All data on the Munich startup scene that follows comes – unless otherwise stated – from our Data & Insights Dashboard. Those interested in learning more can search the database themselves for additional insights.
The months of July through September saw a slight decline in investment activity in Munich startups. In the second quarter, 743 million euros came together in 45 financing rounds, but Q3 saw only 30 investments. The total volume was 633 million euros. In the same quarter the previous year, there were 584 million euros in 36 financing rounds. Of course, for all the time periods considered, some financing rounds did not disclose figures, which means the final sums may be even higher.
The lion’s share of this capital went to Celonis. In the expansion of its Series D financing round, the company raised an additional 408 million euros (400 million dollars) in venture capital. In addition, the Munich-based decacorn secured a free credit line of 612 million euros (600 million dollars), which we do not account for here.
There were no other financing rounds exceeding 100 million euros in the third quarter. (We have summarized the most important financings of the past quarter here.) In Q2, three startups were able to celebrate such large rounds: Personio (190 million euros), Kinexon (122.5 million euros), and Finn (103 million euros).
Decline in average investment volume
The average investment volume per financing round rose from approximately 16.5 million euros in Q2 to 21.1 million euros. However, excluding large rounds exceeding 100 million euros, summer 2022 came to 7.8 million euros per financing round. In Q2, it was still 10.2 million euros without mega-rounds. In the same quarter the previous year, the average volume of financing rounds was 15.2 million euros, or 5.9 million euros excluding investments over 100 million euros.
Summer 2022 was thus weaker for Munich startups than spring. And compared to the same quarter the previous year, the past three months only performed better in terms of the total sum of investments. This trend aligns with observations from KfW. The development bank recently explained that investors are acting more cautiously, but “ample free funds” still exist in the market.
As usual, investors from the USA contributed the majority of capital invested in the third quarter (355 million euros, 56 percent). A further 19 percent (120 million euros) came from investors in Germany, and 99.4 million euros (16 percent) originated from other European countries. Money from Asia (33.9 million euros, 5 percent) played only a minor role in this quarter.
Exits and new funds for the Munich startup scene
In summer 2022, the Munich startup scene saw a total of 8 exits. The past three months thus came in just behind the same quarter the previous year and Q2 2022, which both had 9 exits each. The supply chain startup Riskmethods was acquired by Sphera, and Vcoach went to Dutch company Lepaya. Additionally, Julep and Qbound announced their acquisitions.
The fund landscape saw three new additions from July through September. G0001 closed its first fund with 100 million euros, Pinova Capital closed its Fund 3 with 250 million euros, and Deutsche Private Equity’s Continuation Fund had its closing at 708 million euros.
