“No matter what the age or the industry, when you put entrepreneurs face to face they often speak the same language, and this allows for fast time to impact for both sides.” These are the words of ‘La Famiglia’ founder Jeannette zu Fürstenberg. The company, whose name translates to ‘the family’, is a Berlin-based VC firm that invests into B2B tech startups in Europe.
La Famiglia was founded in 2016 and is now monitored by Jeannette zu Fürstenberg and Judith Dada. This makes La Famiglia one of the few female-led companies in the business.
The company has raised a new fund totalling €50 million, following its debut €35 million funds in 2017. It has been linked to many industry toppers like Mittal, Oetker, Hymer and Swarovski families, the owning families for Solvay and Adidas, etc. Along with these names, the likes of Niklas Zennström of Skype, Alex Chesterman of Zoopla, and Hanno Renner of Personio are limited partners.
La Famiglia has invested in 37 startups, and some of the prominent and successful ones are Forto, Arculus, and Graphy, and promises to facilitate dialogue between ‘digital disruptors’ and leading companies.
La Famiglia’s second fund has registered several capital outflows into B2B startups already. This list includes Berlin’s Spread.ai, Munich’s Luminovo, and London ChaosIQ.
Zu Fürstenberg merited the success of the company to her industrial family business background. She claimed that that exposure helped her break the ice with big industry. “This (industrial family business) exposure has allowed La Famiglia to form strong relationships that are built on trust”, she said.
