Who this is
Felix Jander worked as a strategy consultant at BCG and then at the B2B travel startup Comtravo, which is now part of Navan. After Comtravo's Covid shutdown he built an Excel list of around 80 niche industries, landed on occupational medicine and workplace safety, and in 2020 co-founded Arsipa Gruppe with Stefan Schmidt: a roll-up that buys company-doctor and workplace-safety service providers and integrates them into one group. According to Felix, Arsipa is now Germany's second-largest provider of occupational health and safety services, with almost 1,100 employees and more than 100 million euros in revenue; after Warburg Pincus came on board he remains a shareholder and advisory board member. Frederik Brandis also comes from BCG, then worked in venture capital at Antler and backed Arsipa as an investor and board member. Together they founded Aven Capital Partners, a private equity fund that finances founder teams building roll-ups in the German Mittelstand: three investments so far, a 500,000 euro minimum ticket for investors, and the goal of returning the fund five times net.
Episodes
Numbers from the episode
FAQ
What is Arsipa?
Arsipa is a Berlin-based group for occupational medicine, workplace safety and corporate health that Felix Jander co-founded with Stefan Schmidt in 2020. Instead of building one company, they bought and integrated company-doctor and workplace-safety service providers. According to Felix, Arsipa is now Germany's second-largest provider with almost 1,100 employees, more than 100 million euros in revenue and its own tech team. In 2024 the private equity investor Warburg Pincus came on board; Felix remains a shareholder and advisory board member. To the episode →
What return did Arsipa deliver to its investors?
Frederik Brandis puts the net return on his investment at 79 percent per year over 36 months, after bank loans and incentives. When Warburg Pincus came on board, EBITDA was around 10 to 15 million euros and the valuation above 100 million euros; the founders together held 40 percent. Notably, the group never had a burn rate in all that time. Felix doesn't say how much he personally took out, he only sold part of his stake. To the episode →
What does Aven Capital Partners do and who isn't a fit?
Aven is a private equity fund with a standard fund structure that finances founder teams building roll-ups in the microcap market below two million EBITDA. Felix and Frederik talk to entrepreneurs long before they have an industry or a co-founder, then work in sprints on the selection and bring operational know-how from Arsipa. There are three investments so far, including engineering services and building technology; the minimum ticket for investors is 500,000 euros. Not a fit: anyone who wants a funded search phase, is looking for a safe environment, or wants to build a tech platform first and then acquire companies. Aven deliberately stays away from AI roll-ups. To the episode →
Quotes
„Also am Ende des Tages keine Excel-Liste, sondern hinter jeder dieser Zeilen, wenn du so willst, im Excel, steht ja irgendwie eine Historie von einem Lebenswerk …““At the end of the day it's not a spreadsheet. Behind every one of those rows there's the history of someone's life's work.”
„Brief, E-Mail, LinkedIn, Anruf, persönliches Treffen, wieder ein Brief, eine Weihnachtskarte, Geburtstagskarte, Ostergeschenk.““Letter, email, LinkedIn, phone call, meeting in person, another letter, a Christmas card, a birthday card, an Easter gift.”
„… wir hatten keinen Zeitpunkt in der ganzen Journey, wo die Gruppe als ganzes Mal Geld negativ verbrannt hat. Also wir hatten nie eine Burnrate.““There was no point in the whole journey where the group as a whole burned money. We never had a burn rate.”
„… ich habe nur in Ibis-Hotels geschlafen. … Es ist schon tough und auch überhaupt nicht glamorous.““I only ever slept in Ibis hotels. It's tough, and not glamorous at all.”