Germany’s Tech scene is on fire. After total funding to German Tech companies doubled in 2014 to $1.28B, VC-backed Tech companies raised a whopping $1.15B in Q1’15 across 58 deals. The feverish pace is the first quarter since 2011 to break the $1B barrier. Overall, deals and dollars were up 76% and 419% respectively versus the same quarter a year prior.
Rocket Internet dominates top deals.
The funding explosion was led by food delivery unicorn Delivery Hero, which raised $563M from Rocket Internet at a $1.88B valuation. The top 10 largest deals in Germany in Q1’15 were all to eCommerce companies, while 4 of the 5 largest deals went to companies backed by Rocket Internet, with WindeIn.de, an online retailer for baby and children products, being the lone company not backed by the German titan.
| Company | Amount ($M) | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery Hero | 563 | Corporate Minority |
| HelloFresh | 126 | Series E |
| Foodpanda | 110 | Series D |
| Windeln.de | 52.31 | Series E |
| Helpling | 47 | Series B |
Berlin takes over half of all deals in Q1
Berlin continued to dominate the German Tech scene, with over half of all deals (and 4 of the 5 largest) were all to companies based in the capital. Munich was second with Rocket Internet-backed Westwing Home & Living raising a $29.7M Series C at a $532M valuation.
| Cities | Deals | Dollars ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 33 | 962.03 |
| Munich | 5 | 38.9 |
| Hamburg | 5 | 31.34 |
| Aachen | 2 | 34.54 |
| Leipzig | 2 | 4.5 |
High-Tech Gruenderfonds is most active VC
Early-stage investor High-Tech Gruenderfonds was the most active VC in German Tech companies in Q1’15. The top 3 was rounded out by IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft and German Startups Group as all three investors focused largely on the seed stage.
| Rank | Investor | Rank | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High-Tech Gruenderfonds | 8 | Senovo |
| 2 | IBB Beteiligungsgesellschaft | 8 | Creathor Venture |
| 3 | German Startups Group | 8 | Kite Ventures |
| 4 | Capnamic Ventures | 8 | DN Capital |
| 4 | Seventure Partners | 8 | Point Nine Capital |
| 4 | Holtzbrinck Ventures | 8 | e.ventures |
| 4 | Iris Capital | 8 | Tengelmann Ventures |
| 8 | Munich Venture Partners | 8 | Global Founders Capital |
| 8 | Highland Capital Partners | 8 | Yabeo Capital |
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