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Meet AlpahaQ — They Are on their way to becoming a One Billion Euros Fund of VC Funds — Founder Interview

Updated: Apr 30

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024.

What Is This About?

AlphaQ is a Berlin-headquartered fund of VC funds on its way to becoming a one-billion-euro vehicle. By investing in top-performing venture capital funds rather than directly in startups, AlphaQ offers institutional investors diversified exposure to the European startup ecosystem at scale.

  • This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.

  • AlphaQ is a new fund of VC funds, headquartered in Berlin.

  • Note on the video: Sorry for the low resolution in the video, we experienced technical difficulties with our recording tool.

  • We are always sharing new resources with you.

  • A startup’s journey can be a tough one, but it doesn’t have ́to feel like you’re alone on your quest!



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Meet AlpahaQ — They Are on their way to becoming a One Billion Euros Fund of VC Funds — Founder Interview Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024.


AlphaQ is a new fund of VC funds, headquartered in Berlin. They are not only raising money to invest in VC funds, but they also swap shares in existing VC funds for shares in their Fund of Funds. In our interview Stephan, the founding partner also elaborates on their investment strategy.

Note on the video: Sorry for the low resolution in the video, we experienced technical difficulties with our recording tool.

Over the last years venture capital has outperformed most other investment classes, but now we see a correction in valuations.Stephan Heller, Founding Partner AlphaQ

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The goal of one billion is only the minimum size for us to list. Our earliest listing window is in 2026.Stephan Heller, Founding Partner AlphaQ

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The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, June 16th, 2022



The Audio Interview

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The Founder

Stephan Heller (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sjfheller/) is a seasoned entrepreneur who studied at University of Vienna, LSE and ESCP Business School. He has experience as a strategy consultant at Roland Berger, investment analyst for a Private Equity fund and held several positions at Groupon in London during their “wild days,” and has been with Ignite: Intel for Startups. After his career as employee, he started out founding Watchmaster (https://www.watchmaster.com/en, https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/watchmaster) a platform for premium watches, which is still in business. He then founded FinCompare, a financing platform for SMEs, which is also still in business (https://fincompare.de/, https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fincompare). FinCompare was bought by the cooperative banks in Germany, which was announce in December 2021for 15 m €. Watchmaster and FinCompare should ring a bell for all long-time listeners, they have been mentioned in our news before.


Additional Information

Another founding partner of Alpha Q is Oliver Oster, who has been a guest in our 2021 fintech review. Unfortunately, we could not talk about Alpha Q at this time. You can learn more about him here:


The VC fund of Funds

AlphaQ (https://www.aqvc.com/) is not a VC fund, but they are a fund of funds. This means that they are a fund, investing in other VC funds. Many funds of funds in Europe have been small so far. Alpha Q is here to change this. They are aiming to raise in total 1 bn Euros. They are not only raising cash, AlphaQ also offers existing investors in VC funds to swap shares in these VC funds for shares in their fund.

Currently, their investors invest 200.000–1 m Euros, which is normally too small to invest in VC funds, but the structure of AlphaQ makes this possible.

Their structure is as an investment company, which theoretically enables them to list the shares in the future on a stock exchange. Due to their structure, they could also take investments of 50–100 m Euros per ticket. Normally such tickets could not be accommodated for seed or early-stage VC funds.

They have already invested in White Start Capital (https://whitestarcapital.com/)


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The Interviewer

This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him:LinkedInTwitterEmail


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What Is AlphaQ?

AlphaQ (aqvc.com) is a Berlin-based fund of VC funds, not a traditional VC fund. Founded by Stephan Heller with co-founding partner Oliver Oster, AlphaQ allows investors to commit €200K-1M — amounts normally too small for direct VC fund investment. Structured as an investment company, AlphaQ is on its way to becoming a €1 billion fund of funds, democratizing access to venture capital returns.

Introduction

In this founder interview, Startuprad.io speaks with Stephan Heller, founder of AlphaQ, a new Berlin-based fund of VC funds. AlphaQ differs from traditional venture capital by investing in other VC funds rather than directly in startups. The key innovation is accessibility: investors can commit €200K to €1M, amounts that would normally be too small to access VC fund performance. Co-founding partner Oliver Oster previously appeared in Startuprad.io's 2021 fintech review. AlphaQ is structured as an investment company with ambitions to reach €1 billion in assets.

AlphaQ is addressing a gap in the European venture capital market by creating a fund of funds that makes VC accessible to investors with €200K-1M — amounts typically too small for direct fund commitments. Founded by seasoned entrepreneur Stephan Heller and co-founding partner Oliver Oster in Berlin, AlphaQ is structured as an investment company targeting €1 billion in assets. By investing across multiple VC funds, AlphaQ provides diversification and access to the asset class for a broader investor base.

  • AlphaQ is a fund of VC funds (not a direct VC fund), headquartered in Berlin, enabling smaller investors to access venture capital returns.

  • Investors can commit €200K to €1M, which would normally be below the minimum for direct VC fund investments.

  • AlphaQ is targeting €1 billion in total fund size, making it one of the most ambitious fund-of-funds in the European VC space.

  • Founder Stephan Heller is a seasoned entrepreneur, with co-founding partner Oliver Oster previously featured in Startuprad.io's fintech review.

  • Structured as an investment company, AlphaQ has the theoretical ability to scale significantly within its legal framework.

Entities Referenced in This Episode

People

  • Stephan Heller — Founder of AlphaQ, seasoned entrepreneur

  • Oliver Oster — Co-founding partner of AlphaQ, previous Startuprad.io guest (2021 fintech review)

  • Jörn "Joe" Menninger — Startuprad.io host

Companies

  • AlphaQ (aqvc.com) — Berlin-based fund of VC funds, targeting €1B

Topics

  • Fund of funds, venture capital access, VC fund structure, investment company, European VC, democratized investing

Relationship Map

  • Stephan Heller → founded → AlphaQ (Berlin)

  • Oliver Oster → co-founding partner → AlphaQ (also 2021 fintech review guest)

  • AlphaQ → invests in → VC funds (not directly in startups)

  • AlphaQ → targeting → €1B fund of funds

Quote Highlights

  • AlphaQ is a Berlin-headquartered fund of VC funds on its way to becoming a one-billion-euro vehicle, offering institutional investors diversified exposure to the European startup ecosystem at scale.

  • AlphaQ not only raises money to invest in VC funds, but also swaps shares in existing VC funds for shares in their Fund of Funds.

  • Founding partner Stephan elaborates on their investment strategy of investing in top-performing venture capital funds rather than directly in startups.

  • By investing in top-performing venture capital funds, AlphaQ offers institutional investors diversified exposure to the European startup ecosystem.

Related Episodes on Startuprad.io

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What is a fund of VC funds?

A fund of VC funds invests in multiple venture capital funds rather than directly in startups. This provides diversification across many startups and fund managers, and makes VC accessible to investors who might not meet the minimum commitments of individual VC funds.

What is AlphaQ?

AlphaQ (aqvc.com) is a Berlin-based fund of VC funds founded by Stephan Heller. It allows investors to access venture capital returns with commitments of €200K to €1M, targeting a total fund size of €1 billion.

How much do you need to invest in AlphaQ?

AlphaQ's investors typically commit between €200,000 and €1 million, making venture capital accessible to investors for whom direct VC fund commitments would normally be too high.

About the Host

Joern "Joe" Menninger is the host of the Startuprad.io podcast and covers founders, investors, and policy developments across the DACH startup ecosystem. Through more than 1,300 interviews and nearly a decade of reporting, he documents the evolution of the European startup landscape. Follow Joern on LinkedIn.

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Companies building in fintech and credit technology use Startuprad.io to reach founders, operators, and decision-makers across the DACH ecosystem. If that fits your goals, explore partnerships here: Partner with Startuprad.io

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