Ginkgo Equity

What is Ginkgo Equity?

Ginkgo Equity is a venture capital firm headquartered in Berlin, Germany, targeting startups that have deviated from the traditional unicorn trajectory and face challenges in securing funding from conventional venture capital sources. Positioned as a buyout VC, Ginkgo Equity asserts a unique philosophy likened to the enduring resilience of the Ginkgo Biloba tree, aspiring to cultivate businesses with lasting generational impact. While hedge funds conventionally aim for outsized returns from a select few successful investments to balance out losses, Ginkgo Equity diverges by pinpointing ventures in VC portfolios with the potential for evolution into profitable mid-sized entities.

The firm provides intensive operational support to startups, deploying ex-founders, consultants with distinguished credentials, and a highly skilled specialist team to implement customized solutions in vital business dimensions such as sales, operations, and finance. Ginkgo Equity maintains an industry-agnostic stance, with a particular interest in B2B companies with high-tech products and, to a lesser extent, niche B2C companies, primarily operating within European markets.

The targeted ventures for Ginkgo Equity generally exhibit EUR 2-20 million in revenue while remaining cash flow negative, offering evident prospects for a turnaround within 24 to 48 months. Established in 2019, Ginkgo Equity envisages engaging in 2-3 acquisitions annually, with investment sizes ranging from a minimum of 1 million euros to a maximum of 10 million euros, focusing on early-stage companies, specifically Seed to Series B rounds.

What they say:

We invest in startups that are not the next unicorn and have therefore difficulties raising from traditional VCs. Focus is B2B products in any industry (no biotech / life sciences). Niche B2C works as well.