Funding

The outlet reported that Antler analysed 27,602 financing rounds from more than 3,000 startups between 2015 and 2026 and found only 24 percent of German startups move from seed to series a. The median seed round grew from 510,000 euro in 2015 to 4.3 million euro now, while the median series a round rose from 3.6 million euro to 14 million euro. The outlet noted that 3,568 startups were founded in 2025, but only 71 reached series a, meaning fifty new companies competed for each successful series a. The outlet said the conversion rate of 18.9 percent for the 2022 cohort remains the highest in Europe, though the overall rate has fallen since the 2019 2020 peak.

The outlet explained that five clear factors raise the chance of a series a: startups that raise at least two million euro in seed, have an institutional vc as lead, involve at least three seed investors, secure a pre seed investor who reinvests within twelve months, and close a seed round within six months after pre seed achieve series a in fifty one point one percent of cases. The outlet added that a seed round of at least two million euro lifts the series a success rate to forty four point two percent, while a smaller round yields only ten point six percent. The outlet reported that a consortium of three to four investors and a named institutional lead further boosts the likelihood.

The outlet noted that startups in climate, energy, fintech, ai and data are most likely to reach series a, and that a new external lead investor typically brings a larger check. The outlet listed investors such as cherry ventures, hv capital, atlantic, uvc partners, speedinvest and earlybird as potential series a backers, and said uvc partners topped the ranking with a seventy seven point three percent seed to series a conversion.

Reported by Gruenderszene.