Berlin/Krefeld — The Nort­hern Euro­pean invest­ment company Verdane, which specia­li­zes in growth capi­tal, has acqui­red a stake in Krefeld-based KF Design GmbH, the manu­fac­tu­rer of design and gift artic­les under the REMEMBER brand. Verdane acqui­res a majo­rity stake from Wieland Capi­tal and the foun­ders as part of the tran­sac­tion with the aim of driving the further digi­tiza­tion of the busi­ness model.

REMEMBER was foun­ded in 1996 and offers an ever-growing range of indi­vi­dual design, life­style and gift items, inclu­ding games, fashion access­ories, calen­dars, home, kitchen and office products. All items are deve­lo­ped and desi­gned in-house. REMEMBER has alre­ady recei­ved nume­rous design awards for the design and work­man­ship of its products. The company sells its product range through direct sales as well as through German and inter­na­tio­nal retail­ers. Among other places, they are available in the museum stores of the Guggen­heim Muse­ums in Bilbao and Venice and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and San Francisco.

Toge­ther with manage­ment, Verdane plans to drive the digi­tal trans­for­ma­tion of the busi­ness model, the further deve­lo­p­ment of the custo­mer expe­ri­ence and the contin­ued expan­sion of the sustaina­bi­lity of REMEMBER’s product range. Plans include the further deve­lo­p­ment and inter­na­tio­na­liza­tion of the online store with expan­ded func­tions and an increased custo­mer approach via digi­tal chan­nels. Verdane’s team brings its exten­sive expe­ri­ence in e‑commerce and tech­no­logy-based B2C busi­ness models, such as from its invest­ments in momox, asgoo­das­new, smava, Dese­nio and Boozt. REMEMBER will bene­fit from the coope­ra­tion with Verdane’s in-house experts from the so-called Elevate team as well as from a newly estab­lished advi­sory board in the opera­tio­nal imple­men­ta­tion of these measures.

Ingo Fremer, co-foun­der and co-CEO of REMEMBER, said: “I am extre­mely happy with how REMEMBER has deve­lo­ped over the past 25 years and would like to thank our previous co-owner Wieland Capi­tal for the successful coope­ra­tion, without which the company would not be where it is today. With Verdane as a part­ner, we can now build on further momen­tum and draw on many years of expe­ri­ence in the field of e‑commerce to take REMEMBER to the next level of deve­lo­p­ment. In parti­cu­lar, we want to offer our custo­mers a more inten­sive brand expe­ri­ence and even better products, as well as reach new custo­mers in exis­ting and new markets.”

Maroje Guertl, Prin­ci­pal in Verdane’s Berlin office, added: “REMEMBER is a brand stee­ped in history with charisma in the German and inter­na­tio­nal market, which stands for time­l­ess design and the highest quality. We see great poten­tial for REMEMBER to conti­nue and even acce­le­rate this successful development.”

About Verdane

Verdane is an invest­ment company specia­li­zing in growth capi­tal that supports compa­nies with sustainable and tech­no­logy-based busi­ness models in their inter­na­tio­nal growth. Verdane invests as a mino­rity or majo­rity inves­tor in indi­vi­dual compa­nies or port­fo­lios of compa­nies, focu­sing on three core themes: Digi­tal Consu­mer, Soft­ware and Sustainable Society. Verdane’s funds have capi­tal commit­ments of three billion euros. Since 2003, the company has inves­ted in more than 120 fast-growing compa­nies. Verdane’s team of more than 70 employees, with offices in Berlin, Copen­ha­gen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stock­holm, is commit­ted to being the best part­ner for growth capi­tal in Nort­hern Europe. www.verdane.com