Digital Economy Dec 08, 2015

Excellent news on the Bavarian capital front

It is well known that Bavaria has a strong economic footing and especially in terms of access to capital start-ups are starting to reap the benefits of this more and more. The active role that private investors and business angels are playing in this is continuously growing.

BayStartUP, the Bavarian business angels and investment network, has recorded the highest investment volume for supported financing in the seed phase for years. The network was directly involved in the raising of 9 million EUR of private capital this year so far – almost a 50% increase to last year’s 4.8 million EUR. A further showcase of the healthy circulation of capital are recent successful exits by the likes of metaio from Munich (bought by Apple) and Sunhill Technologies from Erlangen (bought by VW).
 
BayStartUP assisted in the raising of capital for 49 technology start-ups in the past 12 months and a total of 37.8 million EUR seed and growth capital was invested, compared to the 25 million EUR in the previous year. A minimum of further 25 million EUR follow-up investments was raised by start-ups that were previously working together with BayStartUP.
 
Not for the momentum to seep away, the state is pushing this trend by initiatives such as the “Wachstumsfonds Bayern” (Growth Funds Bavaria) – a fund of 100 million EUR managed by Bayern Kapital. Statistics and initiatives like these, together with the increasing involvement by private investors, are needed developments to start into an even stronger year for start-ups in Bavaria in 2016.