Speedinvest

1. What are some of the major trends that have been impacting the German startup space lately (in 2021)?

Quick commerce was, and continues to be, a major trend in Germany. Not only did it create the fastest German unicorn ever, Gorillas, but also in terms of total funding and verticalization. The speed and dynamics were very exciting to see - Food, Non-Food, etc. - but also the need for robust underlying infrastructure created exciting companies such as GetHenry. An entirely new segment popped up and developed within 6 months. In 2021, a lot of consolidation and champion creation happened in a very short period of time, and Germany benefited in the form of innovation and multiple spin-offs.

Segments like the “Future of Work” and “new leisure” were also heavily accelerated by COVID-19 and we see that many of the new models are here to stay. One of my personal favourites (I’m a bit biased because we invested in the space) is the tiny house movement. Consumers are craving new ways to spend their free time, far off from modern technologies and buzzing cities, and closer to nature. With new offerings such as Raus. Life, vacations are completely offline, cozy and individual again - something I personally like and believe people will benefit even more from in the future.

Last, but not least, one to watch is the creator economy. Many VCs were looking for the hottest German startups in this space in 2021 and we saw some nice funding rounds. This trend is still maturing and needs time to develop, but in combination with the big buzz around NFTs, Web3.0, and the shift to give power back to the creators, I am confident we’ll see a lot of movement in this space in 2022.

2. What keeps you up at night when it comes to some of the major challenges opportunities in the German startup space?

It is still a pain for many founders in Germany to set up ESOP plans and for participating employees to really benefit. Taxation is just one hurdle. It also harms efforts to attract talent to the ecosystem, which is really not beneficial in the current war for talent. I am convinced that cities like Berlin and Munich would be even bigger startup hubs if the legislation would be more founder and “risk-taker” friendly. The good quality of life and public infrastructure is there but the legislation is still challenging.

“Segments like the “Future of Work” and “new leisure” were also heavily accelerated by COVID-19 and we see that many of the new models are here to stay.”

From a VC perspective, we still see a lot of created value flowing out of Germany and Europe. This is partly due to the lack of growth funding opportunities within the German VC ecosystem. While, for example, US growth funds are able to invest big checks – north of €20M per company throughout funding rounds - most German VCs focus on early-stage investments and are only able to follow-on in Series A or B. If we would be able to keep this value inside the ecosystem, it would not only benefit VCs, but accelerate the entire ecosystem.

3. What are some of the technological trends which excite you for the future of the German startup space?

I am looking forward to seeing the climate tech startup scene develop even further. In combination with the new German government (specifically, Green party influence) and the worldwide awareness of climate change, I am convinced that we will see more German climate tech startups, eventually turning into Unicorns, in the near future. The stack of developed business models for this segment is still at the very beginning, but we are already seeing many amazing early-stage companies starting out and developing into scaleups.

Currently, Germany has the largest number of climate tech startups in Europe. I hope the country will be able to maintain its leadership in Europe on this very important topic and prove that climate tech can truly benefit all stakeholders.

4. How can budding and evolving companies in the DACH / German market reach you to pitch their companies and/or request advice for streamlining their product or offering to secure investment?

Either directly through our website, where they can upload their pitch deck and submit additional information, or through LinkedIn. Speedinvest has focus teams investing in Deep Tech, Fintech, Industrial Tech, Marketplaces & Consumer, Health, and SaaS startups. If you are raising a pre-seed or seed-round and your company fits into one of these buckets, I would suggest learning more about the members of the investment team you want to pitch and reaching out directly.

We also quite frequently host virtual office hours where we help answer founders questions and organize our own expert-events like the Marketplace Conference. Our blog and newsletters are also great resources for early-stage startup founders and their teams.