About us

Montan-Ventures-Saar (formerly SHS Ventures Steel) drives the venture activities of the Montan-Stiftung-Saar. The foundation's arm, established in 2016, aims to identify and develop new business areas in order to be able to actively participate in current developments.

The foundation's Ventures arm is a strategically essential component in order to secure the long-term competitiveness of the Saarland steel industry, which is in the process of becoming a technology group, in its industrial environment. The aim is to occupy new business areas along the value chain of the industrial processes.

As a venture capital company, Montan-Ventures-Saar offers start-ups important insights into the process industry and an exchange with an extensive network of experts. This enables start-ups to follow the current trends in industrial companies directly and to develop themselves further based on this experience.

What we invest in

focus

In addition to disruptive technologies along the process industry, such as in the area of artificial intelligence or cyber security, CO2 reduction or energy efficiency, we are also looking for young companies to further develop our products and innovative business areas in the B2B area.

phase

From the start-up phase up to the second financing round. Ideally, a start-up has already achieved product / market suitability.

frame

Between 0.2 - 1 M € in the first financing round as a minority stake. We also take part in subsequent rounds.

radius

Focus on start-ups and spin-offs from universities in the Saar-Lor-Lux region, and open to start-ups from DACH, Luxembourg and France.

Our accelerator program

Especially in the initial phase, start-ups have to make many decisions that have long-term effects on corporate development. Incorrect decisions made in this early phase are very relevant as they can affect the basic strategy of the start-up. In order to minimize this risk and to be able to act as effectively and harmlessly as possible as a start-up in this phase, the founders need even more intensive support through our know-how.

Our accelerator program is primarily aimed at local start-up teams in the pre-founding or start-up phase, consisting of students, doctoral candidates, academic employees or employees of universities and their institutes as well as former students or employees of these institutions. That is why we offer convertible loans for the start-ups in this early phase in order to build a bridge to the first financing round.

Our portfolio

The current portfolio includes industry-related B2B start-ups in the areas of augmented reality, predictive maintenance or IoT.

Emlen's SaaS technology enables B2B companies to create personalized and intelligent buying experiences that feel like B2C. Building the Netflix for B2B sales. #BuyerLedGrowth

Vanilla Steel is the only independent digital platform which enables buyers to find and purchase excess steel directly from European producers and stockists.

Increase Your Skills offers a unique and interactive platform for informative and engaging online trainings as well as phishing simulations to educate companies and employees on how to prevent, detect and respond to cyber attacks.

Crosser develops low-code software solutions for edge computing and for real-time data flows in the cloud or on-premise. The Crosser Edge Computing solution relieves bandwidth and cloud services with data processing and decision-making functions directly on site.

Sensolus is an established asset tracking company. The company builds on many years of experience in telecommunications, low-power networks, wireless sensor design and cloud-based analytics. Montan-Ventures-Saar is invested within the btov private investor network.

The company, which was founded by leading AI reseachers at ETH Zürich, creates tools that help AI teams build and deploy AI models that are safe, reliable and trustworthy. Montan-Ventures-Saar is invested within the btov private investor network.

Zensor, based in Brussels, works in the field of Smart Factory and infrastructure. The tailor-made solutions enable monitoring with anomaly detection for the respective systems and infrastructures.

DeVeTec is the only provider to build efficient power plants for the production of compressed air from waste heat for industry. As a rule, CO2 savings of around 200 households per year are achieved. The power plants achieve a high level of economy due to the combination with compressed air.

Leading European provider in the field of augmented reality. The platform enables the simple, scalable creation of augmented reality applications with existing content. With REFLEKT Remote, an innovative remote maintenance tool with live video and augmented reality is also available.

Paua Ventures is a leading tech investor and manages over EUR 70 million in a portfolio of more than 25 companies in various stages of growth from all over Europe. Montan-Ventures-Saar participates in the Paua II fund and additionally co-invests in relevant start-ups.

btov is one of the largest and oldest venture capital companies in Europe, managing institutional funds, partner funds and direct investments by private investors amounting to around EUR 510 million. Montan-Ventures-Saar participates in btov's Industrial Tech Fund and also makes co-investments in relevant start-ups.

Success Stories

Rhebo is the leading European provider of solutions for industrial security specializing in network monitoring with anomaly detection. The technology reports suspicious processes in data communication in real time. A prevention against possible cyber attacks, but also network problems and machine malfunctions.

Exit: Acquired by Landis+Gyr AG in 2021

Amorphous Metal Solutions (AMS) is a spin-off from Saarland University and part of the Montan-Ventures-Saar accelerator program. AMS deals with the industrial production and processing of components made of amorphous metals in a process chain specially developed for this purpose and for which a patent is pending.

Exit: Acquired by Heraeus 2021

Where do we come from

Founded in 2001 by AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke and Saarstahl AG, the foundation's main mission is to shape the future in the interests of the founder and to pursue his goals in the foundation's institution.

SHS is an operational management holding company that, as a shareholder in the two steel companies AG der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger) and Saarstahl AG, provides central services for both corporate groups.

The Aktien-Gesellschaft der Dillinger Hüttenwerke (Dillinger), founded in 1685, is today a world leader in the production of high-quality heavy plate made of steel - including in the areas of boiler, machine, steel construction, wind power and line pipe.

The name Saarstahl guarantees high-quality, customer-specific solutions made of steel. The Saarstahl Group has specialized in the production of wire rod, bar steel, semi-finished products and forged products in high quality.