German company builder Next Big Thing raises €12 million from Talanx

Next Big Thing, an IoT and blockchain company builder based in Berlin, has raised €12 million in funding led by the insurance group Talanx, which made this investment through its subsidiary HDI Global. FinLab EOS VC fund and several private investors also participated in the round.

The company builder was started in 2016 by Harald Zapp, who founded the industrial IoT startup Relayr acquired by Munich RE for €300 million last year. Next Big Thing has already launched six startups, most of which work in the IoT industry: AssistMe, Evertrace, METR, nrgen, Weeve, and Sensry.

“We have three sources of inspiration: own ideas, visionary founders and experienced industrial companies,” Zapp said in an interview with the Handelsblatt (Google-translated). “Then we look at the new company ideas and first of all help with the know-how of our experts. If we are convinced, as a co-founder, we invest up to €150,000 as seed capital, as well as capability and manpower . If the start succeeds, we will equip the companies with further venture capital of up to €500,000 and will attract additional external investors.”