Stenon is a soil data company that provides soil insights to optimize yields, improve soil health, and reduce input costs.
Number of VC Investments increased by 2% in Germany compared to Q3 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 October 02, 2026
AI startups saw the most investments in Q3
In Q3, AI startups lead with 54 investments, followed by Health Care (28) and Energy startups (27).
Top 10 industries of financed startups according to the number of conducted investments
- AI
- Health Care
- Energy
- FinTech
- Manufacturing
- PropTech
- BioTech
- Food and Beverage
- Web
- Marketing
Number and total volume of financing rounds per stage
- Number of funding rounds
- Invested volume in $mn
The largest funding round of Q3
Gilching-based Quantum Systems secured a €1.04 billion Series D Round, the largest funding round in Germany of the quarter.
Most investment rounds were Seed Rounds (45%). Despite that, the largest volume of $1.3 billion was invested in 2 Series D Round.
IBB Ventures was the most active VC investor in Germany
Regarding the investors behind those funding rounds, the IBB Ventures emerged as the most active VC investor, completing 8 deals. With this, they lead ahead of NRW Bank (5 deals), HTGF (5 Deals), Bayern Kapital (4 Deals) and Cherry Ventures (3 Deals) among the top 5.
Investors with the highest number of investments in Q3 2026 Germany VC + PE Landscape – Q32026
- IBB Ventures
- NRW Bank
- HTGF
- Bayern Kapital
- Cherry Ventures
Berlin and Munich remain Germany’s VC hotspots
The most investments in Q3 were conducted in Berlin (41), followed by Munich (22) and Hamburg (7).
When ranking by investment volume instead of the number of conducted investments, Gilching ($1.2bn), Eresing ($175mn) and Neuenstadt am Kocher ($58mn) replace Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt in the Top 5.
In the spotlight: Brandenburg
Brandenburg at a glance
~73 new startups in 2025, ranking 2nd in eastern Germany per capita
With ~80 startups Potsdam ranks among Germany’s top 10 cities for startups per capita
€71mn funding across 7 rounds in 2025, under 1% of Germany’s total
Stenon raised €18.2 million
Industry
Agriculture, AgTech, Internet of Things, Sensor, Software
Founded in
2018, Potsdam
Money raised
€18.2 million
Type of financing round
Series B
About
Lead Investor
Private Equity acquisitions increased by 220% 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 Q3 2026, 48 PE acquisitions were conducted in Germany, representing a share of 28% of all investment rounds (VC + PE) (173).
With 12 investments each, most PE acquisitions took place in Hessen and NRW, followed by Bavaria (11).
Mutares AG and Bridgepoint were the most active acquirers with three acquisitions each in Q3.
PE acquisition highlight in Q3
Aquirer
(PE firm)
Acquiree
(temporary outdoor security solutions provider)
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