VORNvc Research
Investment Thesis
VORNvc is a regional early-stage venture fund based in Dortmund, Germany, run by VORNvc Management GmbH. The fund backs tech and deep-tech founders from North Rhine-Westphalia, with a focus on the eastern Ruhr region and Southwestern Westphalia, whose business models or products help transform the regional economy. The firm's tagline is "Dein Business. Nur weiter." (your business, just further). It invests outside its core region when it sees a strong content fit with the region. A stated goal is to strengthen ties between startups and the German Mittelstand, so portfolio companies get access to local customers through the LP base.
Stage Focus
Pre-seed, seed and Series A. The fund targets roughly 30 portfolio companies over its life and reserves for follow-ons.
Check Size
Cheques of up to EUR 6 million per company, according to Dealroom (September 2026). The minimum is not disclosed.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. Portfolio pages list co-investors on most deals (Scale now, Blockwall, Gründerfonds Ruhr, Geck, Derwald, NRW.Bank, CMCC Titan Fund, Hochwald, Naarmann, Zenfold, huvepharma), which points to syndicated rounds with both lead and follow roles. Marked unknown.
Recent Activity and Fund Status
VORNvc held its first close in mid-2025 at more than EUR 32 million, including EUR 10 million from NRW.BANK. Five savings banks (Sparkassen Hamm, Volme und Ruhr, UnnaKamen, an der Lippe and Dortmund) and private entrepreneurs are also LPs. A second close in September 2026 took the fund to more than EUR 41 million, adding Sparkasse Paderborn-Detmold-Höxter and the Wortmann Stiftung. The target fund size is EUR 50 million. Since the first close the team has made seven investments, including vGreens, KyDo and Spherity. The fund is actively deploying.
Portfolio Highlights
Current companies shown on the site: vGreens (AI-controlled indoor farms for fruit), KyDo (oncology small-molecule inhibitors), Borderless Technologies (business-process automation with smart contracting, logistics first), Spherity (digital identity and verifiable credentials), bace (multi-service last-mile hubs), Sionic (electrochromic smart glass), M3TA Collective (gamified Web3 e-commerce), smycles (AI team-matching platform) and OligoScience (human milk oligosaccharide production).
Exits shown on the site: Volterion (redox-flow energy storage), Comnovo (ultra-wideband vehicle warning), Kairos (CentraXX clinical data platform, now part of IQVIA) and Scienion (liquid handling and bioprinting, now part of Cellink). These come from the team's earlier SeedCapital Dortmund funds, which the same managers ran across three fund generations.
Team
- Nico Hemmann, Geschäftsführer (managing director). Previously managing director of SeedCapital Dortmund for over nine years, with a background at S-Venture.
- Lars Hane, Geschäftsführer (managing director). Co-leads the fund with Hemmann.
- Steffen Gruber, listed on the team page.
- Dr. Daniel Harder, listed on the team page.
- Marek Lehmann, venture partner per LinkedIn.
Decision Process
Two managing directors lead the fund, and a four-person management team sits behind them. The exact process is not disclosed, so it is treated as a partnership.
Founder Preferences
Technical founders building companies that tie into regional industry and the Mittelstand: life sciences, energy, industrial technology, logistics and software. The firm says it offers more than money, including networks and operating expertise through its savings-bank and entrepreneur LPs.
Geographic Focus
North Rhine-Westphalia first, especially Dortmund and the eastern Ruhr, with selective investments elsewhere in Germany where the fit to the region is strong. Most portfolio companies are German GmbHs or AGs.
Gaps
The site is in German and does not list fund size, check minimum, stage or founder criteria. Those come from the NRW.BANK press release (2 July 2025) and Dealroom (21 September 2026). Lead tendency and the full decision process are not documented publicly.