Business profile

Haferkater

Company
Haferkater

Sector
Sustainable food sector

Company Stage at Funding
Growth stage

Funding instrument
Subordinated loans

Volume
€3.5m

Case Study Haferkater

Haferkater started in 2014 as a cozy porridge café in Berlin, serving up a simple breakfast made from just three ingredients, topped with fruits and nuts. The vision behind Haferkater is simple: to transform a humble dish made of just three ingredients into the go-to breakfast for today’s sustainability-conscious consumers. 

In the early stages of their growth, Haferkater followed a traditional startup path by bringing in external investors to help fund their expansion. Business Angels, along with two major corporate venture capital investors (Zentis and Katjes), came on board and now hold around one-third of the voting rights in the company. This setup has worked well, helping Haferkater expand to where it is today. However, as the company matured, the founders realized they wanted to secure Haferkater’s purpose-driven mission for the future by transitioning to steward-ownership. They recognized that building a financing structure aligned with their values and long-term goals was crucial for securing the path they’ve envisioned for Haferkater.

To make the transition to steward-ownership possible, Haferkater needed to buy out its existing investors. Given the company's success, this buyout came with a certain price tag – and wouldn't have been possible without the cooperation and support of the corporate venture capital investors. Therefore, Haferkater decided to embark on a crowdfunding campaign through the GLS Bank’s platform to raise the necessary capital. The goal was clear: Haferkater wants to "buy itself out" and solidify its commitment to steward-ownership. They successfully raised €3.5 million in subordinated capital. The first €2.2 million will be used to expand operations and open new stores, ensuring that Haferkater no longer relies on external investor funding for future growth. The remaining €1.03 million will be combined with funds from Purpose Ventures eG to buy back shares from the existing investors, allowing the company to fully transition to steward-ownership. 

Parallel to Haferkater's crowdfunding campaign, which aims to gather the necessary funds for both the buyout and growth plans, Purpose Ventures is working alongside Haferkater and legal and tax experts to prepare the transition to steward-ownership. Haferkater has chosen to implement the Veto Share model with the Purpose Foundation, which involves drafting and adopting a new charter that embeds the principles of steward-ownership. Once the principles of steward-ownership are properly integrated, Haferkater will transfer the veto share to the Purpose Foundation, completing the transition to steward-ownership. This transfer, and the successful implementation of steward-ownership, will trigger the release of the crowdfunded capital to Haferkater.

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A detailed case study on Haferkater is coming soon.

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