Acton Capital Partners

New investor for Canadian SaaS provider Clio

Acton supports growth trajectory with 6 million dollar investment

Vancouver, Munich, 31 January 2012 – Canada-based Clio, the leader in cloud-based management tools for the legal industry, announced that it raised $6 million in its Series B round of financing from Acton Capital Partners, a Munich-based growth equity investor. In addition to the lead investor Acton, Berlin-based early stage investor Point Nine Capital, which first acquired a stake in Clio in early 2009, as well as several others of the existing investors, are taking part in the current financing round.

Founded by Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau in 2007, Clio today employs approximately 50 people. The company sells its software service for attorneys through the website www.goclio.com. Clio is the leading web-based management tool for law firms in North America and is recommended by numerous bar associations. Using Clio, attorneys can conveniently conduct their core administration work – such as case/matter management, time tracking, billing/reporting and document management – and securely and efficiently communicate with their clients. Clio customers benefit from significant cost advantages compared to similar desktop software packages: users must simply pay a monthly subscription fee to use Clio; there is no high purchase price or follow-up costs for installation, maintenance and software updates. Based on cloud computing, Clio enables users to access and process their data from different locations and with various devices.

"We are delighted to welcome Acton on board as a partner in Clio’s continued growth. Acton’s experience in building globally recognized companies will help us deliver a best-in-class product to a worldwide client base," states Jack Newton, founder and CEO of Clio.

“Clio is managed by a highly motivated and experienced team. Thanks to an intelligent business model, the company is capturing a market that is very attractive, also from an international perspective,” Christoph Braun, Managing Partner of the new investor Acton, says in explaining the investment rationale. "We are excited that we can now jointly support Clio in becoming a success story. Clio is an excellent product for a large market of which only a small part has been tapped into so far," says Acton venture partner Boris Wertz. Mr Wertz is supporting Action's Internet investments in North America from his base in Vancouver. Clio is the first investment in North America made from Acton's Heureka Growth Fund.

"We are happy to have found a strong, experienced and innovatively thinking partner in Acton," says Christoph Janz, Managing Partner at Point Nine Capital. “Clio has now sufficient funding to ramp up to the next level of growth.”

About Clio:
Clio (www.goclio.com) is a comprehensive web-based practice management product specifically designed for solo practitioners and small-to-medium-sized law firms. Clio can be accessed using PCs and Macs as well as mobile devices including iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices. Secure and easy-to-use, Clio provides case/matter management, time tracking, billing/reporting, client contact and document management, task scheduling, trust accounting, and detailed reporting. Clio’s parent company, Themis Solutions Inc., is based in Vancouver, B.C./Canada, and was founded by Jack Newton and Rian Gauvreau in 2007.

Press Contact Clio:
Gwynne Monahan
Tel.: +1 888 858 2546-30; E-mail: gwynne@goclio.com

About Acton Capital Partners:
Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.com) is an independent, partner-led growth equity investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. The Heureka Growth Fund’s current portfolio includes companies such as Glasses Direct, mytheresa.com and Yatego. The Acton team has also managed the corporate venture capital company of Hubert Burda Media, one of the leading German media groups. Investment success stories include AbeBooks, ciao.com, Etsy, HolidayCheck, Indochino and zooplus.

Press Contact Acton (Europe):                  Contact Acton (North America):
Anja Seipp                                                    Boris Wertz
Tel.: +49 89 2421887-22                             Tel.: +1 604 561 6858
E-mail: press@actoncapital.de                   E-mail: bw@actoncapital.de

About Point Nine Capital:
Point Nine Capital – “The Angel VC” – is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Berlin, Germany. Point Nine Capital was launched in June 2011, when Team Europe announced that it would team up with serial entrepreneur and angel investor Christoph Janz to expand its investment activities and give them a new dedicated name. The fund, in operation as TEV Fund since end of 2009, has invested in more than eighteen businesses such as Cibando, myGengo, SponsorPay, StyleSeat, Unbounce and has a special focus on SaaS, lead generation, e-commerce and mobile startups. More information is available at www.pointninecap.com.

Press Contact Point Nine Capital:
info@pointninecap.com

Successful exit: mokono sold

15 September 2011. – The blog network mokono has a new owner: The founders, Vasco Sommer-Nunes and Florian Wilken, who previously held the majority of the shares, and Burda Digital Ventures (BDV), the financial arm of Burda Digital, which owned a minority share since 2007, sold the company for 8.2 million Euros to Populis. Populis is a European online vertical media publisher based in Dublin.

Burda Digital Ventures is the financial investment arm of Burda Digital. The mokono investment was managed by Acton Capital Partners, as part of the BDV Fund. Investment Director Harald Ebrecht of Acton comments: “The mokono team has been successful in developing truly innovative business models for digital media. We very much enjoyed working with them and see a great future for mokono as part of the Populis network.”

mokono is Germany’s largest blog network and one of the leading blogging and blog marketing platforms in Europe. Founded in 2005, mokono has over 700,000 registered blogs in 13 European countries. A pioneer in Social Media Advertising, providing a vast range of tailored online advertising packages, the mokono network reaches over 14 million unique monthly visitors. The two founders and managing directors of mokono will continue to manage the company from Berlin.

Erfolgreicher Exit: mokono (blog.de) verkauft

15. September 2011. - Das Blog-Netzwerk mokono wechselt den Besitzer: Die Gründer Vasco Sommer-Nunes und Florian Wilken, die bisher gemeinsam die Mehrheit hielten, und Burda Digital Ventures (BDV), seit 2007 mit einer Minderheitsbeteiligung engagiert, verkauften das Unternehmen für insgesamt 8,2 Mio. € an Populis. Populis ist ein europäischer Anbieter von Online Vertical Media mit Sitz in Dublin.

Burda Digital Ventures ist die Finanzbeteiligungsgesellschaft des Internetunternehmens Burda Digital. Betreut wurde das mokono-Investment durch Acton Capital Partners im Rahmen des BDV Fonds. Investment Director Harald Ebrecht: „Das Team von mokono hat äußerst erfolgreich innovative Geschäftsmodelle für digitale Medien entwickelt. Wir haben sehr gerne mit mokono zusammengearbeitet und sind überzeugt, dass das Unternehmen mit Populis einen hervorragenden Partner gefunden hat.“

mokono (blog.de) ist Deutschlands größtes blog-Netzwerk und einer der europäischen Pioniere im Bereich Social Media Advertising. Das Netzwerk umfasst über 700.000 registrierte Blogs und erreicht damit 14 Millionen Unique User im Monat. Die beiden Gründer und Geschäftsführer von mokono werden weiterhin von Berlin aus das Unternehmen leiten.

Bueroservice24.de secures growth capital

Acton invests in virtual office services specialist

Hamburg/Munich, Germany, 2 August 2011 - Acton Capital Partners has acquired a stake in Bueroservice24 AG, a German provider of virtual office services for small and medium-sized businesses. This is a further investment of the Munich-based VC firm from of its Heureka Growth Fund. The remaining shares in the company are held by the management and by business angels. The terms of the deal will not be disclosed.

Bueroservice24 AG (www.bueroservice24.de) was established in February 2010 by entrepreneurially-minded private investors. The company provides small and medium-sized businesses, such as entrepreneurs, real estate agents, lawyers, therapists and on-line shops, with a reliable personal office service. Its core competency is a professional telephone service for companies. Trained secretaries personally and competently take calls on behalf of the respective customer. If agreed, Bueroservice24.de will also manage appointments and provide information. The client is informed of any requests for a return call by e-mail and text message in a detailed call report. Bueroservice24.de thus guarantees its customers that their telephone calls will always be answered and enables them to concentrate on their core business. An attractive price model, consisting of a flat monthly payment and a variable fee depending on the quantity of calls answered helps to permanently reduce overheads. Other services provided by Bueroservice24.de include renting out virtual registered office addresses and the inexpensive production of high-quality company logos.

“We are delighted to welcome Acton on board as a valuable partner with long-term experience in the implementation of growth strategies,” explains Daniel Dimpker, founder and CEO of Bueroservice24.de. “The cash injection will allow us to expand our business and further sharpen our competitive edge by offering quality, excellent customer service and key additional services.”

“Bueroservice24.de has a convincing business model and is managed by a highly experienced team”, says Frank Seehaus, Managing Partner of Acton, explaining the rationale for the investment. “The company also operates in an attractive market – the small and medium-sized business sector is the most rapidly growing sector of the German economy. We see great potential for services which are tailored to meet the needs of that target group.”

Since its inception, Bueroservice24 AG has been actively supported by DMIT Deutsche Medien und IT – Die Startup-Werft. DMIT is owned by Arne Kahlke and Sören Kress, who founded the successful German matchmaking site “ElitePartner” and managed the internet company for many years. Mr. Kahlke and Mr. Kress were among the initiators of Bueroservice24 and helped arrange all financing rounds so far. As business angels, they continue to be invested in the company.

About Bueroservice24.de:

BSAG Bueroservice24 AG (www.bueroservice24.de) specialises in services in the B-to-small-B sector. Through innovative outsourcing concepts it supports numerous companies in Germany and abroad with regard to their customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. In this way, customers of Bueroervice24 can improve their business processes both flexibly and cost-effectively. In addition to the new investor Acton, the following private investors or their respective investment arms are shareholders in the company: ComCap Ventures (Simon Gollmann), Daniel Dimpker, DMIT Deutsche Medien und IT – Die Startup-Werft (Arne Kahlke, Sören Kress), Holger Schnittker and Wolfman Holdings (Professor Wolf Michael Nietzer).

About Acton Capital Partners:

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.com) is an independent, partner-led growth equity investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. The Heureka Growth Fund’s current portfolio includes companies such as Glasses Direct, mytheresa.com und Yatego. The Acton team has also managed the corporate venture capital company of Hubert Burda Media, one of the leading German media groups. Investment success stories include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, Elitepartner, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.

Press Contact Acton:
Anja Seipp
Seipp Kommunikationsberatung
Tel. :+49 (0) 89 / 2 42 18 87-22
E-Mail: press@actoncapital.de
Web: www.actoncapital.com

Contact Bueroservice24.de:
Milena Djordjevic
Bueroservice24 AG
Tel. +49 (0) 40 / 600 385 -0
E-Mail:info@bueroservice24.de
Web: www.bueroservice24.de

Acton is New Investor for Online Translation Platform Tolingo

Acton, Neuhaus Partners and KfW support growth trajectory

Hamburg, 24 May 2011 – The online translation platform Tolingo has completed a further funding round. Munich growth investor Acton Capital Partners is acquiring a stake in the company by contributing to a capital increase. Besides lead investor Acton, the Hamburg venture capital firm Neuhaus Partners and KfW are participating in this second institutional funding round. KfW is using the “ERP Startfonds”, a scheme conducted in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. Both Neuhaus Partners and KfW have been holding a stake in Tolingo since October 2009. The remaining shares are held by the founders and members of the management of the Hamburg-based company as well as several Business Angels. The parties agreed to keep the conditions of the investments confidential.

Tolingo was founded in Hamburg in 2008. It is one of the leading translation service providers in Germany. The platform connects customers and freelance translators from countries all over the world. On the Tolingo platform, customers can choose from 220 different language combinations and 26 relevant specialist areas. Tolingo passes the inquiries on to suitable translators and also handles quality assurance, billing and customer service. Last year, over 10,000 companies placed professional specialist translations via the platform, and there are now some 6,000 qualified translators working on behalf of Tolingo.

“With the new capital we are going to enhance the growth of our business, in Germany as well as abroad,” says Tolingo Managing Director Gunnar Piening. “Globalisation offers enormous opportunities for our business. Companies all over the world are increasingly operating at an international level and require high-quality translations that are available at short notice,” adds founder and Managing Director Hanno von der Decken. The user interface of the company website is already available in English, French, Italian, Polish and Dutch in addition to the original German.

New investor Acton Capital Partners is convinced of the business model of the Hamburg-based company. “Tolingo combines a strong customer focus with a sophisticated technical infrastructure,” explains Christoph Braun, Managing Partner at Acton. “We are excited that we can now jointly support Tolingo in becoming an international success story.”

“In Acton, we have found an innovatively thinking and like-minded partner", says Matthias Grychta, Managing Partner at Neuhaus Partners. “Tolingo has shown an impressive development so far. The company now has excellent funding, which will enable it to ramp up to the next level of growth.”

About Tolingo:

The online translation platform Tolingo (www.tolingo.com) was founded in 2008. The company employs 40 staff in Hamburg and works with more than 6,000 professional translators worldwide. At www.tolingo.com, Tolingo clients ranging from one-man businesses to DAX companies have direct access to professional translations 24/7 worldwide. Clients can request Tolingo's translation services in 220 different language combinations and can choose from 26 specific fields. Tolingo's language experts deliver top-quality translations from websites to product descriptions, operating instructions to annual reports and legal documents.

About Acton:

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.com) is an independent, partner-led growth equity investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. The Heureka Growth Fund’s current portfolio includes companies such as Glasses Direct, mytheresa.com und Yatego. The Acton team has also managed the corporate venture capital company of Hubert Burda Media, one of the leading German media groups. Investment success stories include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, Elitepartner, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.

About Neuhaus Partners:

Neuhaus Partners GmbH (www.NeuhausPartners.com) is one of Europe's leading venture capital groups. It primarily invests in IT companies. Since its foundation in 1998, 57 investments have been made - Neuhaus Partners was the lead investor in 49 of these. Track record: two IPOs, 20 trade sales, three buy-backs, 10 insolvencies. Neuhaus Partners is now investing from its third generation of funds.

About the ERP Start-up Fund:

KfW Mittelstandsbank (www.kfw.de) mobilises equity for young innovative companies with assistance from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi). In doing so, KfW enters into participations which in most cases do not involve KfW assuming part of the management of the companies. However, the precondition is that at least one other investor (Lead Investor) also enters simultaneously into participation. The participation by KfW and the Lead Investor are subject to the same financial conditions ("pari passu").

Press Contacts

For Tolingo:
Rebekka Müller, tolingo GmbH
Tel.: +49 (0) 40 413/583 302, E-Mail: press@tolingo.com

For Acton:
Anja Seipp, Seipp Kommunikationsberatung
Tel.: +49 (0) 89/2421887-22, E-Mail: press@actoncapital.de

For Neuhaus Partners:
Matthias Grychta, Neuhaus Partners GmbH
Tel.: +49 (0) 40/355 282-0, E-Mail: grychta@neuhauspartners.com

For KfW Bankengruppe:
Wolfram Schweickhardt, KfW Bankengruppe
Tel.: +49 (0) 69/7431-1778, E-Mail: wolfram.schweickhardt@kfw.de

Fresh Capital for windeln.de

Munich, 10 May 2011 – windeln.de, Germany's largest online web store for baby products, successfully completed its Series A financing. Led by the British venture capital company DN Capital, the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) and a consortium of existing shareholders invested again in the company's growth. The Munich-based growth equity investor Acton Capital Partners could be gained as a new investor in this round.

windeln.de was founded in 2010 by Konstantin Urban, Alexander Brand and Dagmar Mahnel  and has been online since October last year. The company is currently growing at about 30 percent per month. With the current investment windeln.de can continue its rapid growth. The fresh funds will primarily be used to expand the product range and to increase marketing activities. Currently, windeln.de is offering about 4,400 products of more than 100 brands. By the end of the year there will be about 6,000 products. The company’s customer base to date consists of about 30,000 mothers and fathers.

"With Acton we have secured a new partner who is very experienced in the e-commerce industry,” says Konstantin Urban, founder and managing director of windeln.de. Acton's portfolio includes, for example, online shopping mall Yatego and mytheresa.com, a high-end fashion web store.

“The previous development of windeln.de has been very impressive,“ says Nenad Marovac, Managing Partner of DN Capital. „The management is excellent, and we see great potential. Therefore we have gladly taken the lead in this new financing round.”

New investor Acton Capital Partners is also convinced of the young company’s business model. “windeln.de is showing exceptional growth in an attractive market, and thus fits very well into our portfolio,” states Christoph Braun, Managing Partner of Acton.

Christoph Braun and Nenad Marovac belong to the newly formed three-member Advisory Board of windeln.de. Jochen Gutbrod, private investor and former vice chairman of the publishing group Georg von Holtzbrinck, completes the board.

About DN Capital

DN Capital is a leading global investor in digital media and software companies at both the early and growth stage with offices in London and Palo Alto. DN Capital's objective is to identify, invest in and actively support digital media and software companies with the potential to be global leaders. Portfolio companies include Shazam Entertainment, Endeca Technologies, Datanomic, Mister Spex, OLX, Digital Chocolate, Tbricks and windeln.de. The professionals at DN Capital bring over 50 years of private equity experience to their investments, and actively work with portfolio companies to steward their growth through the various stages of development. Additional information about the firm and its portfolio companies can be found on its website, www.dncapital.com.

Contact DN Capital:

Nenad Marovac

Phone: +44 (0)20 7340 1600, E-mail: nenad@dncapital.com

About Acton

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.de) is an independent, partner-led growth equity investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces.The Acton team has also managed the corporate venture capital company of Hubert Burda Media, one of the leading German media groups. Investment success stories include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, Elitepartner, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.

Press contact Acton:

Anja Seipp, Seipp Kommunikationsberatung

Phone:+49 89 2421887-22, E-mail: press@actoncapital.de

About High-Tech Gründerfonds

High-Tech Gründerfonds invests venture capital in up-and-coming technology companies that translate promising research into viable business models. The seed finance provided aims to enable start-ups to take their R&D project through to the creation of a prototype, a proof of concept or to market launch. High-Tech Gründerfonds provides EUR 500,000 of the seed finance and may invest up to a total of two million euros per business in subsequent rounds. Investors in this public/private partnership are the German Federal Ministry for Business and Technology, the KfW Banking Group as well as the six industrial groups of BASF, Deutsche Telekom, Siemens, Robert Bosch, Daimler and Carl Zeiss. High-Tech Gründerfonds has a fund volume totalling approx. 272 million euros.

Contact High-Tech Gründerfonds:

Dr. Björn Momsen, High-Tech Gründerfonds Management GmbH

Phone: +49 228 823001-00, E-mail: b.momsen@high-tech-gruenderfonds.de

About windeln.de
windeln.de is Germany's largest web store for baby products of daily need. The internet retailer offers more than 4,400 products of over 100 brands, that young parents can comfortably order from home. The offer ranges from diapers and wipes to baby care products and baby food. Organic products and items for pregnancy and lactation are also part of the range. windeln.de was initiated by Konstantin Urban, Alexander and Dagmar Mahnel in October 2010. The Munich based company currently employs twelve staff members.

Press contact windeln.de

Saskia Schauer, HOSCHKE & CONSORTEN Public Relations GmbH

Phone: +49 040 369050-57, E-mail: saskia.schauer@hoschke.de

Glasses Direct acquires Sunglasses Shop

Prescription Eyewear Limited, the parent company of Glasses Direct (Europe’s largest online retailer of prescription eyewear) announced today that it has acquired Sunglasses Shop, Europe’s largest online retailer of designer sunglasses.

Glasses Direct and Sunglasses Shop will continue to operate separately, but the combination immediately creates a clear leader in the online eyewear market in Europe.  Together the sites attract more than 8 million unique visitors annually and sell nearly a quarter of a million pairs per year, or a pair every two minutes. 

Kevin Cornils, CEO of Glasses Direct comments: “From day one we have set out to be the leader in online eyewear retailing.  Glasses Direct pioneered the prescription glasses market with innovations like our unlimited Home Trial, providing advice from qualified opticians over the phone and our ‘no quibble’ 14 day money-back guarantee.” 

He continues: “Sunglasses Shop is the clear leader in the sunglasses market, with an unbeatable selection of over 8,000 frames, all of which are carried in-stock and available for guaranteed next-day delivery.  They have unrivalled knowledge of performance and sports sunglasses, and are also the destination for celebrity news and fashion advice, all key elements for the sunglasses market.”

Sunglasses Shop, which will continue to be based and operated from Southend-on-Sea in the UK, recently expanded its business across Europe with sites now live in twelve languages, including French, German, Italian and Spanish. 

Daniel Puddick, Sunglasses Shop Managing Director and founder said: “Working closely with the management team and investors at Glasses Direct will allow us to greatly accelerate our plans to grow our business in the UK, as well as expand our European business where we believe there is tremendous opportunity.  We’re excited to be part of Prescription Eyewear Limited, and we share Glasses Direct’s entrepreneurial vision to change the way people feel about buying eyewear online.”

Both the www.glassesdirect.co.uk and www.sunglassesshop.com websites will continue to operate as separate brands, but the combined businesses will have over 100 employees based in London, Swindon and Southend-on-Sea. Glasses Direct’s existing venture capital investors – Index Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Acton Capital Partners – all contributed to support the transaction.  

“Working with Sunglasses Shop is part of our ongoing strategy to have the best in class proposition in all segments of the online eyewear market.“ said Cornils. “Both websites offer a fantastic range of quality products which customers can access from the convenience of their own home or office, saving both time and money in the process.  We’re looking forward to working together.”

About Sunglasses Shop

• Sunglasses Shop is the largest independent supplier of designer sunglasses across Europe and now has websites in 12 languages.

• Sunglasses Shop offers an unparalleled choice of luxury and performance sunglasses from over 100 brands including Ray-Ban, Oakley, Chanel, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Serengeti, Maui Jim, Oliver Peoples, Victoria Beckham and Tom Ford.

• Sunglasses Shop stocks all the sunglasses it sells, ready for guaranteed next day delivery in the UK.

• Every employee at Sunglasses Shop is carefully selected and attends regular training days with suppliers so they know the ranges inside out.  It means Sunglasses Shop can offer totally unbiased advice on any of its products.

• Sunglasses Shop was established in 2003 by Managing Director, Daniel Puddick, a Central St. Martin’s graduate, and Marketing Director Dagmara Alicja Barcz, an ex-innovation consultant & Cambridge alumnus. They were soon joined by Operations Director, Andrew Puddick. The business grew to become leader in the UK and is now expanding across Europe.

About Glasses Direct

As Europe's largest online prescription eyewear store, Glasses Direct sells a pair of prescription glasses every few minutes.  The company established the online eyewear market in the UK by focusing on innovations like the Home Trial and customer access to qualified opticians over the phone, transforming the way that people buy glasses.  Glasses Direct strives to offer its customers a better experience than the high street, through:  

• Better Choice – Customers can browse thousands of products from its designer and own-label collections.  With the Unlimited Home Trial, customers can try on their favourite frames in the comfort of their own home and get opinions from friends and family without the sales pressure of the high street.

• Unmatched Convenience – Glasses Direct gives its customers the choice to shop whenever and wherever you want, with glasses being delivered direct to their door.

• Superb Value - Glasses Direct are able to exploit their strong web based position to ensure that all products, including designer rangers are supplied to their customers at attractive prices.

• Faster Delivery - With 70% of orders shipped within 3 days from its own UK laboratory, Glasses Direct customers receive their glasses when they really need them.

• 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed – Glasses Direct offers all of their customers a free ‘no quibble’ 14 day returns service.  Its customers can also talk to a helpful team of qualified opticians at any point if they desire.

The company is based in London and Swindon and employs 75 staff.  Glasses Direct was founded in 2004 by UK entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells.

Acton acquires stake in online shopping mall Yatego

Munich/St. Georgen, Germany, 7 April 2011 – Acton Capital Partners has acquired a stake in Yatego GmbH, the provider of one of the leading e-commerce platforms in Germany. This is the fifth investment of the Munich based growth equity investor from its Heureka Growth Fund. The remaining share capital is held solely by the management. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The internet shopping mall Yatego, headquartered in St. Georgen, Germany, features around 10,000 retailers with more than 3 million product offerings for consumers. In 2010 alone, transactions in the total amount of nearly 100 million Euros were conducted.

The company was founded in 2003 and offers retailers a one-stop solution for business-to-consumer e-commerce. The Yatego platform provides each retailer with its own shopping space. Consumers make their purchases conveniently through a single, state-of-the-art ordering process. As a result, retailers can focus on their core competences: procurement, fulfillment and shipment of products to consumers. Yatego provides all e-commerce related services, such as online marketing, payment and IT-systems, with significant benefits from economies of scale for its clients. This value proposition has convinced: recently, the no. 10,000 retailer registered for the service, and each month there are more than 10 million consumers visiting the online shopping mall.

„We are delighted to welcome Acton on board as an investor with long-term experience in the execution of growth strategies in the e-commerce sector,“ says Michael Ollmann, founder and Managing Director of Yatego. „We will accelerate the growth of our business, and become an even more compelling partner for retailers and consumers.”

„More than 1 million transactions processed in 2010 clearly demonstrate the impressive market acceptance and high performance of the Yatego shopping platform,“ comments Frank Seehaus, Managing Partner at Acton. „Together with the Yatego management team, we envisage to build the leading European online shopping mall.”

About Yatego:

Featuring more than 10,000 online shops of specialist and retail dealers, Yatego is one of the leading e-commerce portals in the German-language Internet. Consumers have a choice of more than 3.2 million products. The ordering process is state-of-the art and simple, with secure payment processed by independent trustee and credit card systems. Retailers benefit from Yatego’s one-stop solutions for the e-commerce process with comprehensive related services. The company was founded in 2003 and currently employs more than 100 staff in St. Georgen, Germany. The managing directors are Michael Ollmann, Stephan Peltzer und Patrick Kötter.

About Acton Capital Partners:

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.de) is an independent, partner-led growth equity investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. Acton invests worldwide, with Europe as its main focus.

Funding comes from international private and institutional investors. The growth equity investor’s current portfolio includes Yatego, Hamburg-based online streetwear retailer frontlineshop, Glasses Direct, a British online prescription glasses retailer, and mytheresa.com, an international online retailer of luxury women’s fashion and accessories. In addition, Acton manages a portfolio of 15 internet-based companies that make up the BDV fund, now closed to new investments.

Munich-based Acton Capital Partners was founded in 2008 by Christoph Braun, Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Jan-Gisbert Schultze and Frank Seehaus. Before establishing their own independent business, the four partners worked successfully together for many years at the Hubert Burda Media group. From

1999 onward, they acquired stakes for Burda Digital Ventures GmbH in over 40 Internet-based B2C businesses, which they managed with great success. The best-known of these investments include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, Elitepartner, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.

 

Media Enquiries to Acton:

Anja Seipp

Seipp Kommunikationsberatung

Tel. :+49 (0) 89 / 2 42 18 87-22

E-Mail: press@actoncapital.de

Web: www.actoncapital.de    

Momox raises funding from Acton Capital Partners

Growth capital for leading online buy-back service

Berlin/Munich, 2 December 2010. – Momox GmbH, the leading online buyback service for media products, announced today that it has secured growth financing from Acton Capital Partners. The Munich based VC firm will invest several million EUR for a minority stake in the Berlin-based company. Momox marks the fourth investment of Acton’s Heureka growth fund. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Momox was founded in 2006 by Christian Wegner, who has been trading in second-hand media products over the internet since 2003. At that time the selfmade entrepreneur operated the business from his apartment. Today the company has grown to approximately 150 employees and is turning over more than EUR 20 million annually with the trading of second-hand books, CDs, DVDs, computer and console games. In November 2010, Momox commenced operations in its new 8,000 square metre logistics centre. For the customer the sales process is very straightforward: enter the barcode number of the book, CD, DVD or game online and receive an immediate purchase offer from Momox. The seller then sends the items to Momox without any delivery charges. Momox will pay the consumer once the items are received. Because Momox is so simple and easy to use, more and more private sellers are switching over to Momox from eBay and other sites to clean out their attics.

“In Acton we have found a partner who has extensive e-commerce experience,“ explains Christian Wegner, founder and CEO of Momox. “The cash injection along with Acton’s experience and network will allow us to ramp up Momox even more quickly.“

"We are very pleased with Momox’ development, which we have been able to see at first hand since our initial entry at the start of 2009. With the commitment of a renowned growth investor such as Acton Capital Partners, Momox is optimally positioned to further expand its market leadership," say business angels Christoph Janz and Mark Gazecki.

”Momox is not only a pioneer, but also the clear leader in its segment,“ according to Christoph Braun, Managing Partner of Acton. „Christian Wegner has established an impressive company, and we are excited that we can now jointly support Momox in becoming a European success story.“

About Momox GmbH:

Momox (http://www.momox.de ) is the leading online buy-back service for books, CDs, DVDs, computer and console games in Germany. Since 2006 a total of more than 8 million secondhand media products have been purchased. At http://www.momox.de book, CD, DVD and game collections can be turned into money with little effort.

About Acton Capital Partners GmbH:

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.de) is an independent, partner-led growth investor in the internet and mobile communications sector. The investment focus of Acton’s Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. Acton invests worldwide, with Europe as its main focus. Funding comes from international private and institutional investors. The growth equity investor’s current portfolio includes Momox, Hamburg-based online streetwear retailer frontlineshop, mytheresa.com, an international online retailer of luxury women’s fashion and accessories, as well as Glasses Direct, a British online prescription glasses retailer. In addition, Acton manages a portfolio of 15 internet-based companies that make up the BDV fund, now closed to new investments.

Munich-based Acton Capital Partners was founded in 2008 by Christoph Braun, Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Jan-Gisbert Schultze and Frank Seehaus. Before establishing their own independent business, the four partners worked successfully together for many years at the Hubert Burda Media group. From 1999 onward, they acquired stakes for Burda Digital Ventures GmbH in over 40 internet-related businesses, which they managed with great success. The highest profile names on the list of successes include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.

Media Enquiries to Acton:

Seipp Kommunikationsberatung
Anja Seipp
Tel. :+49 (0) 89 / 2 42 18 87-22
E-mail: press@actoncapital.de

Acton Invests in Online Streetwear Shop Frontline

Growth capital for Hamburg-based online streetwear shop

Munich/Hamburg, 16 June 2010 - Acton Capital Partners is financing the future growth strategy of Frontline GmbH, a Hamburg-based streetwear e-commerce pioneer, and subscribes to a minority stake. With a turnover of more than 30 million Euros, frontlineshop.com is already one of the leading multi-brand retailers of streetwear and fashion. Frontline is the third investment of Acton's Heureka Growth Fund. The remaining Frontline shares are held by the managing directors. The terms of the deal were kept confidential.

Scouting new trends, frontlineshop is the front runner in providing the latest style in streetwear and fashion to its customers. Having served more than a million customers, frontlineshop has become an important sales channel for over 350 fashion brands. With trend-leading manufacturers such as adidas Originals, carhatt, Levis, Nike and others having become strategic partners, frontlineshop.com often has priority access to the latest products, combined with a quick and reliable end-consumer shipment

Therefore, frontlineshop delivers the latest style fast to consumers. Always one step ahead, frontlineshop enables its customers to understand fashion as a way of life: cool, brand-aware and at the pulse of time.

"We are satisfied to have Acton on board as an investor with long-term experience in consumer businesses", says Torsten Lange, founder and Managing Director of Frontline. "Acton opens up numerous opportunities for us and our business, at national and international level."

"In recent years we have set up very efficient business processes, from purchasing through to customer service", comments Stefan Puriss, Co-Managing Director of Frontline. "With the capital and expertise of Acton, we can take our company to the next level of growth - and will make it even more attractive to customers and suppliers."

"I'm impressed with the compelling position that Frontline has achieved in this attractive market", says Frank Seehaus, Managing Partner of Acton. "As a result, the team has built an ideal base to turn the company into an international fashion industry champion."

About Frontline GmbH:

Frontline GmbH (www.frontlineshop.com) is based in Hanover and Hamburg and is one of the leading German mail-order companies in the field of fashion.

The company sells clothing, shoes and accessories on the Internet through www.frontlineshop.com. Founded by Torsten Lange as a mail-order service for the audio recording industry, the company moved over to fashion in 1984.
Since then, both the range of products and the company itself have grown continually. Currently more than 70 staff work for Frontline and they achieve an annual turnover of more than 30 million Euros.

About Acton Capital Partners GmbH:

Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.de) is an independent, partner-led venture capital investor in the internet and mobile communications sector.

The investment focus of Acton's Heureka Growth Fund, established in 2008, is consumer-oriented business models in media, e-commerce and online marketplaces. Acton invests worldwide, with Europe as its main focus.
Funding comes from international private and institutional investors. The growth equity investor's current portfolio includes Frontline, Glasses Direct, a British online prescription glasses retailer, and mytheresa.com, an international online retailer of luxury women's fashion and accessories.

In addition, Acton manages a portfolio of 16 internet-based companies that make up the BDV fund, now closed to new investments.

Munich-based Acton Capital Partners was founded in 2008 by Christoph Braun, Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Jan-Gisbert Schultze and Frank Seehaus. Before establishing their own independent business, the four partners worked successfully together for many years at the Hubert Burda Media group. From

1999 onward, they acquired stakes for Burda Digital Ventures GmbH in over 40 Internet-based B2C businesses, which they managed with great success. The best-known of these investments include AbeBooks, Alando, ciao.com, Elitepartner, HolidayCheck, OnVista and zooplus.