The study “DACH Startups Decoded” compares data from the beginning of the first quarter of 2020 to the end of the second quarter of 2023 and analyzes over 3,905 companies and 5,644 financing rounds from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Liechtenstein.
The first signs of new stability are emerging for 2023. While the investment volume was still at $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022 and $3.08 billion in the first quarter of 2023, $3.78 billion of VC capital flowed into startups in the DACH region in the second quarter. VC financing are thus returning to the level before the “fundraising bubble” of 2021.
In Germany, venture capital funding reached $2.9 billion in the second quarter of 2023, only 25 percent lower than the funding in the first quarter of 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began and the global economic crisis caused VC funding to plummet. Compared to other European markets of similar size, investment volumes in Germany declined less sharply between the first half of 2022 and the same period in 2023. Germany experienced a decline of 37 percent, while France and the UK saw 54 percent and 40 percent, respectively.
DACH startups: Ten new unicorns
Despite the global slowdown in venture funding, ten DACH companies have become unicorns since 2022, with two companies reaching a valuation of $1 billion in 2023. DACH startups in the travel (+52 percent), foodtech (+38 percent), and healthtech (+5 percent) sectors, in particular, recorded significant increases in VC investments in the first half of 2023 compared to the first half of 2022. AI startups from the DACH region received even more investments in the second quarter of 2023, with $248 million, than in the entire year of 2022 ($210 million).
Christian Noske, Partner at NGP Capital, explains:
"In an era of rapid technological advancement and thriving entrepreneurship, the DACH region has established itself as a dominant force in the European startup scene. Due to the region's tradition of outstanding technical excellence and the abundance of qualified talent, the DACH startup ecosystem is growing and thriving, generating worldwide attention and investment."
The complete study and further details are here visible.
