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The months of July to September saw a slight decline in investment activity in Munich-based startups. While €743 million was raised in 45 financing rounds in the second quarter, Q3 saw only 30 investments. The total volume was €633 million. In the same quarter of the previous year, it was €584 million in 36 financing rounds. Of course, for all periods considered, no figures were announced for some financing rounds, which is why the final amounts are even higher.
The lion’s share of this capital went to CelonisIn the extension of its Series D financing round, the company raised an additional €408 million ($400 million) in venture capital. In addition, the Munich-based decacorn secured a €612 million ($600 million) credit line, which we are not including here.
However, there was no further financing round above 100 million euros in the third quarter. (We have summarized the most important financing transactions of the past quarter here.) In Q2, three startups, Personio (190 million euros), Kinexon (122.5 million euros) and Finn (103 million euros), were able to celebrate such large rounds.
Collapse in average investment volume
The average investment volume per financing round rose from approximately €16.5 million in Q2 to €21.1 million. However, excluding large rounds of over €100 million, the summer of 2022 still amounts to €7.8 million per financing round. In Q2, however, excluding the mega rounds, the figure was €10.2 million. In the same quarter of the previous year, the average volume of financing rounds was €15.2 million, and excluding investments of over €100 million, it was €5.9 million.
The summer of 2022 was thus weaker for Munich startups than the spring. And even compared to the same quarter of the previous year, the past three months only performed better in terms of the total amount of investments. This development is consistent with the observations of KfW. The development bank only stated recentlythat lenders are acting more cautiously, but that there are still “plenty of free funds” in the market.
As usual, the majority of the funds invested in the third quarter came from investors in the US (€355 million, 56 percent). Another 19 percent (€120 million) came from investors in Germany, and €99.4 million (16 percent) came from other European countries. Funding from Asia (€33.9 million, 5 percent) played only a minor role this quarter.
Exits and fresh funds for the Munich startup scene
In summer 2022, the Munich startup scene saw a total of eight exits. This puts the past three months just behind the same quarter of the previous year and Q2 2022, which both saw nine exits. The supply chain startup Riskmethods was acquired by Sphera and Vcoach went to the Dutch company Lepaya. In addition, Julep and Qbound announced their takeovers.
There were three new additions to the fund landscape from July to September. AM Ventures closed its first fund at €100 million, Pinova Capital closed its Fund 3 at €250 million, and Deutsche Private Equity's Continuation Fund closed at €708 million.
