Investment Stage

Focus Areas

About Investor

Daniel Franke is an Investment Director (Principal-level) on the technology team at M Ventures, the €600M corporate venture arm of Merck, focusing on deep tech and advanced materials. He invests $100K to $5.0M (with a sweet spot around $1.5M) across seed through Series B in sectors such as semiconductors, quantum and photonics, advanced materials, digital health, and health IT. A scientist by training, he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from RWTH Aachen University and completed PhD studies at MIT, where he worked on functional quantum materials for displays and biomedical imaging. He joined M Ventures through its fellowship program, progressing from analyst to associate, senior associate and then investment director.