Bertelsmann Investments Reports Organic Growth of 18.1 Percent After First Six Months of 2025
- Revenues of €280 million
- Operating EBITDA adjusted of €43 million
- 31 new and follow-on investments in first half of the year
- Currently 316 active investments worldwide
- AppLike: 29 percent organic growth
- Founding of pharma tech umbrella company cormeo
- Carsten Coesfeld: “We are continuously expanding Bertelsmann Next and strengthening our position in attractive emerging markets.”
BI’s revenues, which mainly result from the operations of the fast-growing Bertelsmann Next unit, amounted to around €280 million in the first half of 2025 (H1 2024: €300 million). Organic growth was 18.1 percent, driven in particular by the mobile ad tech company AppLike. Operating EBITDA adjusted increased significantly to €43 million (H1 2024: €30 million).
Bertelsmann Investments CEO Carsten Coesfeld said: “We are continuously expanding Bertelsmann Next and strengthening our position in attractive emerging markets such as mobile ad tech, HR tech, and pharma tech. I am particularly pleased about the founding of cormeo, our new Pharma Tech umbrella company, which will bundle our investments Extedo, Rote Liste, Docuvera, and medicines.ie going forward. This will create a strong platform for further growth in a highly significant market.
Coesfeld continued: “Our mobile ad tech company AppLike continues to develop very dynamically as well and once again achieved strong organic growth. The acquisition of the e-learning platform Vocanto also marks a strategic addition to our HR tech portfolio.”
In the growth area of Pharma Tech, the complete acquisition of Docuvera and the majority stake in medicines.ie were completed during the reporting period. Together with the companies Rote Liste and Extedo, these investments will be managed under the new cormeo brand.
In the HR tech sector, Embrace expanded its portfolio with the acquisition of the e-learning platform Vocanto. AppLike recorded strong organic growth of 29 percent thanks to the further expansion of its international business.
BI’s international venture capital activities also showed strong momentum:
Bertelsmann India Investments (BII): New investments in Wiom (telecommunications) and Curebay (health tech) in the double-digit million range; follow-up investment in Scimplify (B2B specialty chemicals platform).
Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI): New investment in KUN, a fintech company focusing on international stablecoin-based payment services.
Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments: Follow-up investments in Paytient (healthcare-related payment and financing solutions, U.S.), among others.
In addition, BI announced in June that it was opening its New York-based fund Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) to a broader range of investors.
Bertelsmann Investments CFO Deniz Pielsticker said: “Our results for the first half of 2025 demonstrate the strength of our diversified portfolio. Since launching our venture capital activities in 2006, we have invested around 2 billion euros worldwide and already generated returns of around 1.5 billion euros. At the same time, we are systematically driving the development of new growth areas with Bertelsmann Next and have set an important course for the future with our latest acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and HR tech sectors.”
About Bertelsmann Investments
Bertelsmann Investments (BI) bundles Bertelsmann’s global venture capital activities and the Bertelsmann Next growth unit. The venture capital arm comprises the funds Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), and Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments, as well as selected fund and direct investments in Europe, the U.S., Brazil, Southeast Asia, and Africa, among other regions. The Bertelsmann Next division drives the entrepreneurial development of new growth industries and lines of business, particularly in the fields of mobile ad tech (AppLike), HR tech (EMBRACE), and pharma tech (cormeo). Through Bertelsmann Investments’ fund network and Next activities, approximately €2.0 billion has been invested in around 500 innovative companies and funds to date. Bertelsmann Investments currently holds over 350 active investments worldwide through its start-up and fund network.
Contact
Jan Hölkemann
Communications Bertelsmann Investments, Spokesperson / Communications Content Team
Phone: +49 (0) 52 41 80 89923
