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Germany’s most active VCs

September 24, 2014

Via Flickr.

Despite some high profile tech setbacks, such as those suffered by Uber and Google, the German technology sector is thriving. Despite slow national growth overall, small and medium companies comprise 99.7% of the economy, with the German IT market set to grow to over €65 billion ($83bn) by 2016. Berlin, the capital, has over 2,500 startups. Its digital economy contributes over 6% of the city’s output. German ventures are upping their game too: between January and June this year €2.79bn ($3.56bn) was put into almost 700 local firms, beating the same period last year by a third.

Rocket Internet has drawn praise for its incubation of over 100 successful companies – and ire for its alleged ‘copycat’ model, which aims to emulate existing ideas. But what cannot be ignored is the number of profitable and growing startups that have emerged from the country in recent years.

“It’s very exciting being part of what’s currently happening in Berlin,” says Niklas Ostberg, CEO of Delivery Hero, a European food delivery network with over $650 million in funding. “The tech scene is exploding and it’s great to be a part of it.”

These are the most active VCs in Germany since 2009, according to data from CB Insights.


Most Active VCs in Germany, since 2009

1. High-Tech Gruenderfonds

Preferred Stage: Early, Mid

Fund Size: €304 million

Founded: 2005

Location: Bonn

Recent Investments: Opentabs, eGym, Medineering

Notable Exits: Bayer AG (IPO in 2009, Acquired by Boston Scientific in 2014)

 

2. T-Venture (Venture Arm of Deutsche Telekom)

Preferred Stage: Mid

Fund Size: €280 million

Founded: 1997

Location: Bonn

Recent Investments: Lookout, Boxfish, Affirmed Networks

Notable Exits: BelAir Networks (Erricson, 2012), Ubiquisys (Cisco, 2013, $310M)

 

3.HV Holtzbrinck Ventures

Preferred Stage: Early, Mid

Fund Size: €177 million

Founded: 2000

Location: Munich

Recent Investments: Quandoo, HelloFresh, Delivery Hero, Zalando

Notable Exits: Citydeal.de (Groupon, 2010), brands4friends (eBay, 2010, $200M)

 

4.German Startups Group

Preferred Stage: Late

Fund Size: n/a

Founded: 2012

Location: Berlin

Recent Investments: SoundCloud, Solar Tower Technologies, Delivery Hero

Notable Exits: n/a

 

5. IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft

Preferred Stage: Early (€200,000-2.5 million)

Fund Size: n/a

Founded: 1997

Location: Berlin

Recent Investments: Babbel, Zimory, sofatutor

Notable Exits: AUPEO! (Panasonic, 2013), gate5 (Nokia, 2005)


6. Bayern Kapital

Preferred Stage: Early (€250,000-600,000 investments)

Fund Size: n/a

Founded: 1995

Location: Landshut

Recent Investments: eGym, Crealytics, Altruja

Notable Exits: Corimmun (Johnson & Johnson, 2012), Art of Defence (Zeus, 2011)

 

7. Target Partners

Preferred Stage: Early, Mid

Fund Size: €230 million under management

Founded: 2000

Location: Munich

Recent Investments: Quobyte, Hetras, Finanzchef

Notable Exits: JouleX (Cisco, 2013), P21 (Heliocentris, 2012), Scoreloop (Blackberry, 2011)

 

8. e.ventures

Preferred Stage: Early

Fund Size: $100 million

Founded: 1998

Location: Hamburg and Berlin (San Francisco HQ)

Recent Investments: Deltamethod, Auctionata

Notable Exits: kaufDA (Axel Springer, 2011), CityDeal.de (Groupon, 2010

 

9. Wellington Partners

Preferred Stage: Early, Mid

Fund Size: €265 million

Founded: 1998

Location: Munich

Recent Investments: Festicket, Nosto, Opvizor

Notable Exits: Sapiens (Medtronic, $200M, 2014), Readmill (Dropbox, 2014), Seesmic (Hootsuite, 2012)

 

10. Seventure Partners

Preferred Stage: Early, Mid (€500k-20M)

Fund Size: €550 million under management

Founded: 1997

Location: Paris

Recent Investments: MinuteBuzz, Mint Solutions, Testbirds, Presta Shop

Notable Exits: Vistaprint (IPO, 2005), Mauna Kea Technologies (IPO, 2011)

 

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Filed Under: Europe, Finance, Startups

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