👋 Welcome! This short guide will introduce you to the active pre-seed investors based in Germany.
Exactly one year ago, we made our first investment as a seed investor in Germany (into an awesome team buildling a headless CMS, GraphCMS, together with Paua Ventures). And we haven’t sat down since. Despite the whole “global pandemic” we’ve been active in (virtually) shaking hands, speaking to founders, and getting to know fellow DACH investors. I’ve spent the past months mapping out and getting to know the venture landscape and thought it helpful to share!
Hereby happy to present the v0.1 edition of the Pre-Seed Investor Guide to Germany!
🚨 Note: I originally build this map as a notion page. To view the interactive version of the investor map, including short profiles of each investor with stage, focus, and description, I recommend that you explore the original version of the guide here.
Pre-Seed Investor Landscape
Sources: Dealroom & Crunchbase
Decisions…Decisions…
For the purpose of this map, I segmented different types of investors, including government-funded funds, funds associated with accelerators (as follow-on capital), angel networks or “collectives”, as well as later-stage investors that invest at pre-seed as well (opportunistically or regularly). All funds have their HQ or significant office in Germany.
The type of investor and stage focus is listed. View all of this information in the interactive version.
Interactive Map of Pre-Seed Funds in Germany
While Berlin is hands-down the pre-seed hotspot in Germany there is still quite a geographic spread between the funds.
In my role as head of DACH sourcing at Peak, I came to know (and love) the unique regional nature of the German Tech & VC ecosystem. Peak and myself are Head Quartered (HQ) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands – the bike-loving neighbor that is approximately 11.64% of the landmass of Germany (…but who’s counting?). The different hubs specific to region and industry that define the German ecosystem are unique compared to the Dutch ecosystem.
While the Dutch ecosystem is large, rich, and fast-growing (considered the top 3 ecosystems in Europe!) it is relatively compact and homogenous. Whereas in Germany location matters – or means – more.
To help visualize the actual landscape of pre-seed funds in Germany… I tracked each fund down to plot them on a map. Buckle up and enjoy a road trip through Germany through this interactive pre-seed map:
About our European Venture Capital Maps
Venture Capital can be an opaque and inaccessible industry for founders, ecosystem stakeholders, and even investors. I hope that these landscapes help to demystify it a bit. For more content on Europe’s venture capital scene, check out my Dutch venture map, Benelux (Belgium & Luxembourg) venture map, and Nordic Venture Capital Map. I’ve also mapped out the early-stage software-as-a-service (SaaS) and marketplace startups in different industries in Europe.
Reach out to me!
Hey! 👋 I’m Madeline. I’m a happy member of the Peak Team and creator of this guide (and many others!). At Peak, I’m the “Chief DACH Officer.” While this title doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, It’s a cheeky way of saying that I head our sourcing and presence in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).
I am happy to meet founders, fellow investors, and other ecosystem players in the region – as well as contribute to events. Reach out to say hi! I often write about the DACH ecosystem and other topics.
Find me on Linkedin & on Twitter for EU tech and banter 🇪🇺 💦
Suggestions? Note that this is version 0.9: a work in progress. I need you to make it better!
Are you missing an investor? Have suggestions for improvement? We’re all ears. Let us know via this form (also attached below) so we can improve and update the map based on your input.