Last year, as the German economy stagnated, an unlikely trend emerged among its start-ups: the amount of overall funding, year over year, increased by about €1bn, to €7bn. However, there were 12 per cent fewer funding rounds than in 2023, meaning the average deal size went up. “Most funding rounds above €20mn or €30mn are led by foreign investors,” who have not been as affected by the German recession, explains Thomas Prüver, author of EY’s Start-up Barometer for Germany report.
“I’d say 90 per ...