exch­an­geBA AG opera­tes one of the leading capi­tal market­places for start-ups and SMEs in German-spea­king count­ries and brings toge­ther compa­nies seeking capi­tal and inves­tors. With its direct group of part­ners, capi­tal has been made available to over 500 compa­nies on a wide variety of occa­si­ons. The econo­mic envi­ron­ment in Germany has dete­rio­ra­ted due to increased inte­rest rates, supply bott­len­ecks, energy costs, infla­tion and poli­ti­cal decis­i­ons, among other things. Other sources of capi­tal need to be tapped. This led to the foun­ding of the exch­an­geBA initia­tive “Mittel­stand finan­ziert Mittel­stand”. This opens up the SME sector as a source of capi­tal for other SMEs and thus helps to obtain capi­tal outside of banks. On the inves­tor side, over 700 poten­tial inves­tors have regis­tered – private inves­tors, mostly SMEs, busi­ness angels, family offices, venture capi­tal and private equity compa­nies as well as SMEs.