Oyster Bay Venture Capital brings on share co-founder Ben Unterkofler

Hamburg-based venture capital firm Oyster Bay is gearing up for its next phase of growth. On 1 October 2026, Ben Unterkofler, co-founder of the social impact brand share, joins as Partner.

In recent months, Philip Stark, who has been part of the team since 2022, was also appointed Partner. Together with Christoph Miller and Felix Leonhardt, four Partners will now lead the food and agri-tech VC. Almost a year after the final close of its second fund at over €100 million, Oyster Bay is deliberately expanding its team and portfolio while laying the groundwork for the years ahead. 

In Ben Unterkofler, Oyster Bay gains one of the best-known founders in Germany's food and impact scene. After studying at the University of Cologne and the London School of Economics, he co-founded the Berlin-based brand share in 2017 together with Sebastian Stricker, Iris Braun and Tobias Reiner.

The principle is "buy one, give one": every product sold funds an equivalent form of aid for people in need. As co-founder and most recently CEO, Unterkofler built share into a nationally recognised consumer goods brand listed in almost all major drugstore chains and supermarkets.

In spring 2026, he handed over operational management and took on an advisory board role. As an active angel investor, Unterkofler has been involved in consumer and food for years, supporting other founders especially in the early stages of building their companies. 

At Oyster Bay, Unterkofler will be responsible for brand and communications in addition to investments and portfolio support. He will pass on his experience of building a brand in food retail directly to the founders in the portfolio. 

Ben Unterkofler, Partner of Oyster Bay: „At share, I experienced first-hand how challenging the journey from the first product to the supermarket shelf is, and how much depends on having the right partners along the way. That is exactly the kind of partner I now want to be for other founders.”

Two new faces at the top 

Ben Unterkofler is not the only new addition to the leadership of one of Germany's leading food VCs. In July, Principal Philip Stark was appointed Partner at Oyster Bay. Stark joined Oyster Bay in 2022, having previously gained venture capital experience at the Berlin-based food funds Atlantic Food Labs and Be8 Ventures. As Partner, he will be responsible for finance, reporting and operations in addition to his investment activities. 

Christoph Miller, founder and Managing Partner of Oyster Bay: „With Philip and Ben, we have two Partners on board who embody what we stand for: thinking like entrepreneurs, staying close to founders and knowing how the food market really works. Philip has already played a decisive role in shaping our portfolio in recent years. He was instrumental in our investment in and exit from Nukoko, for example. With share, Ben has proven that a brand with a clear stance can establish itself for the long term alongside the big brands. With the responsibility shared among four Partners, we can support our founding teams even more closely. Oyster Bay has grown significantly in recent years, and our impact on the transformation of the European food sector has increased enormously. By broadening our leadership team, we are reflecting this development and at the same time positioning ourselves strongly for the future.” 

New investments, first exit 

Since the final close of Fund II in November 2025 at over €100 million, Oyster Bay has continued to expand its portfolio. In spring 2026, the investor participated in the £10.4 million Series A round of London-based Meatly.

Meatly is the first company in Europe to sell cultivated meat commercially, initially as pet food. It is using the capital to build a 20,000-litre bioreactor facility in London, the largest of its kind in Europe.

In March 2026, Oyster Bay VC had already invested €8 million in Cologne-based robotics startup eternal.ag. With its "Harvester", Eternal is developing a fully autonomous harvesting robot for tomato greenhouses to tackle the labour shortage in agriculture.

Three further investments have already been completed or are about to close. In June 2026, the sale of chocolate alternative producer Nukoko to ingredients specialist Döhler marked the first successful exit from Fund II. 

2027: Heading for Fund III 

Felix Leonhardt, Managing Partner of Oyster Bay: „Our pipeline is fuller than it has been in a long time. More investments will follow in the coming months. While venture capital is heavily focused on AI, food is a real alternative: at around ten trillion US dollars a year, food is one of the largest and most resilient markets there is. Despite outstanding ideas, only 5% of global venture capital currently flows into this segment. This gap represents one of the biggest opportunities of the coming years. With our expanded team, we are laying the foundation for our third fund, which is expected to launch in 2028.”