LP profile

KfW

Fund of fund · Founded 1948 · Frankfurt, Germany

#568 LP Ranking #59 of 264 funds of funds

German government-owned development bank, based in Frankfurt

Website ↗LinkedIn ↗X / Twitter ↗

83 VC firms backed

$624B AUM

01 · Background

Who KfW is.

Historical Background: KfW, originally Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Reconstruction Credit Institute), was founded in 1948 under the Marshall Plan to finance Germany's post-war reconstruction. Its initial mandate was to distribute and lend the European Recovery Program (ERP) funds, playing a central role in rebuilding the German economy. Over the decades, its mission expanded to include export financing, development aid, and domestic promotional activities.
Source of Capital: KfW primarily raises funds on the international capital markets, issuing bonds that are explicitly and directly guaranteed by the Federal Republic of Germany. This federal guarantee provides the institution with a high credit rating, allowing it to borrow at favorable rates. Additional funding comes from the federal government's budget, particularly for its development bank activities.
Major Events: In 2001, KfW's promotional activities for small and medium-sized enterprises were merged with Deutsche Ausgleichsbank (DTA) to form KfW Mittelstandsbank. KfW IPEX-Bank was spun off as a legally independent subsidiary in 2008 to handle international project and export financing. In 2018, KfW Capital was established as a new subsidiary with the specific goal of investing in German and European venture capital funds to support the growth of technology companies.
Allocation Strategy: KfW operates across multiple asset classes, including direct lending, structured finance, and fund investments, functioning as both a promotional bank for the German economy and a development bank internationally. Through its subsidiary KfW Capital, the institution focuses on venture capital, investing in German and European VC funds to improve access to capital for startups and innovative technology companies. KfW Capital has a stated goal of investing approximately EUR 2 billion over ten years, with support from the ERP Special Fund, to strengthen the venture capital ecosystem.

Sources

02 · Fund commitments

The funds KfW backs.

KfW is a limited partner in 83 funds. 5 of them place in the Power Law Investor Ranking; those lead, best-ranked first.

13books Capital

United Kingdom

3i Group

United Kingdom

42CAP

Germany

AENU

Germany

Afinum

Germany

AfricaGoGreen Fund

United Kingdom

African Development Bank

Côte d'Ivoire

African Infrastructure Investment Managers - AIIM

South Africa

ALCB Fund

Luxembourg

Anava Fund of Funds

Tunisia

Azur Innovation Management

Morocco

Connecting Europe Broadband Fund

Conning

United States

Cross-Border Impact Ventures

Canada

Encourage Capital

United States

Equator Capital Partners

United States

Go Big Partners

Tunisia

Harbert Management Corporation - HMC

United States

Investcorp

Bahrain

Kendall Court

Singapore

Korea Investment Corporation

South Korea

Lok Capital

India

Omnivore Partners

India

SAHEL Capital

Nigeria

Verdant Capital

Mauritius

03 · Allocation

How KfW’s fund book is spread.

The 83 funds KfW backs, by where the manager is headquartered and how many funds that manager has raised.

Where those managers are based

By fund headquarters, across the 82 of 83 with a location on record.

Europe 6579%
Rest of world 1215%
North America 56%

Germany 30 · United Kingdom 13 · France 6 · Netherlands 6

How established those managers are

Managers grouped by how many funds they have raised — across the 56 of 83 with a fund history on record.

Emerging funds · 28

Established funds · 28

13 1

10 2

5 3

10 4

8 5-6

4 7-9

3 10-14

3 15+

Funds raised by the manager

04 · Knowledge graph

News N-ERGIE lands €150M KfW loan for German grid upgrades Aug 27, 2026

News ENERCON lands $1.17B guarantee facility, repays German government loan early Aug 20, 2026

News Germany's WIN fund deploys first capital, commits €185M to venture funds Jul 15, 2026

05 · Exits

KfW’s biggest exits.

Portfolio companies that IPO’d or were acquired at $1B+, with the valuation recorded at exit and — for those still public — their value today. Exit events come from each company’s funding-round history; entry stage from KfW’s transaction record.

Adidas

IPO · 1995

Now $36BSports

LATAM Airlines

$2.7M IPO · 1997

Now $22BTravel

Banco do Brasil

IPO · 2000

Now $22BFintech

Power Finance Corporation

IPO · 2007

Now $20BFintech

Uniper

IPO · 2016

Now $14BEnergy

Hensoldt

$1.4B IPO · 2020

Now $13BSecurity

BioMérieux

IPO · 2004

Now $9.2BHealth

Grenergy

IPO · 2015

Now $4.0BEnergy

CureVac

$2.8B IPO · 2020

Entered Series B+Now $599MHealth

Danaos Corporation

IPO · 2006

Now $2.5BTransportation

06 · Direct investments

The companies KfW backs directly.

KfW holds 81 companies directly, separate from the funds it commits to as a limited partner. Broken down by headquarters country, sector, entry stage and current growth stage. "Stage entered" is the first priced round the investor joined, derived from the investor’s transaction history.

By countryCount

Germany80
India5
Kenya3
Australia2
Brazil2
France2
Spain2
Sweden2
Switzerland2
USA2
Bangladesh1
Belgium1

By sectorCount

Health28
Energy23
Fintech14
Enterprise Software13
Transportation13
Marketing8
Food5
Home Living4
Event Tech3
Hosting3
Telecom3
Chemicals2

By stage enteredCount

Series A31
Series B+29
Seed14

By growth stageCount

Early Growth47
Breakout Stage41
Late Growth14
Mature13

07 · Portfolio market map

Inside KfW’s portfolio.

The 60 highest-funded portfolio companies, of 81 tracked.

Northvolt

Energy

Immatics biotechnologies

Health

$814M

Arafura Rare Earths

Energy

$397M

Vulcan Energy Resources

Energy

$370M

Everphone

Consumer Electronics

$172M

Free Now

Transportation

$197M

Productsup

Marketing

$80M

Simplesurance

Fintech

$46M

Husk Power Systems

Energy

$172M

Curetis

Health

$29M

Cleverciti Systems

Transportation

$75M

Cynora

Semiconductors

$300M

SuppreMol

Health

$220M

Springlane

Food

$88M

CryoTherapeutics

Health

$68M

Electrochaea

Energy

$158M

OMEICOS Therapeutics

Health

$68M

Protagen

Health

$5.4M

Bettermarks

Education

$39M

Andercore

Energy

$128M

Novaled

Energy

$49M

CEI Africa

Energy

Numares

Health

$8.8M

Innolume

Energy

$38M

BigRep

Engineering and Manufacturing Equipment

$179M

Elektrani na Severna Makedonija

Energy

NamPower

Energy

CEF Group

Energy

$84M

GNA Biosolutions

Health

$54M

TurnKey Lender

Fintech

$31M

Phenex Pharmaceuticals

Health

$22M

Intelligent Fluids

Energy

$44M

Hemovent

Health

$135M

Pflege.de

Health

$18M

Cytocentrics

Health

$63M

Uniper

Energy · Decacorn

$14B

amcure

Health

$26M

Hela Clothing

Engineering and Manufacturing Equipment

$56M

Acousia Therapeutics

Health

$44M

Equity for Tanzania

Health

Sloning BioTechnology

Health

$21M

Volders

Fintech

$22M

Micropelt

Energy

$29M

GOVECS

Energy

$55M

AYOXXA

Health

$10M

Clickworker

Jobs Recruitment

$5.5M

Minodes

Marketing

$16M

NEUWAY Pharma

Health

SOLshare

Energy

$4.4M

Subitec

Food

$20M

Signature Diagnostics GmbH

Germany

Ranking Coach

Marketing

$22M

Vectoflow

Transportation

$18M

SmartB

Energy

$18M

Ubitexx

Security

$15M

advanceCOR

Health

$17M

Trinckle

Enterprise Software

$13M

08 · Portfolio founders

Where KfW’s portfolio founders come from.

85 founders across the 100 highest-funded portfolio companies — by current location, university attended, and the companies they worked at before founding. Sourced from the founder records the API links to each portfolio company.

LocationCount