"Capital, along with technology and innovation, is the fuel of this scene! Munich was already well on its way with the IPOs of Interhyp, Zooplus, and Wirecard. We must build on these successes," says Felix Schollmeier, co-founder of Finanzchef24.
The Bavarian capital is always worth a visit – especially for anyone interested in startups. Munich not only has a vibrant startup scene that enjoys exchanging ideas, but also many well-known and large startups."Munich is the Eldorado for startups", wrote Garan Goodman, Managing Director of Wayra Germany, recently. Today we talk with Felix Schollmeier, co-founder of Finanzchef24, about Munich, Bavarian lakes, and fuel.
Let's talk about Munich. When it comes to startups in Germany, the first thing that comes to mind is Berlin. What are the advantages of Munich as a startup location?
Munich has a very exciting and unique combination of technology, industry, young talent, and financial investors. This was precisely the reason why my co-founder Hendrik Rennert and I decided to establish Finanzchef24 in Munich.
What exactly do you like about Munich?
The majority of all DAX, TecDAX, and MDAX companies, as well as Germany's largest offices of leading strategy consulting firms, are located in Munich. We also have world-leading research institutions such as the Fraunhofer Institute and the Max Planck Institute, and top universities such as Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Technical University of Munich. They continue to drive research and thus foster innovations that repeatedly lead to spin-offs, for example, through the university's own incubator, LMU Entrepreneurship Center. The extremely high density of well-known venture capital funds such as Target Partners, Earlybird, Holtzbrinck, and Acton Capital, as well as family offices and corporate VCs and accelerators—including those of Siemens, BMW, Allianz, and Telefonica/O2—also contribute to Munich's attractiveness.
Sounds good, but does it actually benefit you as a startup?
Finanzchef24, for example, was able to raise over 10 million euros from Munich-based investors alone – Target Partners, HW Capital, Mercura Capital and FinTech angel Michael Birkel.
What other soft factors speak for Munich?
Munich also offers a great quality of life, and the people here are incredibly active in their free time: They climb, hike, ski and snowboard, river surf on the Eisbach, barbecue on the Isar River, or sail on the Bavarian lakes. All in all, this leads to a concentration of young talents who land in Munich, representing a unique talent pool for startups.
And what else makes the startup scene in Munich so special?
I particularly like the very friendly exchange within the startup scene, even though this could be more frequent. Personally, I also find it motivating that so many successful startups from the first internet wave are based here. Especially in the FinTech sector, there are some great Munich success stories, such as those of Interhyp, Check24, Scout24, Cortal Consors, and Fidor Bank. As a startup, you have extremely good access to industry partners and B2B customers, including top-class contacts. This is very valuable for us, for example, with partners in the insurance industry.
What is easier in Munich than in Berlin – and vice versa?
I find the quality of applicants and employees in Munich to be exceptionally high. Finanzchef24, as a FinTech and InsuranceTech startup, often recruits former employees from large insurance companies that have a strong presence in Munich and that have provided excellent training. At the same time, we also hire a large number of employees with mathematical and scientific backgrounds, including mathematics, physics, and statistics—access to the local universities, LMU and TU Munich, is a huge advantage here.
You can find the entire interview with Felix Schollmeier here on deutsche-startups.de.
