Record year for start-ups in Germany and Europe

Never before has so much money been invested in Europe's tech companies as in 2021. German start-ups received significantly more investment than in the previous year.

Europe's tech companies will probably reach the investment milestone of 100 billion US dollars within one year in 2021. This is according to the "State of European Tech" report, which is published annually by venture capital provider Atomico. This represents a tenfold increase since 2015. There were also 98 new unicorn companies in Europe, bringing the total to 321. The report describes the European "start-up pipeline" as the "strongest ever", which is now on a par with the USA.

Germany's start-up environment is also in a better position than ever before. German companies have received an impressive 12.4 billion US dollars in investment. That's over 100 percent more than in 2020. The dizzying amount is also thanks to the investment rounds of the giant start-ups Celonis, Gorillas, N26 and Trade Republic.

If Marija Gabriel, the EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation, Education, Culture and Youth, is to be believed, Europe's tech and start-up world will continue to develop positively in the coming years: "I am very optimistic about the future of the EU as a global powerhouse for start-ups and innovation. My optimism is based on the data from 2021 and the outlook for the future." Gabriel points explicitly to the DACH region: "2021 has signaled the boom of German-speaking countries in terms of exits (outperforming all other European countries), the number of unicorns as well as the emergence of CEE countries as a location for startups." European start-ups no longer need to envy US start-ups. She is certain: "The future looks even brighter when institutional investors start investing in deep tech start-ups."