The top 50: Bernhard Mohr, managing director, Evonik Venture Capital
Bernhard Mohr joined Germany-listed speciality chemicals provider Evonik Industries in 2012 to set up the corporate venture capital (CVC) activities for the company, having spent more than two decades in the chemicals and venture capital industries.
Evonik Venture Capital generates strategic value and growth opportunities through investing and partnering with innovative start-up companies. With a fund size of €250m ($275m), Evonik Venture Capital has made about 40 investments since 2012, both directly and via its fund. The investment scope ranges from early stage to growth stage with an investment volume of up to €15 million per portfolio company.
Evonik Venture Capital has offices in Germany, the USA and China and invests in innovative technologies and disruptive business models in the fields of nutrition & care, specialty additives and smart materials, as well as enabling digital technologies.
Among the unit’s recent deals are a role in the $34m series B round for In Ovo, a firm which develops biotechnology solutions for the poultry industry, as well as participation in the $30m series D raise for stereolithographic 3D printing specialist UnionTech 3D. Evonik Venture Capital currently boasts a portfolio of 25 companies.
Before joining Evonik, Mohr worked for chemicals producer BASF where he held international positions in venture capital, strategic marketing, corporate development, controlling, and research & development.
Mohr holds master’s degrees in chemistry from the Universities of Stuttgart and Cincinnati and earned a PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research. He completed postgraduate assignments in Japan, the US and France, working with Nobel laureates Robert H Grubbs and Jean-Pierre Sauvage.
