Interview with Peter Mertens

What do you enjoy about investing, and where do you see the biggest challenge?

I enjoy passing on part of my network, my experience, my know-how and my entire background to young people—to give back some of the happiness I have experienced in my career. I want to pass on what I have achieved along the way to new, smaller companies and help them to become successful.

At the same time, it's a bundle of challenges. It is extremely difficult for a small company to even take the plunge and approach the large OEMs, who traditionally act very conservatively. It's about finding the right contacts—not just to arouse superficial interest, but to generate real, financially rewarding orders. Unfortunately, lead times in the automotive industry are often between two and four years. So not only do you have to be patient, persistent and have the financial resources to fight an OEM for two to three years until someone steps in to mentor the idea, but you also have to be prepared for the fact that it may take another four years before the innovation is realized and implemented in a vehicle. These challenges not only underline the traditional car manufacturers' reluctance to innovate and risk aversion, but also demand a lot of commitment: I invest a lot of time in opening the right doors, identifying the right people to talk to and mentally supporting founders when progress is slower than hoped.

Do you see yourself as an accelerator and door opener?

Peter: Yes, I see myself as a sparring partner in terms of content. It is a key concern of mine that companies focus on their core competencies and are not too broadly positioned. This is exactly what Next Mobility Labs is all about - we make sure that start-ups overcome the “death zone” and that a promising idea becomes a viable company. That is the goal we are all pursuing and the basic idea of a venture studio: as investors, we not only contribute capital, but also share the same interests. We support the startups in developing from a small, imaginative company into a profitable business with a strong turnover. An exit will follow at some point, but this is never our top priority.

Are you pursuing the goal of disrupting the automotive industry?

Peter: I wouldn't call it disruption. It would be great if such a change were to take place - which is already happening to some extent, as the success of companies like Circunomics shows. For me, however, the focus is on opening up the industry to innovations and start-ups. If OEMs were more open and acted faster instead of always emphasizing: “Innovation is interesting, but we can do it ourselves and have other, more urgent priorities at the moment”, then we would be a significant step further.

How do you see the role of Next Mobility Labs in the context of innovation and opening up industries?

Peter: All of us - not only in the automotive industry, but also in other verticals such as rail transport - are called upon to provide new impulses. This is exactly where Next Mobility Labs comes in: We bring extensive experience, far-reaching networks and key contacts to open the right doors, provide targeted assistance and help start-ups position themselves strategically. Ultimately, our goal is to help turn promising ideas into successful companies. This requires strong founders and technically sophisticated, disruptive concepts. I'm particularly interested in companies that make you think: “Wow, that's real technological progress that will take us forward” - ideally in the field of mobility and sustainability, because that's exactly where I'm passionate.

How did you become aware of Next Mobility Labs and what convinced you in the end to invest?

I was approached by Göran Göhring (COO Next Mobility Labs)– or rather via Olaf Meidt, who gets on well with Göran. He then asked Olaf if it would be possible to talk to me. In an initial meeting with Göran, Armin Bieser and Felix Wagner, I was introduced to the Venture Studio concept. I immediately thought it made a lot of sense and I think it's great to finally have an initiative like this in Germany. After all, there aren't many venture studios in Germany yet – Merantix in Berlin is a prominent example. I was already familiar with their venture studio concept and I liked their approach. But Next Mobility Labs, which focuses on sustainable mobility, particularly appealed to me – that's right and important.

And when Felix went on to explain the topic of Circunomics, I thought to myself: It's either going to be really big or it's going to fall apart and the OEMs are going to try to take it over. And we are currently on the way to Circunomics becoming big. I was also really excited about Circunomics' analytics theme, which dives deep into lithium-ion battery technology and is developing a marketplace for it. They are helping to save a lot of CO₂ and generate additional revenue for the OEMs, while also having a good business case themselves.

How do you feel about working with Next Mobility Labs?

Peter: It's just fun - I wouldn't invest my time if it wasn't. There are incredibly high-caliber colleagues, great founders and innovative start-ups - this mix makes the collaboration really enjoyable.

Who would you like to work with for a day?

Peter: In the classic sense, I don't have any fixed role models and there is no one I would necessarily like to work with. However, I would be very interested in shadowing a first-class surgeon. I would like to observe how he deals with high stress, how he concentrates fully at the right time and how he is meticulous in situations where a small mistake would be unforgivable. For me, it's not about the thrill, but about experiencing this extreme concentration and precision - the state in which any mistake could have fatal consequences, but is consistently avoided.

What  could you take away from such a shadowing?

Peter: To be honest, I doubt that I could take much from it. I don't think I would be able to show the nerve and concentration that a first-class surgeon does under extreme pressure. The absolute zero-error tolerance in such stressful situations is unique and difficult for me to imagine. In this context, however, I would like to mention that I am involved with the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg because I was personally affected - I had cancer twice. My aim is to support the further development of diagnostics, therapies and treatment methods. I am deeply impressed by the work of the Center - despite a limited budget, it is one of the world's leading institutions in cancer research. This is mainly due to the enormous commitment of people who, out of conviction and because they are personally affected, are committed to optimizing the framework conditions so that cutting-edge research is possible.