Carsten Maschmeyer brings Germany’s “Shark Tank” energy to South Park

We met with one of Germany’s most influential tech investors in San Francisco; his funds just closed a €175 million growth vehicle for B2B software.

Carsten Maschmeyer is a household name in Germany and almost anonymous in the U.S. He’s the long-running investor on Die Höhle der Löwen, the local version of “Shark Tank.” He also runs three investment arms: seed+speed Ventures (pre-seed/seed B2B software), Alstin Capital (Series A growth), and Maschmeyer Group Ventures—the San Francisco arm of the Munich-based Maschmeyer Group, which also operates offices in Berlin and Hanover. The geography is telling. His Valley outpost sits at 46 South Park, a block surrounded by firms that set global venture velocity. We met there this week.

What’s actually new
Maschmeyer’s thesis is blunt: AI winners will be defined by contracted savings, not clever demos. He prefers enterprise software with quick implementation, recurring revenue, and measurable payback. Thin “wrapper” plays that lean entirely on other people’s models won’t hold pricing power. He spends his first weeks after a deal shoulder-to-shoulder with portfolio sales teams—objection handling, pipeline hygiene, and crisp benefit language. That’s unusual for a TV-famous investor. It is also practical.

Who he is, for U.S. readers
Think of Maschmeyer as a hybrid: a TV “shark” with an enterprise-software toolkit. He built his original fortune in finance (AWD; later sold to Swiss Life), then spent the past decade backing software companies across Europe and now the U.S. Forbes lists him as a billionaire; recent estimates place him in the mid-$1.6–$1.8 billion range. He’s direct, sales-first, and intensely focused on teams that can close.

The investment vehicles
Seed+speed Ventures publishes its ticket policy: initial checks typically range from €750,000 to €1.5 million, with up to €5 million in follow-ons. Alstin Capital’s new Alstin III stands at €175 million, aimed at European B2B software at Series A with standard initial tickets of roughly €2–€7 million. Maschmeyer Group Ventures is a focused San Francisco early-stage arm that co-invests alongside leads and keeps a concentrated portfolio; by typical initial check size, it is the smallest of the three.

Evidence and recent portfolio notes
His portfolio leans into where AI already budgets: call-center tooling, legal document synthesis, and energy optimization. One example he cites often is software that trims data-center power usage—because power is now a board metric. Another is voice-driven support, where human and synthetic speech will blur at the edge. The common thread is not novelty; it’s repeatable contracts and unit economics that survive procurement. Simple.

How much he actually deploys
There’s no audited “annual spend” for Maschmeyer personally. But the funds’ sizes and ticket rules allow a reasonable run-rate view for new initial checks. Alstin III at €175 million, paced over four to five years with €2–€7 million first checks, implies roughly €20–€35 million per year before reserves. Seed+speed’s cadence suggests another €5–€12 million per year in new initials. Maschmeyer Group Ventures adds a modest U.S. early-stage layer. Together, the group’s new-deal deployment plausibly sits around €30–€50 million per year in current conditions, with meaningful follow-ons on top. Treat this as an informed estimate, not a ledger.

Policy, proximity, and the Valley embrace
Maschmeyer’s policy view is blunt: Europe is regulating the next platform wave while under-funding compute, power, and talent. The U.S. pairs Big Tech and Washington more tightly—procurement paths, grants, visas—which speeds adoption but can breed dependency; he worries about immigration whiplash in a Valley built on imported talent. At home his critique sharpens: Germany’s nuclear phase-out lifted industrial power costs and dented planning, and the country’s industrial reputation has faded amid energy volatility and a slower digital turn. His fixes are practical: a visa fast lane measured in weeks, digital-by-default government, employee equity that doesn’t punish at exercise, and a multi-year plan for power and data-center capacity.

Limits and caveats
This is an investor’s lens. Consumer protections and long-tail risks matter; Brussels acted early on those fronts. Maschmeyer is also talking his book: B2B software benefits from his sales coaching, enterprise networks, and bias for recurring revenue. Still, founders across Europe describe the same friction: time lost to paperwork while U.S. rivals sell. Time is the scarce resource. It compounds.

Bottom line
Maschmeyer’s South Park visit signals a bid to plug European founders into faster feedback loops. His funds now span pre-seed to growth, with a fresh €175 million pool and a sales-first operating style. For U.S. readers, imagine a “Shark Tank” persona who prefers procurement checklists to pitch theatrics. In a hype-heavy AI year, that bias for contracts over clips may be the edge that endures.

Why this matters

• Enterprise AI returns will track contracted cost reductions more than model novelty.
• Europe’s AI competitiveness will hinge on permitting, visas, and option policy as much as chips.