Initially, WorkTech Angels (formerly known as HR Angels Club) was founded as an informal syndicate: sixty experienced angels sharing deals over WhatsApp and mail, investing directly, and ending up with the kind of fragmented ownership structure that founders dread. When Michael Plentinger joined co-founders Stefan Menden and Jens Bender to professionalize the club, the priority was clear: turn a trusted community into a well-structured investment vehicle, without losing what made it valuable in the first place.
The answer was a Luxembourg SCSp structure, and Roundtable was the platform that made it possible. The initial ad-hoc process of deal-sharing and direct investments became a structured, repeatable model: fast deal setup, clean governance, and a simple and efficient carry structure. For a club built on trust, the shift to Roundtable solved an operational problem and, importantly, gave WorkTech Angels the infrastructure to grow on its own terms.
In our interview, Michael Plentinger walks us through how that transformation happened, and what it means for the founders and investors the club works with today.
Key takeaways:
- WorkTech Angels evolved from an informal angel syndicate known as HR Angels Club into a structured investment vehicle, with Roundtable at the center, handling execution, governance, and fast deal setup.
- The move to a Luxembourg vehicle wasn't incidental: generating carry through German entities is legally complex, and Roundtable offered a faster, cleaner, and more cost-competitive alternative that German structures simply couldn't match.
- For a community built on discretion and trust, the private, curated setup on Roundtable was a natural fit: deal information stays within a selective circle of 30-40 active angels, protecting the competitive advantage that makes the club valuable to its members.
- Beyond the platform's intuitive UX, the team's responsiveness, availability and professionalism truly stood out, from same-day deal setup to around-the-clock support for time-sensitive notary and registration deadlines.
Roundtable: Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?
Michael Plentinger: I have two roles. I come from the HR tech space, where I founded and sold two companies. I'm currently CEO of Mypegasus, Germany's market leader in outplacement. But my heart is still very much in the work tech environment, which is what led me to WorkTech Angels.
WorkTech Angels is an angel syndicate that brings together experienced HR entrepreneurs to provide hands-on support for founders, with the firepower of a small fund. It was founded by Stefan Menden and Jens Bender; I joined at a later stage because it made sense for all of us, given my entrepreneurial journey and the investors I connected with along the way. Together, we've worked to professionalize the club, bring in more investors and use Roundtable to handle execution and governance.
Roundtable: When was HR Angels Club founded?
Michael Plentinger: In fall of 2022. Before Roundtable, the setup was fairly informal: a WhatsApp group of 60 experienced angels sharing deals, collecting informal interest, and then investing directly. The result was a messy cap table with everyone doing their own thing. We professionalized in 2025, and Roundtable was central to that shift. It helped us become more structured and turn this into a real business model.
Roundtable: What is your approach to community building?
Michael Plentinger: We have three pillars:
- The first and core group consists of experienced angels, or people who have built and exited companies, deeply rooted in the HR industry. They get deal access and are the primary investors.
- The second pillar is family offices and high-net-worth individuals who are less involved in sourcing but come in when we've validated a round and are looking to fill the remaining allocation.
- The third is a broader community: later-stage funds, CHROs, and anyone who can add traction for our portfolio companies, whether through follow-on funding or customer introductions.
Roundtable: What is your geographical scope in terms of investments?
Michael Plentinger: There's no hard geographical restriction, primarily Europe.
Roundtable: Do you target companies at a specific stage?
Michael Plentinger: Our focus is seed-stage companies with initial traction and their first customers. That's where we can add the most value: opening doors, making introductions, and sharing the kind of hard-won experience that helps founders avoid common mistakes. We also do some pre-seed and Series A, but seed is the core.
Roundtable: What were the main hurdles you were looking to solve before using Roundtable?
Michael Plentinger: The problem in Germany is well-known: high setup costs, notary requirements, ongoing bookkeeping and governance expenses. And beyond cost, there's the bureaucracy. In Germany, setting up a comparable structure to a Luxembourg SCSp would be significantly more complex and time-consuming. Roundtable was an absolute shortcut for us. The other key consideration was carry: generating carry through German entities is legally complex and fragile. That was a major factor in our decision.
Before Roundtable, our process was mostly informal deal-sharing: we shared info on a company, a few people invested directly, and cap tables got messy. It was more about deal access than any real pooling or business model. Roundtable is what made it possible to turn this into something a lot more structured.
Roundtable: How has your experience with the team been?
Michael Plentinger: The team is exceptional. I always have the feeling I can reach them 24/7, and there's always a solution. The legal team is also super responsive. We once had a notary appointment with a tight deadline and a registration process to complete in Luxembourg, and they were available around the clock to get it done.
My initial contact with Roundtable was just as positive: they were very transparent, very helpful, including on sensitive legal questions around the LPA setup.
Roundtable: What has been your investors' feedback about the platform?
Michael Plentinger: Universally positive. I've already referred several people who do angel investing or invest alongside friends, and the feedback has been consistently good.
Even when angels had initial doubts about the model (why Luxembourg, how does carry work), a call with the team was enough to clear up everything. The team genuinely cares about getting it right.
Roundtable: How did you first hear about Roundtable?
Michael Plentinger: Through two channels, more or less simultaneously. Felix Schmitt from EWOR recommended it for pooling investor capital. And Stefan (Menden) had already used Roundtable to invest in an SPV run by someone else. Between Felix's introduction and Stefan's first-hand experience, the decision was straightforward.
Roundtable: What would you say are the main operational benefits of using Roundtable?
Michael Plentinger: Fast and easy setup, strong legal and customer support, and a cost structure that is genuinely competitive compared to German entities. For what we're doing, it's the right approach on every dimension: time, cost, and legal clarity.
Roundtable: Is your community public on Roundtable?
Michael Plentinger: No, and intentionally so. We keep it private and selective, a curated circle of investors and entrepreneurs. The HR market is small, and deal information needs to stay within a trusted group. A public setup would risk a free-rider dynamic that would undermine what makes the community so valuable in the first place.
Roundtable: Are you looking to grow your investor community further?
Michael Plentinger: Actually, the opposite, we're looking to make the core group slightly smaller, keeping it to around 30-40 truly active investors.
The broader circle of family offices isn't looking for community or market insight; they just want access to the best opportunities and to invest when the time is right.
For the core angels, it's different: they engage with founders, give feedback, and use the group to stay on top of market trends and understand where the industry is heading. But the group needs to stay selective. You're sharing competitive information and deal flow that isn't meant to be public.
Roundtable: What advice would you give to HR tech founders today?
Michael Plentinger: I'd tell them three things:
- First, keep your cap table clean and pool your small angels from the start. Small shareholdings carry real legal protection under German and European law, which can create governance headaches down the line. Even a fraction of a percent can cause problems. Pooling through an SPV avoids all of that.
- Second, execution speed is everything. HR tech has many verticals without a clear winner yet (payroll, governance, talent acquisition) and the founders who will win are those who test their hypotheses fastest.
- Third, make sure what you're building is essential, not a nice-to-have. The more genuine value your tool creates, in process efficiency, cost reduction, or compliance, the more defensible your position will be.
Roundtable: How would you assess the current role of AI in HR tech?
Michael Plentinger: Everything claims to be AI-powered right now, but the real question is whether it actually lives in the product or just in the pitch deck. That said, the impact is real. HR has a large number of repetitive tasks in payroll, governance, ESG, recruitment sourcing and screening, and AI is creating meaningful productivity gains across all of them.
The bigger open question is whether AI capabilities will be delivered as standalone SaaS or embedded directly into existing tools. That debate is still playing out.
Roundtable: Was there anything that surprised you about Roundtable?
Michael Plentinger: Not about the platform itself, but the quality of support genuinely exceeded our expectations. That's what stands out. I'm very happy with our work together and have already recommended the platform to others.
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