Munich — In fiscal year 2018, BayStartUP ’s investor network arranged over 62 million euros in capital for startups in a total of 50 financing rounds: from medical technology to 3D printing and digital twins to apps for last-minute flights — in terms of content, startups from Bavaria are extremely broadly positioned. 42.7 million came from venture capital companies, public investors and strategic investors. Private investors have invested a total of 20 million euros and are involved in three-quarters of the deals. Successfully funded startups include teams such as inveox, All3DP, Hofmann & Stirner and Let’s Yalla. The BayStartUP investor network is one of the most important contact points in Bavaria for startups looking for capital.
The focus of the deals brokered by BayStartUP is on the early stage: 44 of the funded teams (88%) are younger than 3 years. 26% of the financing rounds fall into the pre-seed phase, 52% into the seed phase and 22% into the series A phase. Business angels were involved in 74% of the deals. “This shows that business angels are an indispensable part of early-stage financing and that the importance of angel capital has continued to grow over the years,” says Dr. Carsten Rudolph (photo), managing director of BayStartUP. In total, the financing rounds range from 50,000 euros to 6,000,000 euros. The highest investment by a business angel was just under 2 million euros. In fiscal year 2018, the BayStartUP investor network attracted around 40 new business angels. “The topic is meeting with increasing interest, particularly among entrepreneurs from German SMEs,” says Rudolph. Currently, startups have contact opportunities with around 300 private as well as over 100 institutional investors via the BayStartUP investor network.
When it comes to financing brokerage, BayStartUP acts as a neutral and non-commercial contact for startups and investors. The network is supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs. “We will continue to keep our activities in the startup sector at a high level in the future. Offerings supported by the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, such as those of BayStartUP, make a significant contribution to young innovative companies gaining access to capital and expert knowledge, especially in the Bavarian regions,” says Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs Hubert Aiwanger. “This is an important prerequisite for them to successfully establish their business models in the market.”
Companies supported by BayStartUP are currently active on the market with over 13,100 employees and generate a turnover of almost 1.4 billion euros (as of 2017). Many companies that are successful today got off the ground with BayStartUP, including success stories such as Flixbus, eGym, Magazino, Voxeljet, numares, Transporeon and va-Q-tec AG. www.baystartup.de