News Article 2020

 Home / News / 2020

April 29 2020, David R Brown

OTTO KRAHN Group is a new investor in the digital startup fund, Next Commerce Accelerator

The OTTO KRAHN Group, which includes the companies ALBIS PLASTIC and KRAHN Chemie amongst others, has invested in Next Commerce Accelerator (NCA). The Hamburg-based company supports digital commerce startups that have scalable business models and great market potential.

As an industrial enterprise, we are always interested in innovative, digital business models and sales channels

Matthias Schulz
Head of Digitization, OTTO KRAHN Group

Since 2017, it has successfully supported and accelerated 26 industry startups from all over Europe. In addition to intensive support, through NCA the founder teams gain access to an expert network of around 200 mentors, have the opportunity to cooperate with more than 20 corporate partners and can gain investments of up to EUR 50,000. Participating startups benefit from direct contact with leading companies from trade and industry.

“We are impressed by the concept, the work and the people behind NCA, and are happy to be a part of it,” says Matthias Schulz, Head of Digitization in the OTTO KRAHN Group. “At the same time, as an industrial enterprise, we are always interested in innovative, digital business models and sales channels, and enjoy communicating with startup founders and investors.”

“As a digital pioneer in the market, we are able to offer our 6-month Startup Acceleration Program in its usual quality, even in the current situation,” reports Thorsten Wittmütz, Managing Partner at NCA. “The decisive added value that we offer our founding teams is the access to a wide network of industrial enterprises such as the OTTO KRAHN Group, who are available to the startups as potential partners and customers, as well as a variety of mentors who can support the startups with their expertise – this time all exclusively using digital channels.”

In April 2020 we will start Batch #6 of the Next Commerce Accelerator with a total of five startups from the areas of services, e-commerce, advertising and technology.

About OTTO KRAHN
Founded in 1909, OTTO KRAHN (GmbH & Co.) KG is the holding company of the OTTO KRAHN Group, which is involved domestically and internationally in the distribution and compounding of plastics as well as specialty chemicals distribution. The plastics operations are combined in ALBIS PLASTIC GmbH (ALBIS PLASTIC Group) and the specialty chemicals distribution in KRAHN Chemie GmbH (KRAHN Chemie Group).

About KRAHN Chemie
KRAHN’s core competence is the sales, marketing and distribution of specialty chemicals as well as heat transfer fluids. In 2018, the KRAHN Chemie group achieved a turnover of approx. EUR 250 million and currently employs a staff of 185. The company's headquarters are situated in Germany. Subsidiaries or local sales teams have been established in Benelux, France, Italy, Poland, Greece, Romania, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and China.

About Albis Plastic
ALBIS PLASTIC is a world leader in the distribution and compounding of technical thermoplasts and thermoplastic elastomeres. During the 2018 fiscal year, the ALBIS Group generated a total of EUR 1.1 billion in revenue worldwide. With 26 subsidiaries and more than 1,400 employees, the Hamburg-based company is represented in many countries in Europe, Asia, and the US.

Source(s): OTTO Krahn Press Release

Further Information

Visit: https://www.krahn.eu