Key points
- Investors are increasingly attracted to Europe in the midst of pricing uncertainty, but startups are faced with obstacles still in public on European exchanges.
- The Swiss real estate heir Robin Lauber and the German billionaire Christian Angeryer join startups to make public in Sweden.
- Lauber explained their startup pipeline to CNBC and why Sweden is a bright point for ambitious companies in Europe.
A version of this article appeared in Inside Wealth Newsletter of CNBC with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the investor and consumer with high shuttle. Register to receive future editions, directly in your reception box. Ultra-rich investment companies are investing more and more in Europe, seek stability and diversification far from the United States in the midst of tariff uncertainty. Two European family offices capitalize on this momentum by funding startups to make public in Sweden, CNBC learned. The partnership brings together the family offices of Robin Lauber, a third generation heir to a Swiss real estate fortune, and the German billionaire Christian Angeryer, whose highly publicized bets include the sciences of psychedelic biotechnology and improved games, an Olympic style competition where drugs improving performance are encouraged. Infinitas Capital de Lauber and Apeiron Investment Group of Angermeron engage in capital in the company of investment persons alongside Elevat3 capital, of the Apeiron’s venture capital arm supported by the founding fund of Peter Thiel and the family office Thiel Capital. “It seems to have been the first time for a long time that things have been moving again,” said Lauber about the stock market IPO in Europe. “We build this plan so that certain types of businesses operate from the start of capital markets.” Lauber said he and Angermayer have been co-investors for about six years, supporting longevity and psychedelic startups as well as a sports consulting company with an interest in the Italian football team Venezia. The first pipeline startups are Kanaan Sellers Group, a conglomerate of electronic commercial brands, including kitchen apparatus; Storypod, an audio and early childhood education company; And Hausvorteil, a fintech that allows owners to sell participations in their residences and still live there. Lauber told CNBC that he expects the trio to be made public by the end of the year. He said there were three other companies in the pipeline, but refused to give details. While European startups attract more attention, they can face strong opposition when they try to make public on European scholarships, according to Lauber. “In general, I think Europe lacks deep capital markets for technology,” he said. “In the United States, you can become public without being profitable, but I think that in Europe, especially in Germany, you cannot become a public without being a profitable business, so you cannot get credit for your future business plan and your growth.” One of Lauber’s objectives is to demonstrate that ambitious startups can have successful IPOs without going abroad, he said. “I think what is important to us from a European point of view is that we do not lose essentially all our jewels in the United States,” he said. Lauber and Angermeryer chose Nasdaq Stockholm for future announcements because Sweden has more flexible capital markets, said Lauber, which allows companies to issue new actions faster than in other countries like Germany. Nordic obligations also allow heavy asset companies to increase debt “quite easily and at a lower cost,” said Lauber. He added that Sweden has a strong culture of retail investors because capital gains on stocks are not taxed if they are held in a tax savings account. To use investor conservation, they target companies with tangible and accessible commercial models. By making public, Lauber thinks that portfolio companies can collect funding and obtain better assessments than with a large venture capital or capital capital company. For Kanaan, the IPO will allow the company to evolve using actions to make more opportunistic acquisitions. “The Swedish market does not need to be the last step,” said Lauber. “I think it is the beauty of the Nasdaq ecosystem. It can be just a springboard, perhaps at some point, at the main Nasdaq market.”