(m+) Investor, digital consultant and "doppelganger" podcaster Philipp Klöckner: "Some start

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Tech mastermind:

Investor

used to advise Rocket Internet.

Today, his analyzes are in demand at venture capital (VC) and private equity funds.

Photo:

Marzena Skubatz for manager magazin

Philipp Klöckner

(41) is one of the most renowned German tech investors and pioneers.

The former Rocket Internet consultant is one of the first financiers of the food supplier Gorillas.

He advises venture capital (VC) and private equity funds such as KKR.

Together with tech entrepreneur

(38), he created one of the most successful German tech podcasts, "doppelganger".

He spoke to manager magazin about the end of the financing boom, oligarchs and the hype surrounding green start-ups.

manager magazin: Mr Klöckner, valuations of tech stocks have plummeted.

What does this mean for digital companies that are not yet public?

Philipp Klöckner:

The valuations in the private market are being adjusted.

This is already visible, for example at

US grocery delivery service Instacart with almost 40 percent.

For late-stage rounds, I expect discounts of 30 to 50 percent.

Otherwise the late investors cannot get the returns they used to have.

In the past two years, investors in start-ups have been almost exclusively concerned with growth.

A turning point here too?

Yes.

Companies will have to show that they are on the way to profitability.

Because if you continue to make losses for years, you may not get cheap money anymore.

The funds are still well stocked and investments continue, albeit at lower valuations.

Will that change now?

Cheap money continues to abound, even as investors increasingly look to alternatives to start-up funds.

There will be new funds.

The problem, from the perspective of venture capital investors, is more that the crossover funds invest earlier because the valuations are no longer as attractive in the late rounds.

You mean very large funds like Tiger Global, which originally only got involved just before the IPO.

In the meantime, they are already investing in the A round or even in seed rounds – i.e. exactly when the typical VC wants to get involved.

It will not be easy for every classic VC to show its added value when it has to compete with Tiger and Co.

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