Project A invests in Carl — a fintech for M&A transactions
Berlin — Berlin-based start-up Carl has closed a new financing round of just under EUR 3 million. The round is led by Berlin-based VC Project A. The group of investors also includes family office Bastian Unger (formerly ATU), Karl-Heinz Flöther, Saarbruecker21 and founders of the startups Dubsmash, Contorion and Minodes. Carl has built a platform for M&A transactions that matches owners of middle-market companies with buyers.
“About 230,000 SMEs want to find a successor in the next two years. 95 percent of children do not want to take over their parents’ business. Successors are therefore urgently sought. At Carl, we solve this problem with the help of the digital approach and our broad network. The fresh capital will enable us to meet the ever-increasing demand,” said Kurosch D. Habibi, founder and managing director at Carl.
Professional advice and access to a broad network of buyers have so far been available primarily to large companies. Carl now offers this range of services to small and medium-sized companies with annual sales of between one and 50 million euros. With a digital platform on which over 1,600 active buyers are registered and which offers access to a further 120,000 buyers, as well as a network of 220 M&A advisors in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Carl aims to bring transparency and professionalism to the highly fragmented market.
For Project A, this is another engagement in a series of B2B investments. “Business succession is a huge challenge and there is little appropriate infrastructure, especially in the SME sector, to support entrepreneurs facing retirement. Carl Finance addresses the underserved market for M&A advisory in the SME segment with smart technologies, deep expertise and a passionate team,” said Anton Waitz, General Partner at Project A.
About Carl
Carl (www.carlfinance.de) is a service provider for medium-sized company sales and successions. Carl actively supports entrepreneurs throughout the sales process, ensuring a professional sales process. This includes a market-oriented company valuation, the preparation of dedicated sales documents, access to an extensive network of thousands of prospective buyers and support during negotiations and the company audit. Supporting technologies are used along the processes to increase efficiency. The company also operates www.Nachfolge.de, Germany’s largest specialist portal for corporate succession. Carl is primarily aimed at companies with annual sales of between one and 50 million euros. The company was founded in 2016 by Kurosch Habibi and Pascal Stichler and is based in Berlin.
About Project A
Project A is the Operational VC that offers not only capital but also a large network and exclusive access to a wide range of services. The Berlin-based investor manages 260 million euros with which it finances technology startups. The core of Project A is the team of 100 experienced experts who provide operational support to the portfolio companies in areas such as software engineering, marketing, design, communications, business intelligence, sales and recruiting. The portfolio includes companies such as Catawiki, WorldRemit, uberall, Homeday, Spryker, KRY and Wonderbly. More information: www.project‑a.com.
Carl Finance raised nearly EUR 3 million in the financing round led by new investor Project A. Investors also include family office Bastian Unger (formerly ATU) and some existing shareholders. The fresh capital is to be used to service the steadily increasing demand. Olga Balandina-Luke of the law firm Vogel Heerma Waitz advised the start-up Carl Finance, a service provider for medium-sized company sales and successions, on a financing round.
Advisors to Carl: Vogel Heerma Waitz
Lead: Olga Balandina-Luke
Vogel Heerma Waitz is a Berlin-based law firm specializing in growth capital, technology and media that has been in operation since May 2014 and can draw on a total of over 50 years of experience of its now five partners in connection with growth capital financings.