Robin Lauber first became involved in his family’s real estate business in 2015. In the years that followed, he gradually took over the business and restructured it between 2016-18, transforming it into a vertically integrated platform and acquiring a service provider for property management.
Over the course of nearly a decade, the 32-year-old has launched and turned Switzerland-based Infinitas Capital into a property manager, asset manager and brokerage with approximately $750 million in assets under management, roughly split between the family’s own capital and external capital from LPs and family offices in the DACH region.
Real estate makes up about two-thirds of Infinitas’s holdings, with 90 percent of the remainder in private equity. Lauber, the third-generation heir, told Private Equity International he aims to grow the firm’s PE holdings to 40 percent and total AUM to $1.5 billion over the next two to three years.
Originating as a single family office focused on real estate, Infinitas has become an investment manager with three closed-end fund strategies focused on life sciences, fintech and sports. Infinitas has also backed smaller European and US funds, ranging from $40 million first-time funds to more established players. Over the years, it has committed capital to Presight Capital, Verve Ventures and Insight Partners.
Korify Capital, Infinitas’s venture capital fund, is focused on longevity, biotech and mental health late-stage companies in the US and Europe. About 70 percent of investments are in drug development and drug discovery, and the remainder is in tech. Lauber’s team raised $30 million for Fund I in 2021 and has since invested about three times that amount with co-investments, Lauber said.
Why longevity medicine? “My family were hypochondriacs,” Lauber said, adding that he has been interested in the space and loved meeting people in the field. “I truly believe that longevity is not just a hot topic, but a secular trend. Our awareness of living a healthier lifestyle is becoming visible everywhere we go. It’s one of the most interesting investment areas in the next two decades and we’re glad we’re supporting research here. Biotech is the ultimate impact investment.”
Lauber noted that biotech is “super risky”, but also one of the “most rewarding” sectors to invest in.
“We don’t usually invest in single-drug development companies. We mitigate that risk by betting on companies that are following multiple shots and multiple goals and doing our diligence on the teams. When these companies enter phase two of drug development, they need to raise more cash. And that’s when we can take some money off the table and get our early investment back.”
Capital raised from Korify has backed companies including Alto Neuroscience, a California-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company which raised nearly $150 million in a public listing in February; New York-based Gameto, which develops new treatments for fertility; and Cambrian Bio, also based in New York, which focuses on innovative therapeutics designed to prevent diseases and lengthen health spans.
Korify has already done 15 transactions, with an average investment size of $1.5 million apiece, and expects to secure three more deals in the near term. Lauber noted that capital raising for Fund II is expected in the next six months to one year.
Newer areas
In 2022, the firm rolled out its debut Prediction Capital fund, which partners with founders and entrepreneurs in consumer tech and fintech in the DACH region. About $10 million has been raised thus far for Prediction’s first fund against a $20 million target, Lauber told PEI. The average investment size is about $750,000.
Last but not least is Infinitas’s push into sports investing with Chiron Sports Group, a sports asset manager and investment firm led by co-founders Leo Rifkind, Sam Helmy, Christian Angermayer and Lauber. Chiron picked up an undisclosed stake in Venezia FC earlier this month.
Lauber said Chiron is also working on a few transactions in US soccer, E1 racing (the world’s first all-electric race boat series) and is in “early steps” in Formula 1. He added that Chiron’s investment mandate is “pretty broad”, in that the firm is both a merchant bank advisory business and an asset manager.
In a tougher fundraising environment, how does a single family office deal with capital raising for multiple fund strategies? “We experience it as well. Some family offices in the DACH region with operating businesses [that] have started to venture into private markets have not gone through these cycles. They expect returns and distributions to come quicker,” Lauber said.
“But most investors we work with are happy to commit to the next vehicle and stay invested during downturns and remain anti-cyclical.”