In Q4’15, deal activity in Germany grew to 55 deals (and $431M in funding) for the quarter, bucking a global trend in which deal count was down dramatically.
Germany’s tech scene has become quite robust. It is the home to unicorns like Delivery Hero and HelloFresh as well as exited tech companies like Zalando and Trivago, making Deutschland one of the key tech hubs in Europe.
To visualize the depth and breadth of Germany’s tech scene, we used CB Insights data and analytics to create a periodic table of tech in Germany, focused on startups and VC. The table below covers venture capital investors, accelerators, and angel investors. It also lists funded private companies in select industry categories that are particularly prominent in Germany, along with notable exits of Germany-based private companies.
The 126 companies and investors on the table were pulled from analysis using CB Insights data around funding, company momentum as captured by our Mosaic algorithms, and recent investments in the space.
Note: Click on the table below to expand.
We expect that this list will change over time as new entrants emerge and gain prominence and others falter, exit, and are removed. If you believe someone should be added, please leave a comment with your rationale.
Navigating the periodic table of tech in Germany:
The top part of the table lists private investor-backed companies in select industries, as well as notable investors in Germany.
The bottom two rows of the table outline notable exits of Germany-based companies.
We broke German tech down into the following categories:
Venture Capital Firms:
This category encompasses venture capital firms that are headquartered in Germany. The list includes prominent German VCs like High-Tech Gründerfonds and Point Nine Capital, among many others.
Accelerator/Incubators:
This category includes German incubators and accelerators such as Berlin-based Axel Springer Plug & Play.
Holding Company
The sole company is this category is Rocket Internet, the billion dollar holding company founded by the Samwer brothers.
Corporate Venture Capital Firms:
These are corporations with dedicated venture arms operating out of Germany. This category includes Tengelmann Ventures and Siemens Venture Capital.
Angel Investors:
This category counts angel investors that are based in Germany and includes Eric Wahlforss and Christophe Maire, among others.
Notable exits:
This includes Germany-based companies that have exited in the form of M&A or an IPO, including Zalando and Trivago, among others.
Categories:
Among the categories we selected are a few industries, including e-commerce and marketplaces, that have seen a large amount of deal activity in Germany.
- Unicorns – companies in this category include food delivery service Delivery Hero which raised an $110M Series H in June 2015.
- E-commerce and marketplaces – startups here include Helpling, a site where you can book household services. Helpling raised a $47M Series B in March 2015 from Kite Ventures, Lakestar, Lukasz Gadowski, and Rocket Internet.
- Fintech – this category encompasses digital banking startups as well as peer-to-peer lending services like Auxmoney, which raised $165M in October 2015 in a combination of equity and debt from Aegon.
- Ed Tech – this category includes Babbel, an ed tech startup that developed a language learning platform. Babbel raised a $22M Series C in July 2015 led by Scottish Equity Partners.
- Electronics – startups in this category include ultracapacitor manufacturer Skeleton Technologies which raised a $10.9M Series B in June 2015 from Harju Elekter and Up Invest. It also includes COBI, which develops hardware and software to transform bicycles into connected devices.
- Music/Video/Games – this category encompasses music, video and gaming startups and includes Soundcloud in the list. Soundcloud is a popular music streaming service, which raised $32.5M in debt in January 2016 from Tennenbaum Capital Partners and has raised over $158.5M in funding to date.
- Business intelligence, analytics, performance management – businesses in this category include big data analytics provider Blue Yonder which raised a $75M private equity round in December 2014 from Warburg Pincus.
- Travel – this part of the table includes travel services like HomeToGo, which raised a $6.65M Series A from Acton Capital Partners and DN Partners, among others.
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