Lakestar

Lakestar is a venture capital firm founded in 2012 by Klaus Hommels. They have offices in Zurich, Berlin, London, New York and Hong Kong. Lakestar focuses their investments in early and growth-stage ventures with a focus on internet and technology companies. These companies have included Spotify, Skype, King.com and Facebook.

In 2017, Lakestar invested in Shapeshift, a digital currency exchange. Lakestar invested in Shapeshift's Series A, which raised USD $10.4 million. In the same year, Lakestar and GV lead a USD $40 million Series B funding for Blockchain.

Lakestar's first seed fund, in 2012, boasted a 70% internal rate of return. In 2013, Lakestar funded Lakestar I funding round at €150 million. Lakestar I took notable positions in Maker studios and Harry's. Maker Studios was bought by The Walt Disney Company in 2014. Harry's purchased Feintechnik razor factory in Germany.

In 2015, Lakestar raised €350 million for its Lakestar II fund. The fund is focused on early stage development and mature companies growth into Europe. This larger fund placed Lakestar closer to venture capitalists Index Venture, Accel Partners and Atomico.

In 2018, Lakestar committed to offer advisory services to investments in the fintech sector. This followed their successful IPO strategy which raised $70 million for startup Marley Spoon. Speaking to Forbes in 2017, Klaus Hommels said:

I enjoy the job most when I can partly be a business development guy.