#StartupTicker
+++ #StartupTicker +++ Venture Capital: Things continue to improve +++ DTCP relies on DefenseTech +++ Rescue for Ampeers Energy +++ High-flyer Born continues to expand +++ This is how Impacc converts donations into investments +++
What’s up New? In ours #StartupTicker we provide a compact overview of the most important startup news of the day (Tuesday, January 20th).
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Venture capital
+++ Upward trend! Startups from Germany were able to raise almost 8.4 billion euros in venture capital in 2025 – this is shown by the startup barometer from the auditing and consulting company EY. “After investments in young companies fell significantly in 2022 and 2023 compared to the record year of 2021, 2025 marks the second year in a row with a significant increase. However, the number of financing rounds has already fallen for the fourth year in a row: 716 deals mean 5% fewer deals than in 2024 (755),” says the analysis. When it comes to the number of pure investment rounds, Berlin is ahead (218). The startups from the capital raised around 2.7 billion euros in 2025. However, young companies from Bavaria have a total of 3.3 billion euros (148 investments). But more important than this fake regional showdown is the overall positive trend in Germany. The numbers have long been better than the persistent bad mood. More about the startup barometer
DTCP
+++ Sovereign investments! The Hamburg venture capital provider DTCP is launching “Project Liberty”, a fund around the booming topic of DefenseTech. The target volume of DTCP’s eighth fund is 500 million euros. “The aim is to support the growth of efficient European defense technology and dual-use companies and thus contribute to Europe’s technological capability and security policy resilience,” says a press release. DTCP, founded in 2015, now manages 3 billion euros. In recent years, the team has invested in over 50 companies. One of the most recent hits in the lender’s portfolio was Cognigy (exit to NICE for 955 million). With the Project Liberty fund, the DTCP team now wants to invest in up to 30 companies from the DefenseTech and dual-use segments (Series A to C). Investments of an average of 20 million euros are planned. More about DTCP
Ampeers Energy
+++ Rescue for Ampeers Energy. The insolvent Munich entrepreneur Ampeers Energy can continue. “The new company will continue to be led by the current managing directors Karsten Schmidt and Tobias Müller. As part of the realignment, the management will be expanded by Maurizio Lindemann, who will complement the management team with his operational and strategic experience,” the company said. As part of the rescue, “a mid-single-digit million amount will flow into the company from independent financial investors.” Unfortunately there are no details about this. The company, founded in 2019, develops a software-based system for the energy management of real estate. The solar company SolarEdge and Co. recently invested a double-digit million sum in the company. The company Sistems and the Austrian Federal Real Estate Company (BIG) have previously invested a double-digit million amount in Ampeers Energy. A total of around 23 million flowed into the company by the end of 2024. More about Ampeers Energy
Born
+++ Worth reading: The Berlin games startup Born (formerly known as Slay) is continuing to expand. In order to promote expansion, founder Fabian Kamberi even moved to New York at the beginning of the year. “The USA is the epicenter of the world when it comes to social apps,” said Kamberi, explaining the move. The young company has already raised $25 million in recent years – including from well-known American investor Accel. Other investors in the young company, founded in 2022 by Fabian Kamberi, Jannis Ringwald and Stefan Quernhorst, include Tencent, Laton Ventures, 20VC, Ilkka Paananen, Scott Belsky, soccer world champion Mario Götze, Kevin Weil (Scribble Ventures) and the musician Alex Pall (The Chainsmokers). Born relies on social gaming – including the game Pengu. (Handelsblatt) More about Born
Impacc
+++ Impacc from Hamburg converts donations into investments in African startups. “We now know that there are still many entrepreneurial people who find scaling donations interesting,” says founder Till Wahnbaeck. More about Impacc
Startup Radar
+++ It’s that time again – new startups are in the starting blocks! Here are some exciting young companies you should know about. Today we take a look at these startups: ONOX, aimed analytics, Recarbox, FORMIC and showroom.fm. More on the startup radar
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Investments & Exits
+++ Sinpex receives 10 million +++ Financial injection for Lovinn +++ ClickHouse buys Langfuse +++ DTCP launches DefenseTech fund (500 million) +++ Ananda announces first closing (73 million) +++ Vanagon launches first fund (20 million). More in the deal monitor
What else happened recently? That’s always in the #StartupTicker
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