Global Investment and Growth Platform Delivers Strong Operating Performance

Over the past several years, Bertelsmann Investments (BI) has evolved with a clear strategic focus into Bertelsmann's global investment and growth platform. Strong operating performance across all of its businesses underscores the success of this strategy. Today, the platform is built on two complementary pillars: Bertelsmann Next, with four operating growth businesses, and its venture-capital activities, which comprise four funds.

'Flexible, long-term investment approach'

Carsten Coesfeld, CEO of Bertelsmann Investments, said: "As a home for entrepreneurs, BI has spent the past several years creating the best possible environment to build fast-growing companies and to deliver market-leading returns. We pursue a broad range of strategies - from venture-capital investments and incubations to buy-and-build approaches and AI-driven transformations of established platforms. What sets us apart is the combination of deep entrepreneurial expertise and a flexible, long-term investment approach. As a hands-on operator-investor, we actively support founders in building successful businesses. At the same time, our position allows us to take a long-term view and deploy capital with flexibility. In a world being reshaped by artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies, that combination is more important than ever."

Bertelsmann Next, the growth unit established in 2022, has developed rapidly in recent years. Its focus is on building new operating growth businesses for the Group that operate in growing markets with attractive business models and have the long-term potential to generate revenues of more than €1 billion.

Average annual organic growth of 47 percent

The performance of the Next businesses highlights the unit's momentum: Organic revenues increased from €172 million in 2022 to €545 million in 2025, representing average annual organic growth of 47 percent. Additional acquisitions increased BI's reported revenues to €623 million in 2025. Over the same period, BI's operating EBITDA adjusted quadrupled to €84 million.

The figures also underscore the growing importance of Bertelsmann Next for the Group as a whole. Between 2022 and 2025, BI contributed more than €370 million in organic revenue growth. In the last financial year alone, Bertelsmann Next accounted for 29 percent of Bertelsmann's organic revenue growth; in 2024, the figure was as high as 39 percent.

The number of employees across the Next businesses also increased significantly, growing from approximately 400 at the end of 2022 to around 1,570 at the end of 2025. This growth was driven in part by acquisitions, but primarily by organic expansion, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurial talent within BI.

'Clear strategic focus and disciplined capital allocation'

Bertelsmann Investments CFO Deniz Pielsticker said: "Today, our platform enables us to support companies and founders at every stage of the growth journey - from early-stage ventures to scaled businesses - with capital, expertise, and talent. This gives us early access to emerging technologies, new markets, and innovative business models, while creating opportunities to build the next generation of growth and earnings pillars for Bertelsmann together with exceptional entrepreneurs. We do so with a clear strategic focus and a disciplined approach to capital allocation."

Today, Bertelsmann Next comprises four growth businesses: Applike Group, EMBRACE, cormeo, and LetsTransport.

• As the largest Next business, Applike Group has further strengthened its globally leading position in rewarded advertising solutions for mobile apps, particularly in the gaming segment. In addition to its core U.S. market, global growth regions such as Asia and Latin America have recently made significant contributions to revenue growth.
• The Pharma Tech platform cormeo offers a comprehensive portfolio of solutions for the digital and AI-supported management of pharmaceutical content. cormeo has also expanded through acquisitions, most recently with the additions of Extedo, Docuvera, and Medicines.ie.
• EMBRACE is a leading integrated provider of HR Tech solutions in the German-speaking market, particularly for young talents. The platform includes Studyflix, Vocanto, Ausbildung.de, and Milch & Zucker.
• LetsTransport joined as the fourth Next business in 2025. A leading digital marketplace for intra-city logistics solutions in India's rapidly growing transportation market, LetsTransport also demonstrates the interplay between BI's two pillars: After Bertelsmann India Investments had invested in the company for more than eight years, BI entered into a long-term partnership with LetsTransport in 2025, and the company is now part of Bertelsmann Next. This follows BI's proven blueprint for building new businesses. Afya, the Nasdaq-listed Brazilian medical education company that is today part of Bertelsmann Education Group, also originated from a BI investment.

Alongside Bertelsmann Next, BI has also significantly strengthened its global venture-capital activities. Its objectives remain unchanged: As a professional investor, BI aims first and foremost to generate industry-leading, top-quartile returns while at the same time providing the Group with early access to relevant global growth regions, new technologies, and innovative business models. In each market, Bertelsmann Investments co-invests with leading global funds.

Venture-capital activities organized in four global funds

Today, these venture-capital activities are organized in four global funds and managed by 30 investment professionals. In addition to the regional funds Bertelsmann Asia Investments and Bertelsmann India Investments, established in 2008 and 2012 respectively, BI has launched two new thematic investment vehicles since 2022, focused primarily on opportunities in the U.S. and Europe.

• Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments (BHI) was launched as a US$200 million fund focused on the growing healthcare market and has been investing in innovative healthcare business models since 2022, with a particular emphasis on AI-native companies. The fund builds on Bertelsmann's existing healthcare activities, including businesses such as Relias, BFS Health Finance, Arvato, and cormeo. An early exit has already validated BHI's investment strategy: Phare Health, an AI company focused on revenue cycle management and founded by former Google DeepMind researchers, was acquired by U.S. market leader R1.
• In 2025, BI also backed futurepresent, a new US$300 million fund that supports leading founders who are building AI platforms and AI infrastructure. futurepresent has already invested alongside Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst in General Intuition, one of the leading world model labs in the field of physical AI, as well as in Suno, an AI-native startup for music generation.

BI has also continued to strengthen its established regional investment vehicles. Through its Boost Program, Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) launched a new US$500 million fund and recorded its highest level of investment activity since inception in the last financial year. BII has helped build four Indian unicorns to date, including the executive education platform Eruditus and Shiprocket, often referred to as India's Shopify.

More than €2.3 billion invested since inception

Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) has also continued to evolve. Today, the fund places a stronger emphasis on backing Chinese founders who are building businesses in global growth markets beyond China. Examples include the fintech unicorns Stori in Mexico and OPay in Nigeria, both of which received early investments from BAI. Since 2008, BAI has helped take 22 companies public. Between October 2025 and February 2026 alone, four portfolio companies - Biren, Seyond, Deepexi, and Haizhi - IPOed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In 2026, BAI also announced the launch of a new US$800 million fund, which has attracted significant participation from external investors.

Between 2022 and 2025, Bertelsmann Investments invested €432 million in venture capital across 115 individual investments. Since its inception, BI has invested more than €2.3 billion, generated returns of €1.5 billion, and contributed to the creation of 26 unicorns.

As part of its strategic evolution, BI has also sharpened the focus of its participations portfolio. Key measures have included the sale of DDV Mediengruppe and the opening of Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) to external investors. Today, the remaining portfolio consists primarily of Bertelsmann's stake in SPIEGEL Group.

This sharpened strategic focus reflects Bertelsmann Investments' clear entrepreneurial ambition: to provide the Group with early access to disruptive technologies, build scalable businesses alongside the world's leading founders, and create new revenue pillars for Bertelsmann that will serve as key drivers of growth in the years ahead.