Supported since 2019 xdeckan accelerator and venture capital provider, already has over 100 aspiring startups. “We work closely with founders, help them acquire their first customers, sharpen their product and build a functioning business model,” says Markus Gick, Managing Partner at xdeck.
In an interview with deutsche-startups.de, xdeck creator Markus Gick speaks in detail about the current investment situation in Germany.
How would you explain xdeck to your grandmother?
xdeck helps people turn an idea into a successful company very early on, when a lot is still unclear. We work closely with founders, helping them to acquire their first customers, sharpen their product and build a functioning business model. We also bring you together with experienced entrepreneurs and large companies such as McKinsey, Kienbaum, UBS, Ecovis and many other best-in-class partners. What’s special: We are not just consultants, but entrepreneurs and investors ourselves. If we are convinced, we invest our own money and often support the companies for many years. In the end, we are helping to build the next generation of successful technology companies from Cologne.
How do you assess the current investment situation in Germany?
The situation has clearly become more challenging, but that doesn’t make it worse. Capital is generally available, especially among investors with a long-term focus, for example in areas such as AI, climate or industrial software. At the same time, risk appetite has fallen and the market has turned. Decisions are taking longer again, due diligence is deeper, and capital is allocated more selectively. The most important difference from before: Not every good idea is funded anymore, but only those that show real scalability and clear market evidence. This is healthy for the market, and for the startups too!
What expectations do you have for the coming months?
I expect the environment to continue to be selective but constructive. We see a return to basics: strong teams, real customer problems, working unit economics. This is a good phase for investors because more sustainable companies are emerging. For founders it means more pressure, but also the opportunity to clearly stand out from the competition. I believe: The best companies of the next decade will be built right now, in the age of AI, which will enable much faster scaling than before. The question is more: What added value do investors have to offer in order to get onto the captable of the top startups if building a company no longer requires countless rounds of financing due to, for example, more AI agents and fewer people?
What advice would you give to founders who are currently looking for capital?
Three things are crucial. First: Practice radical clarity! You have to be able to explain your product and your market in a way that everyone understands immediately. Breaking down complexity is a huge advantage in fundraising. Second: Bring initial indications of the feasibility of your vision! Investors today want to see that something works, be it through initial sales, strong user numbers or clear customer insights. Third: have a “wow factor”! VC doesn’t fund “good companies,” it finances potential outliers. VCs hear endlessly about the AI all-on-one solution. I would always think about whether I have something that surprises the investor in the call, that stays in his or her memory, be it through the presentation, an insight or simply through a special story in the founding team. And very practically: look for investors who really bring added value, be it network, customers, operational support. Capital. I would always take an investor with an edge, someone who is more than just a venture capital fund. Today, capital alone is no longer a differentiating factor.
Which startups are you particularly excited about at the moment?
I am particularly enthusiastic about startups that are rethinking basic infrastructure and are more likely to build the operating system for industries and services. An example is LawX. The team is building an AI-based operating system for law firms and notaries. This is a market that is massively underserved technologically. Instead of selective tools, they are rethinking the entire way of working and thereby transforming an entire profession, not through the analysis of legal texts, but through the back office, where the often “unsexy” but at least equally important work occurs – from requesting land register extracts to billing, case management, etc. Another example is Depotcharge: The team is building a marketplace for charging electric trucks at depot locations. They connect charging infrastructure operators with fleets, thereby creating better utilization and lower costs. What is crucial is that they not only offer matching, but a complete processing layer, from booking to billing. This creates a new infrastructure for the electrification of logistics. What they both have in common: They think big, but start very concretely, with a real, noticeable problem in their customers’ everyday lives and build the infrastructure for this. This is exactly where the best companies come from.
Get started in Cologne – #Koelnbusiness
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