Roundtable, this wouldn't have been possible in this form.
We're working entirely voluntarily. We couldn't have managed the legal and administrative complexity of running fund structures ourselves: at this stage, it wouldn't have been feasible for us at all.
Roundtable made it possible to build this structure efficiently and cost-effectively. This was the best possible solution for us.
Roundtable: Looking ahead, what is your approach to community building? Are you planning to expand further?
Alexander Keller: Our primary goal is to generate as much carry as possible for the foundation. The more successful our investments are, the more we can give back.
At the same time, our network is built around a shared background. All members come from the same foundation, which creates a strong level of trust. That doesn't automatically extend to external investors.
For example, when we considered allowing friends or family members to invest smaller tickets through an SPV, some angels were hesitant. Even if a small ticket doesn't materially affect governance, the emotional trust factor is different when someone isn't part of the foundation network.
So growth is organic and intentionally selective. That said, we're currently adding around 20 new members per month, which is monthly growth of roughly 20%. Of course, that will eventually stabilize.
We're also building an initiative for current scholarship holders to join as venture scouts. They can bring deal flow into the network, and in some cases invest small tickets themselves. That could potentially involve a much larger group, but with small ticket sizes.
In that scenario, the SPV cost structure becomes more complex. For example, if there are many very small investors, the costs need to be carefully considered.
We have several ideas for the future. One option could be launching a larger pooled vehicle and investing from that, rather than structuring deal-by-deal SPVs. Or we might simply continue scaling the current model with more angels and larger allocations.
We're still evaluating what best aligns with our mission.
Roundtable: Do you plan to continue working with Roundtable going forward, and would you recommend it to others looking to build a community?
Mohamed Moussa: Yes, definitely, to both.
I've already spoken with several angels who run their own syndicates or want to invest with friends and partners. Some of them have already completed deals using Roundtable following our recommendation, and we're continuing to actively recommend the platform.
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