DGAP-News: German Startups Group Berlin GmbH & Co. KGaA / Key word(s): Investment German Startups Group invests in Auctionata, the largest online auction house for art and luxury collectibles worldwide, and increases its stakes in reBuy and TVSmiles 23.03.2016 / 09:30 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- +++ Press Release +++ for immediate publication German Startups Group invests in Auctionata, the largest online auction house for art and luxury collectibles worldwide, and increases its stakes in reBuy and TVSmiles Berlin, 23 March 2016 - German Startups Group, the second most active venture capital investor in Germany in the period since 2012 (CB Insights, 2015), has signed a binding preliminary contract for the indirect acquisition of a stake in Auctionata, which is only subject to approval by respective bodies. Auctionata is, according to the company, the largest auction house for art and luxury collectibles worldwide and one of the most successful German startups. Once the acquisition comes into effect, the stake in Auctionata will constitute one of the ten core holdings within the German Startups Group portfolio. Auctionata was founded in 2012 and auctions objects from various categories such as contemporary art, fine arts, antiques and collectors' items, Asian art, watches, wine, vintage luxury goods, and classic cars. As the inventor of the live stream auction, Auctionata broadcasts all auctions in real-time using its patented technology so that interested persons worldwide can tune into the auction hall online and bid live via the website or mobile app. According to the company, Auctionata consistently achieves record bids in various categories. With the auction of a Chinese watch for over 3 million euros, the company holds the world record for online auctions. Aside from its headquarters in Berlin, Auctionata is also represented by offices in New York, London, Zürich, Rome, and Madrid. Earlybird, Holtzbrinck Ventures, and e.ventures are among the investors. Christoph Gerlinger, CEO and Founder of German Startups Group, comments, "With the acquisition of the new shares, we continue to follow our strategy of investing in the best independent German startups and serial entrepreneurs rather than growing our own ventures, like company builders, avoiding large investments of capital and effort with correspondingly high risk." Furthermore, German Startups Group increases its shares in reBuy and TVSmiles. According to the company, reBuy has four million customers and is one of the German market leaders in the so-called Re-Commerce market, i.e. the purchase, refurbishing, and sale of used products on the Internet. Apart from media items, reBuy deals with consumer electronics, such as smartphones and tablets, and is already Europe's market leader in this segment. The company has 500 employees and operates in Germany, Austria, and France. TVSmiles is active in mobile advertising with a unique business model and is growing strongly. Following great market success in Germany, the AdTech company has recently started to conquer the English market. According to the company, the TVSmiles app has already been downloaded over 5 million times and currently has over 850,000 monthly active users registered with a daily usage of over 40 minutes per daily active user. Press contact German Startups Group Theo Bonick Tel: +49 147 7984135 Mail: [email protected] German Startups Group - We Love Startups! German Startups Group is a listed investment company based in Berlin that focuses on young, fast-growing companies, so-called startups. The company acquires majority and minority shareholdings mainly by providing venture capital. The portfolio companies that German Startups Group holds also stand to benefit from German Startups Group's expertise, experience, and network with respect to strategy development, financing rounds, restructuring necessities, M&A transactions or selling the company, including a possible IPO. According to its own assessment, German Startups Group provides startups with so-called "smart money" by acquiring a shareholding. Its focus is on companies whose products or business models represent a disruptive innovation, allow for a high degree of scalability to be expected, and in which it has a great deal of trust in the entrepreneurial abilities of the founders to whom it feels that it obtains early access to due to its close relationships to relevant players in the startup scene. The geographical focus is on the German-speaking region. Since it commenced with operations in 2012, German Startups Group has, in its opinion, built up a diversified portfolio of investments in young companies and become the second most active venture capital investor in Germany since 2012 (CB Insights, Germany Venture Capital Overview). 24 of the 44 minority stakeholdings in operationally active companies are of particular significance to German Startups Group and together comprise 90% of the total value of all 44 active minority stakeholdings. The ten core holdings alone make up 63% of the value of all active minority stakeholdings. According to German Startups Group, its investment portfolio reflects a cross-section of extremely promising German startups of various maturity stages ("Seed," "Early" and "Growth Stage," by German Startups Group's own definition) and includes some of the most successful and best known German startups. More information is available on our website at www.german-startups.com. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 23.03.2016 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 448095 23.03.2016