Bavaria has developed into the number one startup location in Germany. According to the EY Startup Barometer, Bavarian startups raised around 3.3 billion euros in venture capital in 2025, significantly ahead of Berlin (2.7 billion euros). This is also due to the strategic focus. While Berlin traditionally stands for consumer startups, Munich has specialized in deeptech, industrialtech and B2B software.
For founders, this means a broad but confusing landscape. Over 40 investor companies with several hundred investment managers are active in Munich and the surrounding area alone. The following overview categorizes the most important funds by type and shows what matters when making a selection.
The generalist heavyweights
At the top is HV Capital (formerly Holtzbrinck Ventures), one of Europe’s most active investors with approximately 1.7 billion euros in assets under management and nearly 200 holdings from seed to late-stage. The portfolio includes Zalando, Delivery Hero, SumUp and Flixbus.
Similarly broad is Earlybird Venture Capital, active since 1997 and with offices in several European cities. The fund pursues a differentiated strategy across multiple sub-funds: the core fund for Western and increasingly Central European digital models, a separately managed health fund focusing on digital health and life sciences, and Earlybird-X for pre-seed investments at universities.
Target Partners also counts among the established names and invests approximately 300 million euros in assets under management in early-stage technology companies from the DACH region, including the smart home provider Tado.
UVC Partners, the venture capital company behind the UnternehmerTUM innovation center, raised 250 million euros for its fourth generation in 2024. In early 2026, it increased this fund by an additional 150 million euros in growth capital, making a total of 400 million euros available (as of March 2026). The total assets under management are thus over 600 million euros. UVC typically invests between one and ten million euros initially, with total investment of up to 30 million euros per startup, focusing on deeptech, climatetech, mobility and AI. Among the most well-known holdings are Flix, Isar Aerospace, Aleph Alpha and Proxima Fusion.
Deeptech as Munich’s specialty
Few German cities have focused as consistently on deeptech as Munich, and this is reflected in the funds as well. Vsquared Ventures closed its second fund in 2024 with 214 million euros. Investment is made in six thematic areas: AI and next-generation software, energy transition, new computing and sensors, space, biotechnology, and robotics and manufacturing, with ticket sizes between 500,000 and five million euros. The portfolio includes Isar Aerospace, Neura Robotics and The Exploration Company.
Matterwave Ventures focuses on early-stage startups driving industrial transformation, such as in automation, new materials and industrial software. Vito Ventures invests in early- and growth-stage startups from IoT, machine intelligence, hardware, deeptech and cybersecurity.
Public funds as anchor and co-investors
For very early stages, public funds are relevant. The High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) is based in Bonn, but is still one of the most important sources of capital for Munich and Bavarian startups.
The HTGF is Germany’s largest and most active seed investor and now manages around 1.4 billion euros. Since 2005, it has supported more than 700 startups. The HTGF invests across industries in digital business models, industrialtech, life sciences and chemistry, with initial amounts up to one million euros and a total of up to four million euros per startup.
The HTGF also frequently works with Bayern Kapital, the state-owned venture capital company and one hundred percent subsidiary of LfA Förderbank Bayern. Bayern Kapital has been investing since 1995 with tickets between 250,000 and 50 million euros from pre-seed to scaleup stage. A central requirement is pari passu investment, meaning jointly with at least one independent private investor on equal terms. For startups in the greater Munich area, Innovation Fund II is responsible, and Innovation Fund EFRE II for the rest of Bavaria. At the end of 2025, the state announced the VC4Start-ups initiative with an additional 750 million euros in state venture capital, including a newly launched Innovation Fund III with a volume of 100 million euros.
Impact and niche funds
Not every Munich fund is chasing the next billion-euro valuation. Ananda Impact Ventures manages around 200 million euros across several core impact funds and finances technology companies with clear social or environmental benefit, such as the bionics prosthetics company Open Bionics or the satellite forest fire monitor OroraTech.
BonVenture pursues a similar approach for social enterprises in the German-speaking region. Wellington Partners invests across industries in European technology and life science companies and was an early investor in Spotify and UiPath. Alstin Capital, the investment company of Carsten Maschmeyer, focuses on high-growth B2B technology companies in the DACH region at seed and series A stage. Venture Stars specializes in early digital models in the B2C and B2B sectors. Picus Capital pursues a long-term oriented investment approach without fixed exit pressure, and 42CAP invests as a seed fund specifically in data- and technology-driven companies with global aspirations.
New venture capital funds 2025/2026
The Munich VC market remains in motion. In early 2026, the Munich team at Vanagon Ventures launched its first fund with 20 million euros and is already investing from the pre-seed stage in B2B startups from deeptech and artificial intelligence, with a focus on robotics, quantum computing and frontier software. General partner Susanne Fromm explains this by noting that many investors avoid pre-seed because they stick to SaaS logics that don’t fit deeptech scaling.
Also, b2venture, not a purely Munich fund but closely connected to the southern German scene, closed its fifth fund with a hard cap of 150 million euros and plans around 35 new investments across Europe.
What founders should consider when making a selection
The sheer number of funds doesn’t make selection easier. A few criteria help narrow things down:
Stage fit: If you don’t yet have a finished product, you shouldn’t approach funds that primarily finance Series B and later. Bayern Kapital, HTGF or Vanagon Ventures are built for the earliest stage, UVC Partners and Vsquared Ventures now cover a broader spectrum, HV Capital and Earlybird often accompany startups through multiple rounds.
Sector fit: A fund specialized in deeptech and industrialtech will rarely finance a consumer app startup, even if the numbers are right. The thematic focuses of funds often decide success prospects before the first pitch.
Ticket size: If you’re looking for 300,000 euros in pre-seed capital, a 400-million-euro fund like UVC Partners is the wrong fit, whose initial tickets are significantly higher. Conversely, for growth rounds in the tens of millions of euros, a conversation with pure seed funds is not worthwhile.
Network behind the capital: Funds like UVC Partners connected to UnternehmerTUM or HTGF with its nationwide partner network offer access to industrial customers, talent and follow-on investors in addition to capital. Especially in the early stage, this access can be more valuable than a slightly higher investment without network effects.
Portfolio of the respective fund: How did they behave during difficult phases, such as pivots or follow-on financing? Conversations with founders from the existing portfolio provide helpful answers.
Pari passu: Without an independent private co-investor on the same terms, participation with public funds usually doesn’t happen. Those hoping exclusively for government capital should factor in this pari passu logic from the start.
Conclusion
The Munich VC scene ranges from generalist billion-euro funds to specialized niche providers and covers nearly every stage and sector. Those who don’t leave the selection to chance but proceed strategically save themselves months of frustrating pitches.