Scania, truck maker driving the shift towards a sustainable transport system, has launched Scania Growth Capital II which will also be managed by East Hill Equity. This new €183.6 million (SEK 2 billion) venture capital fund will feed companies and entrepreneurs in the tech-enabled B2B space with an ambition to be become market leaders. With this fund supported by an experienced investment team, its portfolio companies will be able to have the access to market and technology expertise of Scania.
Scania Growth Capital is a venture capital-partnership between Scania, the provider of sustainable transport solutions, and East Hill Equity. Scania Growth Capital was set up in 2016 and invested in nine companies through the Scania Growth Capital I fund. Its funding initiatives include the seed investment in the German unicorn sennder GmbH, in 2017. A unicorn is a startup company with a value of over $1 billion.
Now that Scania Growth Capital I has been fully deployed, its successor Scania Growth Capital II will invest broadly in B2B tech such as software, products, solutions and services within mobility, connectivity, autonomous, electrification, smart factory and sustainability. It will target entrepreneurial companies with a unique product or service offering in areas where the fund can inject not only capital but bring other added value.
“What we have learned is that it is essential for Scania to collaborate with smaller companies and initiatives that have the greatest potential to support our continued development and growth. We have also seen that the venture businesses can benefit from our broad and deep industry knowledge,” says Gustaf Sundell, Executive Vice President and Head of Mobility Solutions at Scania.
Scania Growth Capital II will be managed by East Hill Equity, a company with extensive experience from venture capital investments in the B2B environment. East Hill Equity has offices in Stockholm and Berlin.
“In order to attract the most interesting companies and strongest teams, a successful venture capital fund needs to provide value to its portfolio companies beyond capital, and needs to be centred around the needs of entrepreneurs. Our ambition is that our unique set-up, together with Scania, provides a best-of-both-worlds experience for entrepreneurs,” says Christian Zeuchner, Partner at East Hill Equity.
“Having seen the development of Scania Growth Capital since 2016, we now want to accelerate this successful initiative. The insight for Scania in new relevant areas beyond our current core business, and the mutual beneficial collaboration with innovative tech-companies in adjacent areas, is a true formula for success; especially so in this dynamic time requiring new ways of working in our market,” says Christian Levin, CEO & President of Scania.
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