🌟 Embracing Diversity in Berlin 🌍

Berlin, the vibrant heart of Europe, is not just a city; it's a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and innovation. Diversity is not just a buzzword here; it's a way of life. From its rich history to its thriving tech scene, Berlin thrives on the unique perspectives and experiences that people from all corners of the world bring to the table. 🌎🤝

As REHAU New Ventures we are located in betahaus, a coworking space in Berlin Kreuzberg, that is a great anchor for us.

This time we were also able to step in at Lufthansa Innovation Hub. Kristian Weymar and Sebastian Feldmann, so good to share experiences on doing Corporate Venture Building. Great to visit your office in Prenzlauer Berg, really really nice and impressive what you have built! Prenzlauer Berg stands for another facet that makes Berlin so interesting for us: the startup and VC ecosystem. When you sit in a restaurant there, you hear your neighbour talking about the same things we do: Ticket size, cap table, deal flow.... 😀
Let's celebrate Berlin's commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion. 🌈✨

#Berlin #diversity #inclusion #innovation #equality #globalcommunity #networking #weenhancelives #rehaunewventures

Today we conclude our series on Corporate Venture Building and talk about the measures we take to minimize the risks of #CVB.
 
🚀 CVB can be a highly effective approach to innovation, i.e., successfully monetize developments in the market and build new businesses.

🔮 However, CVB comes with high levels of #uncertainty and is strongly related to the risk of #failure.

📉 To reduce this risk, we at New Ventures combine a systematic risk management with a critical portfolio size. For that the #ventures within the portfolio are categorized according to their levels of uncertainty and returns.

🗃 At New Ventures we aim to structure our portfolio with 50% of category 2 ventures that are likely to generate financial returns within our time horizon, while splitting the rest of the activities equally between category 1 and 3. Those consist of ventures with #low #risk and (very likely) #return (category 1) and ventures with #high #risk and high return (category 3). If a venture’s classification falls into the red area there will either be no #invest at all or it will be actively divested if it is already a part of the portfolio.

⚖ To fully deploy this strategy, we aim at adding one to two #ventures to the portfolio every year, to balance the individual risks of the ventures.
 
"With this strategy, we make sure that the entire portfolio will sustain growth of its value, as the risk is distributed across all ventures and we ensure financial returns near-term”, Richard Luetzner emphasizes.
 
What are your thoughts on this strategy? We would love to get your input!

#reducerisks #cvb #strategy #growth #ventures #invest #portfolio

Over the last few weeks, we've talked about what corporate venture building is, what we do with it within the REHAU Group and how we can approach corporate venture building. After successfully building 7 start-ups, we could identify several key facts that should be kept in mind when it comes to #CVB:

Since REHAU New Ventures focuses on the search fields “Better Living” 🏡 and “Digital Construction” 👷‍♂️ it is important to build up 👩‍🔬 domain knowledge in these areas to ensure that future #startups can profit from these competencies and expertise.

🗣 In order to build reliable domain knowledge, it is crucial to work with customer feedback and include testing throughout the whole venture building process.

🤖 By doing so, it is possible to gain #authentic #data on which business decisions – that always have to be data-driven – can be made. For that it is also important to define key performance indicators (KPIs) based on the collected data. Otherwise, it won´t be clear if a business idea is successful, because there is no reference point.

👥 Not only precise data is essential to make the correct decisions and investments, but also a dedicated team and suitable partners.

Michael Baur considers the co-founder team to be a central #pillar for a successful corporate venture building approach: "It's common sense that having the right people in place is essential to achieve sustainable and profitable growth. Our processes prioritize entrepreneurs' needs, enabling them to tackle what truly matters: the needs and challenges of their customers."

With the help of our venture building team and external partners, the venture´s team can #focus on its main #competencies and has the possibility to let experts handle specialised topics. That can help prevent the team from losing focus and therefore counteracts a chaotic work environment.

For that it is also important to separate core roles and functionalities amongst the different start-up teams.

Feel free to share your learnings with us too!

#cvb #startups #domainknowledge #customercentric #focus #precisedata

Thank you Jan Kopp for posting the #aws #working #backwards experience and our key take-aways: the AWS Working backwards approach is more than worth it being tried out. Although our two concrete ideas did not manage to get into the next phase within the New Ventures #innovation #process, we added Working Backwards to our “method-stack” and appreciate the advantages of the approach:

🗣 Super convenient format to ask for feedback
🚄 Iterative approach ensures high velocity
👁️‍🗨️ Starting with the target group/ persona forces you to think #customer-centric

We can clearly recommend this method and we are very happy to be able to work with you and Marina Vester look forward to the next experiment with you! 🚀🙌

#aws #innovation #workingbackwards #innovationprograms #craftsbusiness

We are thrilled to introduce our brand new venture, homerenu! 🏡

Homerenu is a state-of-the-art digital platform designed specifically for #residential #kitchen and #bath #remodeling contractors. "Our aim is to streamline their operations, enhance their efficiency, and empower their business growth like never before", explains Bradley Doering, the Business Owner of homerenu.

🤝 Homerenu understands the complexities that come with kitchen and bathroom renovations. That's why they are working tirelessly to create a platform that simplifies this process, enabling the customer to focus on what to do best - creating stunning spaces that homeowners will love. But homrenu is not just about making things easier. The vision for homerenu extends beyond operational efficiencies.

💪 Homerenu aims to uplift the entire kitchen and bathroom renovation industry, championing best practices, fostering innovation, and paving the way for a more sustainable and customer-focused renovation experience. It is more than just a #platform – it’s a #revolution in the #home #remodeling #industry. It's a movement that seeks to support contractors, elevate standards, and, ultimately, transform the way we renovate.

🙌 Homerenu is incredibly excited about this new journey, and the team is even more excited to have you all join them. Together, let's redefine what it means to renovate. Let's #shape the future of kitchen and bath remodeling. Stay tuned for more information about homerenu – we can't wait to show you what they've been working on! 🔨 💡

🌐 Visit the website: https://www.homerenu.com/ and come into touch with Bradley Doering.

#HomeRenu #RenovationRevolution #Contractors #KitchenBathRemodeling #DigitalPlatform #BusinessGrowth

So far we have talked about what #CorporateVentureBuilding is and what do we do within the REHAU Group.

📢 Today we want to address the issue of how we can #approach Corporate Venture Building?

At New Ventures we are located on three different continents with our main seat in Europe and two smaller units close to Washington D.C. and Shanghai. With this #network, we create an international home for new venture units and #support them in the market entry phase. The goal is to #prepare them for a carve-out to receive independent legal entities that act as subsidiaries of NV, which can then be scaled with the help of new investors.

🔍 In order to discover promising ideas, we use a structured search approach to find out what the problems of the costumers are. After identifying the demands of the market, dedicated people are hired who have the single focus of #turning a specific monetizable solution into a #startup.

🚀 The REHAU New Ventures innovation and venture building process is taking place in the areas “Better Living” and “Digital Construction”, in which the REHAU Group is already active and has preferred market access. During the early-stage innovation process the ideas that don´t address the most pressing problems are sorted out. Only those who do, make it to the stage gate of market entry and therefore enter the late-stage innovation process. During this phase the start-up´s team has to prove the product-market-fit, before the venture is #scaled to #success.

For Matthias Hille, taking care for the build & scale process of our venture it is important to “create benefits for our ventures like market access, technological know-how, global supply chains and domain expertise from the REHAU group”.
🌍 Götz Thümecke ☀️, responsible for Portfolio Management, adds “the work with strategic partners, external investors has benefits for both sides, the external partners can participate and co-develop new business models in their existing industries while the ventures get external feedback, contacts, resources and funding in addition to assets from the REHAU group.”

❓ Any questions on our approach? Let us know and we´ll give you the answers! 

#corporate #venture #building #startups #innovation #weenhacelives #rehaunewventures