# Frank Thelen

> Frank Thelen is a seed investor at 10xDNA Capital Partners backing Software and Manufacturing. See 18 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [10xDNA Capital Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/10xdna-capital-partners)
- Location: Cologne, Germany
- Total investments: 18
- Last investment: Feb 2026
- Lead investor: 39%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-thelen/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/frank_thelen
- Website: https://frank.io/en/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frank42

Frank Thelen is a seed investor at 10xDNA Capital Partners in Cologne focused on Software and Manufacturing. Frank Thelen is the Founder & CEO of 10xDNA Capital Partners. He previously worked at mytaxi - The Taxi App as an Investor. Frank Thelen attended Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences.

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $3.5M–$3.6M |
| Angel | $94k–$1.5M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Software | 7 | 39% |
| Manufacturing | 4 | 22% |
| SaaS | 3 | 17% |
| Transportation | 3 | 17% |
| Apps | 2 | 11% |

47 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 11 | 61% |
| Angel | 2 | 11% |
| Series A | 2 | 11% |
| Funding Round | 2 | 11% |
| Post-IPO Equity | 1 | 6% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Germany | 16 | 89% |
| The Netherlands | 1 | 6% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Zahnheld | Zahnheld is focusing on dental care that makes sense, natural cosmetic toothpaste, and toothbrushes that are worth their price. |  |  | Feb 24, 2026 |  |
| Andenkraft | Andenkraft represents a new connection between enjoyment, origin, and responsibility, uniting the pleasure of conscious consumption with a deep respect for where products come from and a genuine commitment to sustainable and ethical practices. | $94.3K | Angel | Feb 24, 2026 |  |
| Collie | Collie is a technology tool that helps monitor health indicators, optimize pasture growth, and assist herd movement. | $3.6M | Seed | Feb 12, 2025 |  |
| BioThrust | BioThrust develops customized gassing solutions for bioreactors. |  | Seed | Jan 09, 2024 |  |
| Lilium | Lilium is an aviation company developing an emissions-free regional air mobility service. It has designed and prototyped the Lilium Jet, a brand-new type of aircraft that will enable it to deliver regional journeys that are considerably faster than rail or road, yet competitive in price. The demonstrator aircraft first flew in 2019 and is afive-seater, fully-electric aircraft that can take-off and land vertically (VTOL). | $192M | Post-IPO Equity | Jul 14, 2023 |  |
| Build.One | AKIOMA Software develops solutions for the distribution of complex products that require explanation in order to simplify and accelerate processes. Focal points are the creation of extensive and high-quality offers, product management and the programming-free development of web-based product configurators. All AKIOMA products are available inthe cloud, as hybrid cloud or private cloud as well as on premise. |  | Seed | Oct 25, 2021 |  |
| RobCo | RobCo is a company that develops modular industrial robotics systems combined with AI-driven software to automate manual and repetitive tasks in manufacturing environments. It provides a platform that includes configurable robotic hardware, no-code programming tools, AI-powered vision systems, and digital simulation to plan, test, and deployautomation workflows across applications like machine loading, palletizing, and materials handling. The company’s solutions are designed to be flexible and scalable so manufacturers can adapt robot configurations as production requirements evolve. RobCo also offers tools for remote management, predictive maintenance, and integration with existing equipment to support continuous operation. Its products aim to simplify the adoption of robotics by reducing the need for specialized programming and enabling simulation-based validation before physical deployment. | $3.5M | Seed | Jun 07, 2021 |  |
| Smartlane | Smartlane is the leading provider of an AI-based SaaS solution for digitizing, automating and optimizing transportation planning. Developed on the basis of years of research, Smartlane Transport Intelligence is a self-learning technology for future-oriented fully autonomous transport planning. General cargo forwarders in particular cansignificantly optimize the management and planning of their transport processes as well as the delivery and collection of goods in local traffic with the help of Smartlane Transport intelligence. Operational costs can be reduced by up to 20%, dispatching efforts by up to 90%, and CO² emissions by up to 21%. Smartlane Transport Intelligence helps transport service providers such as Cargoline and Metro to be prepared for the future. |  | Seed | Oct 08, 2019 |  |
| yfood Labs | yfood Labs is a food-tech startup which designs smart food solutions for a modern generation. The product portfolio currently compromises ultra-convenient and complete-nutrition drinks, drink powders and bars. |  | Seed | Nov 14, 2018 |  |
| Pitch | Built for collaboration and created with modern teams in mind, Pitch is changing how presentations are crafted and knowledge is shared. With a focus on real-time communication, smart workflows, and customizable templates, Pitch makes it easy for teams to work together to develop beautiful presentations. That’s why brands like Slack, Framer, andMetaLab love using Pitch. Founded by the team that created Wunderlist, Pitch has raised $50 million in funding since its founding in 2018. | $19M | Series A | Oct 09, 2018 |  |

10 of 18 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Freigeist Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/e42-ventures) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Aceville](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/aceville) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [ApolloCapital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/apollocapital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BiT Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bit-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [BlueYard Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/blueyard-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Earlybird Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/earlybird-venture-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About 10xDNA Capital Partners

VC Fund · Bonn, Germany

10xDNA Capital Partners is a financial firm that provides investment consulting, market research, blockchain, and consulting services.

1 contacts available at 10xDNA Capital Partners.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Frank Thelen | Founder and Chief Executive Officer | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/frank-thelen |

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## FAQ

### What does Frank Thelen invest in?

Frank Thelen invests primarily in Software, Manufacturing and SaaS startups, most often at Seed and Angel stage. Most of the 18 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Germany. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Frank Thelen's check size?

Frank Thelen typically joins rounds of $3.5M–$3.6M at Seed and $94k–$1.5M at Angel. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Frank Thelen participates in.

### When did Frank Thelen last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Frank Thelen closed in Feb 2026. Shizune tracks 18 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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