Berlin – While working at SMP, members of the YPOG team advised the VC investor Samaipata on the financing round of Retraced, a blockchain-based platform for sustainable supply chain management. This was the first time that Samaipata invested in a Germany. Retraced already attracted various business angels and NRW Bank as investors in an earlier round about a year ago. The company says that it plans to use the fresh capital for the expansion of its cloud-based solutions as well as further expansion by means of acquiring additional fashion companies. Samaipata received comprehensive legal advice from Benjamin Ullrich together with Daniela Machado and Christiane Schnitzler.
"At a time when supply chains and logistics around the world are becoming increasingly complex, with its investment in Retracted Samaipata backs a future-proof solution for digital transparency and sustainability management", says Benjamin Ullrich. "We are very pleased that we were able to provide legal advice to Samaipata, a renowned European VC fund, on its first investment in Germany", adds Daniela Machado.
Samaipata
Samaipata is a pan-European early-stage venture capital fund headquartered in Madrid. The fund is led by two successful entrepreneurs, José del Barrio and Eduardo Díez-Hochleitner. Del Barrio's previous projects include co-founding Spain's leading food delivery platform, which was sold to Rocket Internet for USD 100 million. Díez-Hochleitner is known as a successful executive, business angel and current chairman at MásMóvil. Samaipata invests primarily in digital platforms and marketplaces in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Southern Europe. The VC follows a remote-first approach with team members in Paris, London and Madrid. The investor's portfolio companies include Ontruck, Matera and Deporvillage.
Retraced
Retraced, based in Düsseldorf, offers a transparency solution that enables fashion brands to visualize, verify and communicate their supply chains and manage their CSR activities in order to gain customer trust. The blockchain-enabled platform helps fashion companies to connect their entire supplier network and collect relevant data points with regards to working conditions, materials, certifications and environmental impacts. In this way, companies and customers can make more informed purchasing decisions, actively promoting a fairer, more honest and socially responsible fashion industry. Retraced was founded in 2019 by Lukas Pünder, Philipp Mayer and Peter Merkert.
Advisors Samaipata:
Benjamin Ullrich (Lead/Corporate), Partner
Daniela Machado (Corporate), Senior Foreign Associate
Christiane Schnitzler (Corporate), Associate
About us
YPOG is a law firm specialized in tax and business law, active in the core fields of Funds, Tax, Banking + Finance, and Transactions. The team at YPOG represents a broad client base, which ranges from emerging technology companies and family-run SMEs to large corporations, as well as private equity, and venture capital funds. YPOG is one of the leading advisors for venture capital, private equity, and fund structuring in Germany. The firm and its partners have been recognized nationally and internationally by JUVE, Best Lawyers, Legal 500, Focus, Chambers and Partners as well as Leaders League. Today, YPOG has more than 150 experienced attorneys, tax advisors and tax specialists and a notary, in four offices, located in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich.
