“DISCO Pharmaceuticals enters the market with a starting capital of $22mn. Their team has pioneered a method enabling the mapping and decoding of protein communities on the surface of cancer cells, known as Surfaceome. This innovation aims to identify new targets and develop first-rate medications.” – swisstrade
Invested VC volume decreased by 7% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023 Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q1 2024
Number and amounts of announced funding rounds over the past quarters*
* All data from CrunchBase, as of April 10, 2024
In Q1, the software industry saw the most investments (49), followed by AI startups (22) and IT startups (21).
- A total of 156 financing rounds were announced. Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q1 2024
- The total amount invested in the announced financing rounds was $1.6bn, a 7% decrease compared to Q1 2023.
- Most investments were made in Software businesses, amounting to 49 investments.
Top 10 industries of financed startups according to the number of conducted investments
Number and total volume of financing rounds per stage
The largest round of Q1 2024 was a Series B Round of $200mn
In Q1, most investment rounds were Seed Rounds (~41%). Despite that, the largest volume of $737mn was invested in only 16 Series B Rounds. Contributing to this was BlackRock’s $200mn investment in Enviria, a provider of solar-centric projects and energy-as-a-service solutions for businesses.
HTGF was the most active VC investor in Germany Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q1 2024
Investors with the highest number of investments in Q1 2024 Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q1 2024
Berlin is Germany’s VC hotspot, while Munich takes the 2nd spot
- The most investments in Q1 were conducted in Berlin (52), followed by Munich (21) and Hamburg (13).
- When ranking by investment volume instead of the number of conducted investments, Karlsruhe ($149mn) would take 4th place.
In the spotlight
Cologne raised the largest Seed-Round in Germany in Q1
Company
Cologne at a glance*
- European B2B hotspot
- 600+ Startups
- 60% early or seed stage
- 62% B2B focus
- 15+ VC funds
*KölnBusiness Wirtschaftsförderung
Largest Seed-Round: DISCO Pharmaceuticals raised $22mn
Industry
Manufacturing, Pharmaceutical
Founded in
2022, Cologne
Money raised
$22mn
Type of financing round
Seed-Round
Comment/Quote
Investors
Private equity acquisitions decreased by 31% compared to the previous year
Number of PE acquisitions decreased compared to VC investments
- In Q1 2024, 9 PE acquisitions were conducted in Germany, representing a share of about 5% of all investment rounds (VC + PE) in Q1 (164).
- The ratio of acquisitions to investments decreased in Q1 2024 following a peak of 7% in Q4 2023.
Largest (known) acquisition in Q1 – $2.8bn
Aquirer
(New York-based alternative asset manager)
Acquiree
(Hamburg-based producer of electricity from renewable energy sources)
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