Cusp Capital
Cusp Capital Partners GmbH is a Germany-based venture capital firm (founded 2021; Essen/Berlin) that invests in early-stage European technology companies across four theses: industry-specific SaaS for SMEs, ESG/digitization, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure, managing Cusp Capital Fund 2021, Fund 2026, and the Ignite fund-of-funds program.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersEssen, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Cusp Capital does
Cusp Capital Partners GmbH is a Germany-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 and headquartered in Essen, with a second office in Berlin-Mitte. The firm invests in early-stage technology companies across Europe, typically leading seed and Series A rounds, and organizes its activity around four published investment theses: Industry-Specific Operating Systems (ISOS) for SMEs, the convergence of digitization and ESG/sustainability, digital products tailored to lower-income consumers and workers, and European digital infrastructure. The firm manages two primary vehicles — Cusp Capital Fund 2021 (established 2021 and classified as promoting environmental and social characteristics) and the upcoming Cusp Capital Fund 2026 — and runs Cusp Capital Ignite, a distinct fund-of-funds program that holds positions in 20+ regional and sector-specialized European seed VCs.
The firm generates revenue through management fees on managed blind-pool funds and carried interest from portfolio exits, supported by an in-house operational backbone spanning Finance, HR, Marketing, and ESG. The General Partner team (Helmut Klawitter, Dr. Carolin Althoff, Jan Sessenhausen, Christian Winter, Dr. Maximilian Rowoldt, Matthias Müller) is backed by Principals, Senior Associates, a Finance team, and Venture Partners, totaling roughly 20+ professionals. Distribution of capital and follow-on support is conducted through direct relationship-building with founders (often pre-fundraise), supplemented by an active events and thought-leadership program across DACH, Iberia, the Netherlands, the Baltics, Turkey, and the UK.
Cusp Capital's portfolio spans 100+ companies across verticals including medtech compliance (CertHub), freight/logistics SaaS (Meight), applied AI tooling (Delta Labs), food tech (CarbonCloud), recycling software (Recyda), housing (Libeen), and enterprise software. The team's prior investment history includes exits to Microsoft (Wunderlist), Alibaba (data.artisans), eBay, and Confluent (Immerok), plus public-market IPOs. ESG integration is operationalized through a partnership with Atlas Metrics for portfolio-wide KPI tracking. The firm is privately held by its GPs, with no parent company, and is a member of Invest Europe and a supporter of Reframe Venture.
Cusp Capital firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cusp Capital
- Legal name
- Cusp Capital Partners GmbH
- Website
- https://cuspcapital.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cusp Capital Partners GmbH is a Germany-based venture capital firm (founded 2021; Essen/Berlin) that invests in early-stage European technology companies across four theses: industry-specific SaaS for SMEs, ESG/digitization, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure, managing Cusp Capital Fund 2021, Fund 2026, and the Ignite fund-of-funds program.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cusp Capital industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Venture Capital
- NAICS
- Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
- SIC
- Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Corporate Strategic Real Assets & Infrastructure Venture Investing (FSANAHAN)
Keywords
Where Cusp Capital is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Essen
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Cusp Capital business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Fund Management: Cusp Capital generates revenue through management fees from managed funds (Cusp Capital Fund 2021, Cusp Capital Fund 2026) and carried interest from successful portfolio company exits.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Cusp Capital product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cusp Capital is a venture capital firm that invests early-stage capital into European technology companies aligned with four theses: industry-specific software for SMEs, ESG/sustainability convergence, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure. The firm provides capital alongside in-house operational support in Finance, HR, Marketing, and ESG, and operates a fund-of-funds (Cusp Capital Ignite) that backs regional and sector-specialized VCs across Europe.
Product overview
Cusp Capital is a venture capital firm that provides investment services to early-stage technology companies. Rather than a unified software platform, the firm offers investment partnership across multiple investment theses: Industry-Specific Operating Systems (ISOS), ESG and sustainability-focused companies, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure. The firm also operates fund portfolio management through Cusp Capital Ignite for regional/sector-specialized VC investments, and provides ESG framework and reporting tools for portfolio companies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cusp Capital Ignite: A distinct fund dedicated to investing in regional- or sector-specialized early-stage VCs across Europe.
- Cusp Capital Fund 2021
- Cusp Capital Fund 2026
Products and services
- Cusp Capital Fund 2021 Venture capital fund launched by Cusp Capital Partners GmbH in 2021 to deploy capital into early-stage European technology companies across Cusp Capital's four investment theses (ISOS, ESG/sustainability, lower-income consumer digital products, and European digital infrastructure). It is the firm's first blind-pool fund and underpins the existing portfolio of 100+ companies.
- Cusp Capital Fund 2026 Successor venture capital fund to Cusp Capital Fund 2021, expected to be established in 2026 by Cusp Capital Partners GmbH to continue deploying capital into early-stage European technology companies within the firm's four theses.
- Cusp Capital Ignite Fund-of-funds program operated by Cusp Capital that invests in regional- or sector-specialized early-stage VCs across Europe, including SIVentures, Plus Partners, Angel Invest, Enzo Ventures, Amino Collective, Lucid Capital, ScaleX Ventures, Everyday Intelligence, Nucleus Capital, Backtrace Capital, First Momentum Ventures, Ruya Ventures, Firstpick, Purple, NP-Hard, TINY VC, and yellow, to broaden Cusp Capital's deal-sourcing network and co-investment reach.
- Venture Capital Investment Services Core investment partnership offering through which Cusp Capital deploys capital and provides in-house operational support (Finance, HR, Marketing, ESG) to early-stage technology companies across Europe within its four theses: Industry-Specific Operating Systems for SMEs, ESG and sustainability convergence, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure.
- Portfolio ESG Reporting Platform ESG framework and reporting offering for Cusp Capital portfolio companies, powered by the Atlas Metrics ESG platform. It enables portfolio companies to report on environmental, social, and governance KPIs and integrates with Cusp Capital's ESG investment thesis.
Companies that use Cusp Capital
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Cusp Capital technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Cusp Capital partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Invest EuropeminorCusp Capital is a member of Invest Europe, a leading association for Europe's private equity and venture capital industry.
- Reframe VentureminorCusp Capital is a supporter of Reframe Venture, an initiative supporting venture capital diversity and inclusion.
- Atlas MetricscoreCusp Capital leverages Atlas Metrics as their ESG platform provider for tracking and monitoring ESG KPIs across their portfolio companies. The platform enables portfolio companies to report on environmental, social, and governance performance.
- Cusp Capital Ignite Fund Portfolio (20+ VC funds)coreCusp Capital Ignite invests in regional or sector-specialized early-stage VCs across Europe including SIVentures, Plus Partners, Angel Invest, Enzo Ventures, Amino Collective, Lucid Capital, ScaleX Ventures, Everyday Intelligence, Nucleus Capital, Backtrace Capital, First Momentum Ventures, Ruya Ventures, Firstpick, Purple, NP-Hard, TINY VC, and yellow.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cusp Capital competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Earlybird Venture Capital: One of Europe's longest-standing early-stage VCs, headquartered in Berlin with Munich and London offices. Directly comparable to Cusp Capital in stage focus (seed to Series B), European geography, and thesis-driven approach across digital and deep-tech verticals.
- Speedinvest: Vienna-based early-stage VC investing across Europe with multiple sector-focused funds and similar check sizes to Cusp Capital. Operates a thesis-driven model (fintech, deep-tech, climate, etc.) with comparable team scale and European geographic footprint.
- HV Capital: Cologne-headquartered VC investing across all stages with strong DACH focus. Comparable to Cusp Capital in German roots, founder-support approach, and early-stage weighting, though HV operates at larger fund sizes.
- Cherry Ventures: Berlin-based early-stage VC with pan-European focus and concentrated sector theses. Closely comparable to Cusp Capital in check size, European seed-stage positioning, and operating partner model.
- Project A Ventures: Berlin-based early-stage VC with an operational support model (in-house experts across product, marketing, data) that mirrors Cusp Capital's in-house Finance/HR/Marketing/ESG team structure. Both target European tech founders at seed-to-Series A.
- btov Partners: European VC with offices in Berlin, St. Gallen, and Munich investing in early-stage digital and industrial-tech companies. Comparable to Cusp Capital in DACH focus, seed-stage mandate, and thesis-driven investment approach.
- Capnamic Ventures: Cologne-based early-stage VC focused on B2B software and digital services in German-speaking Europe. Comparable to Cusp Capital's ISOS thesis and similar geographic concentration in the Rhine-Ruhr / DACH region.
- High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF): Germany's largest seed-stage investor, backed by public and private LPs, with deep DACH deal flow. Comparable to Cusp Capital in seed-stage focus and German geographic concentration, though HTGF operates at significantly larger scale.
- La Famiglia: Berlin-based early-stage VC investing in European tech startups with a strong founder network and thesis-driven approach. Comparable to Cusp Capital in stage, geography, and emphasis on long-term founder partnership.
- UVC Partners: Munich-based early-stage VC with B2B-focused theses and operations-heavy value-add model. Comparable to Cusp Capital in DACH concentration, enterprise software focus (aligned with ISOS thesis), and early-stage mandate.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cusp Capital social profiles
Digital presenceCusp Capital financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cusp Capital leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles18 records
Cusp Capital funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cusp Capital M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments29 records
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cusp Capital
What does Cusp Capital do?
Cusp Capital is a venture capital firm that invests early-stage capital into European technology companies aligned with four theses: industry-specific software for SMEs, ESG/sustainability convergence, digital products for lower-income consumers, and European digital infrastructure. The firm provides capital alongside in-house operational support in Finance, HR, Marketing, and ESG, and operates a fund-of-funds (Cusp Capital Ignite) that backs regional and sector-specialized VCs across Europe.
Is Cusp Capital a public or private company?
Cusp Capital is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Cusp Capital founded?
Cusp Capital was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cusp Capital based?
Cusp Capital is headquartered in Essen, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Cusp Capital make money?
One revenue line is on record: fund Management.
Who are Cusp Capital's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Earlybird Venture Capital, Speedinvest, HV Capital, Cherry Ventures, Project A Ventures, btov Partners, Capnamic Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), La Famiglia and UVC Partners.
Does Cusp Capital have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cusp Capital.
What industry is Cusp Capital in?
Cusp Capital's product category is Venture Capital. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSANAHAN, Corporate Strategic Real Assets & Infrastructure Venture Investing. Its NAICS code is 525 and its SIC code is 6211.