Noerr advises Berlin-based IoT company builder Next Big Thing AG on investment by Talanx

Noerr has provided Next Big Thing AG, an IoT company builder based in Berlin, with wide-ranging advice on the acquisition of an interest by Talanx. The insurance group intends to use this interest to gain access to in the “internet of things”, whereas Next Big Thing AG wants to drive its expansion forward.

Talanx is investing in Next Big Thing AG through its affiliate HDI acting as the lead investor in a financing round. The cooperation between Next Big Thing AG and HDI is regarded as a novelty in the industry. HDI intends to extend its portfolio to include services supplementing its industrial insurance products. Gaining Next Big Thing AG as a co-innovator, HDI is also seizing the opportunity to push forward data-driven innovation itself. Other co-investors alongside HDI are FinLab EOS VC as well as private investors.

A Noerr team led by Berlin partners Ariane Neubauer and Felix Blobel provided Next Big Thing AG will extensive advice during the financing round.

Next Big Thing AG offers a complete range of services for building up IoT joint ventures and is Europe’s leading company builder for the internet of things and services (IoT/IoS) and blockchain. As a company builder, corporate innovation partner and operative VC, Next Big Thing AG acts as a hub bringing together a continually growing ecosystem of companies, founders, technologists, entrepreneurs and investors.

Established in 2016, Next Big Thing AG’s founders included Harald Zapp and Michael-Maria Bommer, two founders of Relayr, as well as Maik Käbisch. Since then, a Noerr team led by Ariane Neubauer and Felix Blobel has been advising Next Big Thing AG and its IoT ventures on company, employment and IT law matters.

For example, Noerr recently also advised NBT IoT venture company METR Building Management GmbH on the investment by ServiceHaus GmbH, the service company of the GBG Group from Mannheim. This investment allows ServiceHaus GmbH to position itself as a digital housing company. By joining forces with GBG, METR has a partner on board that has commercial know-how in the housing industry and wants to build up its expertise in the fields of Big Data and IoT. METR is in the business of developing an IoT platform allowing for connected applications in the housing industry.

Noerr also advised the NBT IoT venture company Assistr Digital Health Systems GmbH on the investment by Brückenköpfe. A think-tank for ideas in the healthcare sector, Berlin-based company Brückenköpfe has been a shareholder in Assistr since 2018. Assistr (known under the name of “AssistMe”) develops future-oriented technologies for the nursing sector, which enable nursing care providers to bridge the gap between standardised and personalised care in order to provide the highest possible quality of care.

Advisors to NBT AG on the investment by Talanx: Noerr LLP

Ariane Neubauer, Felix Blobel (joint lead, Private Equity/Venture Capital, Berlin), Ingo Theusinger (Corporate, Düsseldorf)

Associates: Mario Merget (Employment), Franziska Kühn, Robert Marx, Franz Hahn (all Corporate, all Berlin)

Advisors to NBT AG and its IoT ventures: Noerr LLP

Ariane Neubauer, Felix Blobel (joint lead, Private Equity/Venture Capital), Stefan Schwab (Employment), Torsten Kraul (Telecommunications & Digital Business), Michael Tommaso (Tax, all Berlin)

Associates: Mario Merget (Employment), Lucie Rohr, Tanja Pflugradt, Franz Hahn, Franziska Kühn, Robert Marx (all Corporate, all Berlin)