UniverCell develops and produces battery electrodes and cells of highest quality custom-made for customers prime applications.
Invested VC volume increased by 6.5% in Germany compared to Q1 2025
Number and volume of announced funding rounds over the last year*
- Number of funding rounds
- Invested volume in $bn
* All data from CrunchBase, as of May 13, 2026
AI startups saw the most investments in Q1
In Q1, AI startups lead with 56 investments, followed by Health Care (40) and Manufacturing startups (21).
Top 10 industries of financed startups according to the number of conducted investments
- AI
- Health Care
- Manufacturing
- Energy
- FinTech
- BioTech
- Retail
- Web
- Food and Beverage
- Consulting
Number and total volume of financing rounds per stage
- Number of funding rounds
- Invested volume in $mn
The largest funding round of Q1
Berlin-based Parloa secured a €350 million Series D Round, the largest funding round in Germany of the quarter.
Most investment rounds were Seed Rounds (43%). Despite that, the largest volume of $440 million was invested in 2 Series D Rounds.
Bayern Kapital was the most active VC investor in Germany
Regarding the investors behind those funding rounds, the Bayern Kapital emerged as the most active VC investor, completing 10 deals. With this, they lead ahead of HTFG (6 deals), EIC (4 Deals), Angle Invest (4 Deals) and IBB Ventures (3 Deals) among the top 5.
Investors with the highest number of investments in Q1 2026 Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q1 2026
- Bayern Kapital
- HTGF
- EIC Accelerator
- Angle Invest
- IBB Ventures
Berlin and Munich remain Germany’s VC hotspots
The most investments in Q1 were conducted in Berlin (45), followed by Munich (27) and Cologne (8).
When ranking by investment volume instead of the number of conducted investments, Mannheim ($101mn) and Heidelberg ($88mn) replace Hamburg and Cologne in the Top 5.
In the spotlight: Schleswig-Holstein
S-H at a glance
-5% new startup foundations in 2025 (Ø Germany: +29%)
2.4 startup foundations per 100,000 inhabitants in 2025 (Ø Germany: 4.3)
Life Science Nord cluster: one of Europe’s leading life science hubs
UniverCell raised €35 million
Industry
Battery, Energy
Founded in
2019, Flintbek
Money raised
€35 million
Type of financing round
Series B
About
Lead Investor
Private Equity acquisitions decreased by 62% compared to the previous year
- Number of PE acquisitions
- Share of all investment rounds (in %)
Number and share of PE acquisitions increased in Germany
In Q1 2026, 5 PE acquisitions were conducted in Germany, representing a share of 3% of all investment rounds (VC + PE) (168).
Each of the five acquisitions took place in a different state.
Each active acquirer made only one acquisition in Q1.
PE acquisition highlight in Q1
Aquirer
(PE firm)
Acquiree
(Franchise chain of bakeries)
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