How much equity do Company Builders take?

Typically 40-70% pre-dilution. The exact share depends on whether they initiated the idea (more) or you came with it (less). Always model the diluted founder-equity column 2-3 rounds out before signing.

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Company Builders in Germany: Rocket Internet, finleap, Hanse Ventures, Otto Group Digital Solutions, Team Global

Five Company Builders that co-found ventures from inside. High operational lift; high equity cost. The honest trade-off.

Company Builder

Finn GlasCo-Founder + Engineering

·May 15, 2026·

1 min read

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Rocket Internet - the original, Berlin finleap - FinTech-only, Berlin Hanse Ventures - Hamburg Otto Group Digital Solutions - Hamburg retail Team Global - Gadowski's mission portfolio

Key takeaways

Company Builders typically initiate the venture themselves and recruit operating founders.

Equity stakes are large (often majority) - the trade is operational infrastructure for cap-table tilt.

Best fit: operators who want to build inside a thesis area without raising a seed round from scratch.

Rocket Internet - the original, Berlin

Founded 2007 by the Samwer brothers. Has churned out Zalando, HelloFresh, Delivery Hero, Lazada. International launch playbook + capital + hiring infrastructure. The trade-off is hard: founders' decision freedom is significantly lower than at an external accelerator.

finleap - FinTech-only, Berlin

Berlin's largest FinTech-only Company Builder. Investor consortium: talanx, Hannover Rück, Deutsche Börse, Visa, ING. Comes with corporate-grade FinTech infrastructure as a building block - regulatory, licensing, banking integrations. The strong cap-table tilt is the price.

Hanse Ventures - Hamburg

Takes ~3 new startups per year. 500+ employees across portfolio, 80+ funding rounds closed. The structural value is the in-house functional teams - product, marketing, BI, HR - that come pre-built around your new venture.

Otto Group Digital Solutions - Hamburg retail

Otto Group's holding for digital services. Operates as the parent for Otto Group's e-commerce and retail-tech digital ventures. Highly corporate-aligned - best fit for founders comfortable in the Otto strategic envelope (retail tech, B2C marketplaces, logistics).

Team Global - Gadowski's mission portfolio

Lukasz Gadowski's Company Builder, the successor to Team Europe. Focus: Mobility, Clean Aviation, Clean Energy. Highly mission-driven; founders join Gadowski's existing thesis areas rather than bringing independent ones. The right fit if Gadowski's thesis matches yours.

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Written by

Finn Glas

Co-Founder + Engineering

Finn is one of the Co-Founders. He owns the engineering side, the infrastructure, and most of the late-night fixes that ship before anyone notices.

finn.glas at aicuflow dot comLinkedIn Website