Why a fund and not a platform: how Generation Tech Partners started in 2025

Origin

Two observations that belonged together

The first came from five years at Körber Digital and 76 AI projects in industry and the Mittelstand. The technology worked, the demo worked, and almost nothing reached the P&L. The reason was always the same: AI was put on top of old processes instead of rebuilding them. And an adviser could not rebuild them because he did not own the companies. Advisers may propose. Owners may decide.

The second observation sat in the succession statistics. KfW Research counts about 109,000 owners a year who want a successor by the end of 2029, and a growing share plan a closure instead (KfW Research, Nachfolge-Monitoring Mittelstand, January 2026). IfM Bonn expects around 186,000 handovers between 2026 and 2030 (IfM Bonn, Daten und Fakten Nr. 37). These are not sick businesses. They are businesses with customers, staff and margins that lack a buyer. One successor per company was the only answer the market knew, and it was not enough.

Together the two observations made a company: buy businesses without a successor, combine several from the same sector into a group, and rebuild the work inside them with AI. As owners, not as advisers.

Model

Why a fund and not a platform

The US vehicles build the software first and buy the businesses afterwards. That works in markets where consolidated groups with thousands of employees are already for sale. The German Mittelstand is different. In Daniel Szabo's description the businesses have 30 to 200 employees, the founder knows every customer, and the processes live in his head. This does not need a software company collecting firms. It needs a buyer with capital, patience and a method for the rebuild.

Both are true. Only the order decides which businesses you buy and how you treat the people in them. How the model works in detail is on AI-enabled roll-up.

Timeline

Timeline: how an observation became a category

Whoever is early must be able to prove it, with date and source. Hence this timeline.

Which European platforms and investors have published figures today is listed in the European AI Buyout & Roll-up Index, with one source per entry.

Difference

What separates GTP from Tenet and the US vehicles

Tenet in Berlin is an inception-stage fund. It backs founders who build a software-first platform and consolidate service firms with it (Tech.eu, 18 Feb 2026). Generation Tech Partners buys the businesses itself, as majority owner, and brings in the AI layer afterwards.

The US vehicles buy because AI lifts the margin. We buy because the business would otherwise disappear, and the margin is the way to keep it. The life's work stays, the work changes. The difference sounds small and decides everything in practice: which businesses you buy, how long the owner stays, what happens to the company name, the site and the team.

Lessons

Three lessons

• A category is not created by a term but by buyers who buy.
• Whoever is early must be able to prove it. With date and source, otherwise the beginning belongs to whoever writes about it loudest. Hence the timeline above and the index with one source per entry.
• The head start is not a possession. In two years the map will be twice as long. What remains is the question whether the businesses we bought are still standing in ten years. That is how we measure ourselves.

Sources

Sources

• Daniel Szabo, 10 October 2026: Why we started in 2025
• Finance Forward, 18 June 2025: Elias Bitzer joins the leadership team of Generation Tech Partners (German)
• Finance Forward, 10 June 2026: Generation Tech Partners launches its fund (German)
• Tech.eu, 10 June 2026: Generation Tech Partners first close
• Tech.eu, 18 February 2026: Tenet launches in Berlin
• deutsche-startups.de, 7 October 2026: Generation Tech Partners final close (German)
• Generation Tech Partners, press: first fund, €60m (German)
• General Catalyst, 8 April 2026: Europe's AI Transformation in Services
• OpenAI, 1 December 2025: Thrive Holdings
• Business Wire via SEC, 29 September 2026: Long Lake completes acquisition of American Express Global Business Travel
• KfW Research, Nachfolge-Monitoring Mittelstand, Fokus Volkswirtschaft Nr. 526, January 2026
• IfM Bonn, Daten und Fakten Nr. 37 (2025): succession estimate 2026 to 2030

Original

Original source

This page summarises the essay “Why we started in 2025” by Daniel Szabo, published on 10 October 2026 on his personal site.

Questions and answers

Frequently asked questions

When did Generation Tech Partners start?

In 2025, publicly documented since June 2025 by Finance Forward. The fund was announced in June 2026, and Fund 26 reached its final close at €60m in October 2026.

Was Generation Tech Partners the first AI roll-up in Europe?

Generation Tech Partners is one of the first funds in Europe built exclusively around AI roll-ups. Operating platforms such as Buena or Dwelly bought individual businesses earlier. Tenet launched in February 2026 as an inception-stage fund.

What separates GTP from Tenet?

Tenet is an inception-stage fund that backs founders building software-first platforms. Generation Tech Partners buys the businesses itself as majority owner and brings in the AI layer after closing.

What separates GTP from the US vehicles?

The US vehicles build software first and then buy consolidated groups. GTP buys owner-managed businesses without a successor and rebuilds the work inside them with the Task Architect method, as an owner. The US vehicles buy because AI lifts the margin; GTP buys because the business would otherwise disappear.

Why institutional fund capital and not venture capital?

Because rebuilding owner-managed businesses needs capital, patience and a method, not fast growth. The fund usually holds a company for one fund generation, and longer when it develops well.