Cathay Innovation continues to strengthen its European footprint specifically in Germany and DACH countries.
Michael Schuster will be responsible for sourcing investment in and supporting the most promising startups in the region.
Paris, 11 January 2024 – Today,Cathay Innovation announced the appointment of Michael Schuster as Venture Partner. His mission is to develop Cathay Innovation’s footprint in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), expanding on the Group’s existing presence in Berlin and Munich, by identifying and supporting the most promising European startups. This appointment comes at a time when Cathay Innovation is deploying its €1 billion fund, Cathay Innovation III, dedicated to the transformation of industry and society.
Michael brings more than 15 years’ experience as an investor. After studying Computer Science and co-founding multiple SaaS companies building information and data retrieval products using natural language processing (NLP), he then co-founded Speedinvest, a European Seed Stage venture fund and grew it to 1bn+ AUM and 100+ people, with a portfolio of more than 300 companies. Over the span of his career, he was involved in pre-seed and seed financings in a variety of sectors and is now focusing on growth as European innovative companies mature, particularly in the field of healthcare, fintech, AI and energy transition.
Michael Schuster joins the ever-growing team of Cathay Innovation’s strategic partners that offer in-depth knowledge of each market or vertical, supporting portfolio companies and founders in an entrepreneurial way. Cathay Innovation focuses on four main verticals: digital health, tech-enabled consumer, financial services and energy/mobility. As a Venture Partner, Michael will be active across the whole investment spectrum.
“The European startup ecosystem has matured significantly over the past decade, but there remains a significant gap in the growth stage. This is where Cathay Innovation comes in, offering a compelling proposition to founders with its massive capital (with one of the largest funds in Europe), global perspective and entrepreneurial spirit. I’m very excited to join Cathay as a Venture Partner at a great moment in the industry and look forward to contributing to the next chapter of its success story for the German-speaking region,” says Michael Schuster, Venture Partner at Cathay Innovation.
“At Cathay Innovation, we provide our portfolio companies with more than just financial support. Our goal is to support growth with deep sector insights, strategic experience and business development opportunities from our team and larger ecosystem. Michael’s experience is a tremendous asset for the companies we support, especially in Germany and the DACH region. With his arrival, we’re seeking excellence while making sure the most promising DACH startups grow across Europe and become the international leaders they deserve to be,” adds Denis Barrier, co-founder of Cathay Innovation.
About Cathay Innovation:
Cathay Innovation is a multistage venture capital firm, affiliated to Cathay Capital, investing in founders building transformative businesses across Europe, North America, Asia, Latin America and Africa. Its platform connects founders with investors and its ecosystem of leading Fortune500 corporations to help startups scale and transform industries with consumer to enterprise and AI solutions in commerce, fintech, digital health and mobility / energy. Founded in Paris in 2015, Cathay Innovation now manages over €2.5B AUM with additional offices in Berlin, San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore and has invested in over 100 startups including Chime, Pinduoduo (NASDAQ: PDD), Glovo, Wallbox (NYSE: WBX), Owkin, Getaround, Ledger, ZenBusiness, Alma, Descartes Underwriting and more. To learn more, visit us at www.cathayinnovation.com or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter @cathayinnov.