xdeck Research
Investment Thesis
xdeck.ventures is the venture capital arm of XDECK GmbH, a Cologne, Germany-based platform that combines an accelerator (xdeck's Accelerator/AC) with a dedicated early-stage VC fund. Founded in 2019, the firm transitioned from a pure accelerator model into a venture platform in January 2023, formalizing xdeck.ventures as its investing vehicle while retaining the accelerator as a sourcing and value-add engine. The stated DNA is "honesty, grit and partnership": the team positions itself as founders' biggest critic and best counterpart at once, drawing on a support model proven across more than 60 accelerator companies. They look for exposed, inspiring teams willing to walk the extra mile, deep founder domain expertise, a distinctive understanding of the problem being solved, and differentiated products addressing a real customer pain point.
Sector Focus
xdeck invests in European B2B tech companies across three core areas: process automation, applied big data and AI, and sustainability tech and apps. The current portfolio skews heavily toward applied-AI B2B SaaS (Kern AI, orq.ai, experial, eyva, Omniscient, Scavenger), legal/compliance and contract tech (Kertos, LawX, ContractHero), healthcare AI (Floy, OpenHealth Technologies), sustainability and circular-economy tech (Sunhat, Vytal), and vertical workflow software for SMEs and construction (Plancraft, Specter Automation, packmatic, Stackgini, Augmented Industries), plus insurance (SureIn) and geospatial simulation (Aves Reality).
Stage Focus
xdeck targets pre-seed and seed rounds, investing via convertibles or priced rounds. They will lead rounds but are equally comfortable co-investing alongside like-minded investors.
Check Size
Initial investment is stated as EUR 200K-500K, consistent with third-party trackers (dutchstartup.ai lists the same EUR 200K-500K ticket size).
Lead Tendency
Both: xdeck explicitly states it "can lead but also co-invest with likeminded investors."
Recent Activity
The firm has been consistently active from 2023 through 2025, averaging roughly one new disclosed investment every 1-2 months: Specter Automation (Jan 2023), Kern AI (Feb 2023), Kertos (May 2023), Sunhat (May 2023), Floy (Jul 2023), SureIn (Aug 2023), Plancraft (Oct 2023), ContractHero (Jan 2024), eyva (Feb 2024), Venmate (May 2024), Narratic Labs (May 2024), Orq.ai (Mar 2025), experial (Mar 2025), and Augmented Industries (backed its EUR 4.5M pre-seed round, Sep 2025). Portfolio company Orq.ai went on to raise an additional EUR 5M in January 2026 to scale its enterprise AI agent platform. The portfolio page also lists four unannounced stealth-mode investments, indicating the fund continues to deploy actively.
Portfolio Highlights
Notable named portfolio companies span 20+ B2B tech startups: Orq.ai (LLM application delivery platform, raised a further EUR 5M in 2026), Augmented Industries (AI-enabled factory transformation, EUR 4.5M pre-seed), Floy (AI radiology diagnostics), Kertos (privacy operations automation, described by xdeck as building "a European data privacy champion"), Sunhat (sustainability compliance), Specter Automation (construction site project management), and Vytal (deposit-free reusable packaging). A testimonial from Djef Rifamole, co-founder of Datazeit, also references xdeck as an investor, though Datazeit does not appear in the current public portfolio grid.
Team
- Oliver Steinki, Founding Partner - banking, venture capital, entrepreneurship and consulting background; co-founder of the xdeck accelerator model.
- Markus Gick, Managing Partner - listed alongside Steinki as Executive Management of XDECK GmbH in the company's commercial registry filing.
- Dennis Zeiler, Partner.
- Nik Tavakoli, Partner.
- Elisabeth Spitz-Sanchez, Senior Marketing & Communication Manager.
- Dominique Nappe, Admin and Event Management.
- Lucia Brandt, Accelerator Program Manager.
The team collectively cites 25 years of combined investment experience across banking, venture capital, entrepreneurship and consulting, with a broad knowledge base in B2B technologies, marketplaces and big data analytics.
Decision Process
Multi-partner partnership structure (at minimum Steinki, Gick, Zeiler and Tavakoli hold Partner-level titles), rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
xdeck favors technical, domain-expert founding teams who welcome direct, unfiltered feedback rather than cheerleading, and who are output-focused rather than process-focused. The firm frames itself as a "sparring partner" that coaches from the sidelines on a pull-vs-push basis rather than doing the heavy lifting itself.
Geographic Focus
European B2B tech companies, with the firm headquartered in Cologne, Germany (Vitalisstraße 67, 50827 Cologne) and most known portfolio companies based in Germany.
Additional Notes
xdeck operates an equity- and cost-free accelerator program alongside the fund, reporting a 9.3/10 average founder happiness score, 107 startups through the accelerator and VC combined, 91% still active, 2,500+ employees at alumni startups, and EUR 300M+ in total follow-on funding raised by alumni. The firm publishes individual "why we invested in X" articles for most new investments and periodic thesis essays (e.g., on secondaries in a lower-liquidity market), which provide unusually strong per-deal sourcing for a fund of this size.