AM Ventures
The leading venture capital firm in industrial 3D printing (additive manufacturing, AM) has a carefully curated portfolio of 15 successful companies in six countries on three continents. The team possesses in-depth technology know-how and is well connected with the most experienced experts in the field. As an investment partner, the company provides a globally leading ecosystem of sustainable investments in AM and introduces entrepreneurs to a large pool of industry veterans, each one with decades of experience in engineering, manufacturing and executive management. Since 2021, AM Ventures is set up as a venture capital fund with the LANGER GROUP (pioneers in AM; EOS GROUP, SCANLAB GROUP), international investment and asset manager KGAL and the Managing Partners as shareholders of the managing entity.
Arno G. Held, Managing Partner
Arno Held started AM Ventures together with Johann Oberhofer when they realized an increase in entrepreneurial activities in additive manufacturing. He acts as Managing Partner of the fund and specializes on the network around AM Ventures, as well as its global footprint and organizational growth. With his excellent network within the industry, Arno is of great help to building scalable business models with the portfolio companies. Since founding AM Ventures, Arno has been instrumental in building the AM Ventures team that has scouted more than 1.600 startups on 3 continents in 7 countries and conducted more than two dozen funding rounds within 5 years. Before setting up AM Ventures, Arno spent 7 years in various positions within EOS. For example, he had worked as assistant to the CEO before becoming business development manager thereafter. Arno was in a leading role to develop Shapeways, one of the big successful startups in AM from a team in an incubator to EOS’s biggest customer within 5 years. He started his professional career as a service engineer with TRUMPF building and fixing industrial laser systems around the globe. Arno holds a diploma degree in industrial engineering and management from the University of Applied Sciences Karlsruhe (Germany) as well as an international executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). Arno completed his studies in Shanghai, China and Cape Town, South Africa. Arno is married and has two sons. In his spare time, Arno’s passion lies in downhill mountain biking and mountaineering.
Simon Lee, Regional Director ASIA
Sangmin “Simon” Lee joined AM Ventures in January 2019 as Regional Director Asia. He acts as AM Ventures’ representative and technology scout in Asia Pacific. Simon has always been fascinated by entrepreneurship, the creation and pursuit of visions and the identification of business challenges and their solutions. In the early stage of his career, he gained experience in the Startup Scene as a founder of the company “Hi-Globe” in the renewable energy & energy saving sector in Korea. Besides, he was a founding member and team leader of “3Developer”, an internal startup of Mirae International, the starting point of his career in the Additive Manufacturing industry. Before joining AM Ventures, Simon acted as Sales Manager for EOS GmbH in Korea from 2015 on where he further gained substantial professional experience and built up a large network in the Additive Manufacturing industry. Simon studied Japanese and Business Administration at Hankuk University for Foreign Studies, Korea. During his studies Simon ran his own e-commerce business for more than 2 years which successfully provided him opportunities of business operation practices beyond the Business lectures in class. He is a certified Venture Capitalist by KVCI (Korea Venture Capital Institute). Simon enjoys travelling the world and loves the nature. Being based in Busan, he swims in the ocean every morning before starting the day.