The city of Berlin overlooking the Spree river.
Home to the largest economy in Europe, Germany is a veritable treasure trove of successful startups. Big names such as fintech startup N26 and car-trading platform provider AUTO1 have spawned from the country, which is seeing an increasing amount of VC money pour into its companies. Last year, investors spent €3.6 billion across 573 VC deals in the country, per the PitchBook Platform, setting a new decade-high for capital raised.
And, as uncertainty arising from political crises looms over its counterparts, it seems safe to say that Germany’s prominence as a startup hub will only grow. This is certainly helped by the fact that unlike some nations, such as the UK, Germany’s VC activity is not solely concentrated in one location but is instead spread across a host of cities, with prominent investors from Berlin to Munich and Bonn.
Just as its businesses have received more venture capital funding the past few years, the country’s investors have become more prolific. In 2018, German VCs invested nearly €9 billion into startups, up from €4.5 billion the year before. With almost 23% of that capital going into German companies, second only to a 35% share held by the US, it is clear these firms are a driving force behind their home ecosystem.
Of course a handful of these VCs stand out from the crowd for the sheer volume of transactions in which they have participated. Here’s a list of the top 10 German venture capital investors since the start of 2014, with their deal counts in parentheses:
1. High-Tech Gründerfonds (284)
2. Global Founders Capital (155)
3. HV Holtzbrinck Ventures (116)
4. Point Nine Capital (113)
5. Earlybird Venture Capital (103)
6. Rocket Internet (98)
7. btov Partners (95)
8. IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft (86)
9. Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (82)
10. Project A (77)
Interested in Germany and the DACH region as a whole? Check out our Venture Ecosystem FactBook.