Build. Validate. Fundraise.
Dr. Zybura Ventures (DZV) works hands-on with founders and teams to validate ideas, challenge assumptions, and refine business and financial models for pre-seed and seed funding. Engagements are equity-aligned or hybrid, including CEO-as-a-service where it makes sense.
How we work
Lean venture building. Equity-aligned.
We work with founders and teams at the point where ideas need to survive contact with reality.
Validation first
We challenge assumptions, stress-test business and financial models, and help teams make the decisions required to reach pre-seed or seed readiness.
Hands-on and practical
We don't optimize for pitch decks or buzzwords, but for clarity, momentum, and fundable structures.
DZV engages selectively and actively
We work with only a select number of ventures at a time. We take real responsibility for outcomes rather than offering distant standard advice, working hands-on like co-founders.
Equity-aligned or hybrid models
Because early-stage companies are often capital-constrained, DZV typically works through equity-aligned or hybrid fee-plus-equity engagements. This ensures long-term alignment and shared commitment to outcomes.
Portfolio
DZV co-builds and holds equity in a small number of ventures at a time, ensuring deep operational involvement and real responsibility for outcomes. Current ventures include:
From coffee break to breakthrough.
Hospitality
fundraising
Hybrid café, co-working hub, and event venue in the heart of Mannheim, combining specialty coffee, flexible workspaces, and rooms for meetings, workshops, and startup events – a physical home for innovation programs and high-impact projects.
Smart Light. Smart Grid. Smart City.
Energy Infrastructure, Smart City
fundraising
Power-Lite turns every streetlight into an AI-driven smart energy node that combines solar generation, battery storage, EV charging, edge computing, and multi-protocol connectivity into one modular infrastructure asset, enabling cities and campuses to locally balance energy, mobility, and data.
Verified childcare. Simplified.
FamilyTech, CareTech
fundraising
Sitt.App connects families with verified, pedagogically qualified childcare providers for flexible, short-term and supplementary care. Unlike general babysitting platforms, SittApp works exclusively with trained educators, ensuring a high level of trust, quality, and reliability.
The following projects are 100% subsidiaries of DZV:
Assess. Advice. Accelerate.
Consulting Services
funded
Strategic consulting for founders preparing for funding, investors evaluating opportunities, and organizations building innovation ecosystems. From quick advisory to deep engagement.
Learn. Apply. Advance.
Education
funded
Workshops, training, and accelerator-style programs for individuals, teams, startups, universities, corporates, and public institutions. From foundational skills to custom organizational programs.
Fly. Explore. Expand.
Aviation Services
fundraising
Flexible access to capable touring aircraft with structured training pathways, mentorship, and continuous skill development. No ownership costs, no club duties. Just freedom to fly and grow as a pilot.
Our Story
Dr. Zybura Ventures (DZV) was created to work where early-stage companies are most fragile: before assumptions have been fully tested, before significant capital has been raised, and before teams know whether their venture will survive contact with reality.
Many early founders receive advice, workshops, or mentorship — often publicly funded and free of charge. Very few, however, work with someone who is willing to share responsibility for outcomes and accelerate progress rather than slow it down. DZV fills this gap.
We engage early, work hands-on, and focus on validation, decision-making, and execution. Our role is not to educate from the outside, but to build together with founders when clarity matters most.
DZV is intentionally lean, independent and founder-led. We work with a small number of teams and commit deeply rather than spreading attention across programs or batches.
Because early-stage companies are often capital-constrained, DZV typically works through equity-aligned or hybrid models. This ensures incentive alignment and long-term commitment instead of short-term consulting. In select cases, DZV may also provide pre-seed-phase participation (typically €10k–50k) where the strategic fit is strong and funding accelerates validation or company formation.
DZV's primary value is operational, not financial. We focus on co-building and hands-on execution rather than check-writing. If you are looking for pure capital without deep operational involvement, DZV is not the right fit.
Educational and consulting activities are operated separately via the Academy and Consulting brands of Dr. Zybura UG. DZV is focused exclusively on venture building and equity-based partnerships.
Team & Network
Dr. Jan Zybura
Founder | Venture Builder
14+ years in entrepreneurship | 270+ projects supported | 2 founder centers built
Jan's Story
I love working with founders and early-stage companies as early on as where ideas need to survive contact with reality.
Over the past 14 years, I've been deeply involved in entrepreneurship from multiple angles: working hands-on with founders, shaping early teams, and helping companies validate assumptions, refine business and financial models, and prepare their next funding rounds. Through my university, founder center, and freelance consulting work, as well as advisory roles at STYX, I've supported more than 270 startup and innovation projects across diverse sectors and technologies — from SaaS and hardware to energy, aviation, and hospitality. This breadth of exposure has given me a broad base of general knowledge, a strong ability to quickly grasp complex technical and business situations, and a practiced eye for troubleshooting the unexpected problems that inevitably arise in early-stage ventures. I've also built a network of specialists, co-founders, advisors, and investors who can be brought in strategically when ventures need specific expertise or connections.
What matters to me today is not only teaching concepts and tools but taking responsibility for driving outcomes and creating impact. Through DZV, I engage as a hands-on co-builder with a small number of teams. Depending on the situation, this can include validation work, active operational involvement, interim CEO responsibilities, team setup, and co-financing. Typically, we work through equity-aligned or hybrid models.
In my role at DZV, I'm neither a classic consultant, nor a classic angel or VC. I work closely with founders who want their assumptions challenged early, value clear reasoning over buzzwords, and are serious about building something fundable and durable. If that resonates with you, feel free to reach out.
DZV also works with a curated network of specialists, initiatives, co-founders, advisors, and investors built over 14 years. This network is brought in strategically when ventures need specific technical expertise, sector knowledge, operational support, or investor connections.
Ecosystem & Collaborations
DZV is rooted in the Mannheim startup ecosystem and collaborates with leading institutions and programs. Educational, consulting, and white-label advisory activities are operated separately via Dr. Zybura UG and its Academy and Consulting brands.
Our Values
Validation over vision
We prioritize testing assumptions and building fundable structures over pitch-perfect storytelling. While a decent pitch deck and story form the foundation, ideas must survive contact with reality.
Responsibility over advice
We take equity and operational responsibility for outcomes, not just advisory fees. We're in the game with you, not just watching from the sidelines.
Candor over comfort
We challenge assumptions early and push for clear reasoning. If something won't work, we say so. Even, when it's uncomfortable. No offense!
Work with DZV
For early founders:
If you're building a venture and need hands-on support with validation, business modeling, and fundraising readiness, DZV engages as co-builder through equity-aligned or hybrid models.
For ecosystem partners:
DZV collaborates with universities, founder centers, and ecosystem partners on building innovation capacity. Educational and consulting work is handled separately via Dr. Zybura Academy & Consulting.