Companisto · Germany

KoRo’s Companisto investors: 6x when venture firms bought them out

KoRo raised about €1m on Companisto in 2018 and 2019. In March 2022 over 75% of those investors voted to sell to venture firms, at what Companisto reports as 6x.

Past returns are not a guide to future returns. General information, not advice.

The figures

Multiple 6x Realised

Platform
Companisto
Country
Germany
Crowd round
2018
Entry price or valuation
€422,715 from 700 investors in 2018, at a €5.5m pre-money valuation
Exit or latest event
Investors voted to sell to venture firms including HV Capital

KoRo: crowd round in 2018; entry at €422,715 from 700 investors in 2018, at a €5.5m pre-money valuation; exit or latest event: Investors voted to sell to venture firms including HV Capital.

The round

KoRo sells natural food in bulk online, and came to the crowd when turnover was about €1m. Companisto (opens in a new tab) records two rounds. In the second quarter of 2018, 700 investors put in €422,715 at a pre-money valuation of €5.5m. A year later, 424 investors put in €637,250. Together that is about €1.06m from 1,124 investments.

Neither round sold plain shares. Companisto (opens in a new tab) describes the first as a participatory subordinated loan and the second as a fixed-interest subordinated venture loan. Subordinated means they rank behind the company's other creditors if it fails, a risk a headline multiple does not show.

What happened

By 2021 turnover had reached €65m, Companisto (opens in a new tab) says, about three times the year before. In March 2022 more than 75% of the investors voted to sell. The buyers were venture firms, which Companisto names as HV Capital, Five Seasons Ventures and Partech, and it calls the result a 6x return.

The same month, KoRo announced (opens in a new tab) a €50m Series B led by those firms, so the crowd's exit came alongside a larger financing rather than a sale of the company.

What the figure does and does not say

6x is the platform's figure, and we found no filing that confirms it. Companisto (opens in a new tab) does not say which of the two rounds it applies to. The second came a year later and its valuation is not stated. If its price was higher it cannot have earned the same multiple, so the headline may belong to the first alone.

Nor does it say whether the figure is before or after Companisto's own share. Biallo (opens in a new tab) reports that the platform takes 15% of distributions and exit proceeds, which, if not already counted, would reduce what an investor received.

The same page (opens in a new tab) describes one decision by a vote of over 75%, and no way to stay in. If that is how it worked, investors in the minority sold along with everyone else, and any later rise in the company's value went to the firms that bought. Selling at 6x is a realised result, and it is also the end of the investor's part in what the company did next.

Timeline

  1. Q2 2018

    €422,715 from 700 investors, at a €5.5m pre-money valuation. Companisto (opens in a new tab)

  2. Q2 2019

    €637,250 from 424 investors. Companisto (opens in a new tab)

  3. March 2022

    Over 75% vote to sell to venture firms; Companisto reports 6x. Companisto (opens in a new tab)

  4. March 2022

    €50m Series B led by HV Capital. KoRo (opens in a new tab)

Sources

  1. Companisto, success story: KoRo (opens in a new tab)
  2. KoRo, 23 March 2022: KoRo raises €50M Series B (opens in a new tab)
  3. Biallo: Companisto, how it earns (opens in a new tab)

By Raise Sonar. Published . Sources read .

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