Innovative start-ups in Germany will still have a good chance of receiving venture capital in 2025, says Dr. Jens Wolf, Partner and Head of the Venture Capital Group at the international commercial law firm Taylor Wessing in Germany. However, they must have innovative business models in the right sectors.

"The top topics for which start-ups will receive financing in the triple-digit million range in 2025 are artificial intelligence for traditional industries and e-commerce as well as climate tech. Both areas are directly linked to powerful, energy-intensive computers. Quantum computing, sustainable batteries and energy efficiency will therefore also attract major investments this year," says Wolf.

This will continue the trend from last year. With the Cologne-based online service for machine translations DeepL, the military AI start-up Helsing and the hydrogen specialist Sunfire, Taylor Wessing advised on the three largest equity financing rounds in the German venture capital market in 2024.

Three unicorns collect more than one billion euros in 2024

In March of last year, the cleantech start-up Sunfire raised around 315 million euros in a series E financing round. A team led by Hamburg based Taylor Wessing partner Dr. Jens Wolf of provided comprehensive legal advice to Eurazeo Global Investor, Aster Energy Ventures, SF Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG and Inven Capital. 

The financing round carried out by DeepL in May 2024 was also in this range with the equivalent of 340 million euros. A Taylor Wessing team led by Berlin based partner Dr. Norman Röchert provided legal advice to DeepL on all aspects of the investment. The financing round of DeepL has been nominated as Deal of the Year at the upcoming Legal 500 Awards.

Helsing, the German AI defense pioneer, raised USD 450 million in capital in a Series C financing round in July last year. The round was led by General Catalyst, which was comprehensively advised on all legal aspects of the transaction by a Taylor Wessing team led by Berlin based partners Dr. Norman Röchert and Dr. Armin Bartsch.

Taylor Wessing involved in a total of six of the twenty largest financing rounds

Taylor Wessing also successfully advised on the financing rounds of the delivery service start-up Flink, the fintech company Upvest, which offers innovative solutions for the tokenization of assets, and the cleantech specialist Instagrid, which develops portable battery systems for professional use, last year.