Top Venture Capital (VC) Firms in Berlin
Berlin accounts for roughly half of all venture capital investment in Germany, and the city's investor base has diversified considerably over the past decade. The firms tracked in PEL's Berlin directory range from micro-ticket pre-seed vehicles writing €50,000 first checks to multi-fund platforms with total AUM above €500 million, covering everything from deep tech and B2B SaaS to digital health and fintech.
The live directory above this section lets you filter by stage, sector, check size, and region. What it cannot do is tell you why one firm's structure makes it a better fit for your situation than another's. That is what this section is for.
The ten firms profiled below represent the most substantively documented entries in PEL's Berlin database. They are not ranked by prestige or deal volume; they are ordered to tell a coherent story about how the market is actually stratified, from the earliest-stage capital available in the city to the funds operating at institutional scale.
1. Angel Invest
The most striking thing about Angel Invest is its volume. The Berlin-based fund claims to back between 75 and 100 startups per year, a pace that puts it in an entirely different category from most institutional seed investors, which might close 15 to 20 deals annually. Founded in 2018, it operates as a Super Angel Fund at the pre-seed and seed stages, with typical check sizes running between €75,000 and €125,000 per investment.
The explicit goal is to carry portfolio companies through to Series A, which means Angel Invest is not simply writing small checks and stepping back. For founders who want high-velocity capital with active early-stage coaching and have no expectation of landing a €1 million seed check from day one, the model is well suited to that moment.
2. APX
Backed by Axel Springer and Porsche, APX sits at a structural intersection that most pre-seed funds do not occupy: corporate credibility combined with a genuinely early entry point. The fund begins with an initial investment of €50,000 and can deploy up to €500,000 in a company before Series A, working from a total fund size of approximately €55 million. Since launching in 2018, APX has invested in more than 70 companies.
The Axel Springer and Porsche parentage is relevant beyond branding, because both corporates bring distinct distribution and partnership channels in media-adjacent and mobility-adjacent categories, which narrows the practical fit to founders who can make use of those networks.
3. Atlantic Labs
Founded in 2013 by Christophe F. Maire, Atlantic Labs has led investments in more than 100 early-stage companies across Europe, with a pan-European pre-seed mandate and ticket sizes that can range from €25,000 to €5 million or more depending on the opportunity. The portfolio includes Choco, the restaurant supply ordering platform that went on to reach unicorn status.
Atlantic Labs operates with a lean AUM figure relative to its deal count, which reflects a deliberate pre-seed orientation rather than a fund structure built for large follow-on reserves. Founders considering Atlantic Labs should know they are dealing with a firm whose primary value is early conviction and network, not the capacity to lead a €10 million round two years later.
4. 10x Founders
Rather than a traditional partnership, 10x Founders is structured as a network of seven serial entrepreneurs who have collectively built more than ten companies. The €160 million fund, launched in May 2022, writes checks between €250,000 and €2.5 million, with a focus on Fintech, SaaS, B2B, and Deep Tech. The distinction that actually matters here is the founding structure: portfolio companies get access to operating knowledge from people who have built and scaled businesses themselves, not just evaluated them.
For founders at the pre-seed or seed stage who are trying to solve problems that benefit from prior founder experience in those sectors specifically, the network composition is the primary reason to engage.
5. Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund
Founded in 2019 by Bettine Schmitz and Dr. Gesa Miczaika, Auxxo is an early-stage fund explicitly focused on backing female founders and mixed teams. The second fund hit a €26 million first close in July 2025, following a prior vehicle of approximately €19 million. Check sizes run from $0.1 million to $0.6 million per investment. The fund is small by the standards of many Berlin vehicles, but its thesis is specific: the founding team believes the market systematically underprices companies with female founders, which creates a return opportunity as well as a mission.
For a founder who fits that profile and is operating at the seed stage, Auxxo is one of the few Berlin-based funds where the structural premise of the fund actively works in the founder's favor rather than despite market conventions.
6. b10.vc
b10.vc is a deliberately focused operation: a Berlin-based seed and pre-seed investor concentrating exclusively on B2B startups, with a maximum first check of $500,000 and a pace of roughly two to six deals per year. The fund has deployed approximately €10 million across ten companies since founding in 2015, which implies deep involvement in each portfolio company rather than a broad-spray strategy.
Acting as lead investor on most deals, b10.vc takes an active governance role from the outset. The narrow deal pace is either a feature or a constraint depending on what a founder needs; for those who want a lead investor who will spend genuine time on the company rather than a well-connected but thinly stretched partner, the math of two to six deals per year speaks for itself.
7. Alstin Capital
Founded in 2011 by Carsten Maschmeyer and now managing three funds with a total AUM of approximately $309 million, Alstin Capital closed its third fund at €175 million in early 2024. The firm invests in early-stage B2B software companies across Europe, with particular emphasis on Digital Health, Fintech, and Insurtech. Initial tickets run from €2 million to €8 million, with up to €15 million possible across multiple rounds in a single company.
The Munich headquarters and Berlin presence give it reach across Germany's two primary startup centers. The check sizes sit meaningfully above what most of the other early-stage firms in this list deploy, which makes Alstin a more natural fit for companies that have already demonstrated product-market fit and are raising a first institutional round in the €3 to €8 million range.
8. 468 Capital
When 468 Capital raised its first fund in 2020, it was reported as the largest debut VC fund in European history at $200 million. The firm followed that with a $400 million Fund II closed in January 2022, bringing total AUM to approximately $1 billion. Founded by Alexander Kudlich, Ludwig Ensthaler, and Florian Leibert, the firm operates out of Berlin and San Francisco, which gives it a practical transatlantic dimension that most European-only funds cannot replicate.
468 Capital is not a pre-seed vehicle; the fund sizes and dual-office structure signal a focus on companies that are raising at scale and may have US ambitions. For early-stage founders, 468 is more likely a future-round target than an entry point.
9. Axel Springer Digital Ventures
Axel Springer Digital Ventures, launched in 2012 as the corporate venture arm of Axel Springer SE, focuses on mobile, internet of things, and software companies. Initial investments run from €200,000 to €2 million, with total exposure per company potentially reaching €15 million. As a CVC, it co-invests alongside other funds rather than leading rounds as a standalone decision-maker in most cases.
The strategic logic here is different from a financial VC: Axel Springer brings distribution relationships, media assets, and a content-to-commerce platform that can accelerate certain categories of portfolio company in ways a purely financial investor cannot. Founders building in areas adjacent to media, publishing, or digital commerce have more reason to engage with this vehicle than those whose business has no obvious intersection with Axel Springer's operating interests.
10. b2venture
Originally founded as btov Partners in 2000 and rebranded to b2venture, this is the longest-running firm in this list by a significant margin. The fifth fund closed at a €150 million hard cap, with total AUM across all vehicles reaching approximately €500 million. The firm invests from pre-seed through Series A with tickets starting at €250,000, and describes its geographic focus as the “Alpine corridor,” meaning Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, though Berlin is a core base.
Two and a half decades of operation means b2venture has lived through the dot-com collapse, the 2008 financial crisis, and multiple European startup cycles. For founders who care about institutional depth, long-term fund continuity, and a firm that is not under pressure to prove itself in its first investment cycle, the track record here is distinct from anything else in the Berlin market.
Let’s Recap
Berlin's early-stage firms split into four distinct types, and knowing which type you're talking to matters more than sector fit alone.
Angel Invest and APX are built for the very earliest stage: sub-€500,000 checks, active coaching, and a mandate to get founders to their next round. Atlantic Labs and 10x Founders write similarly sized checks but earn their place differently, Atlantic Labs through a track record of category-defining pre-seed bets, 10x Founders through a network of operating founders rather than career investors. Auxxo and b10.vc are narrower still, each running a lean strategy with specific selection criteria: Auxxo by founder profile, b10.vc by business model type. Neither is trying to be a generalist.
Alstin Capital and 468 Capital sit further along. Their minimum check sizes and fund scale signal they're meeting companies after early validation, not before it. Axel Springer Digital Ventures adds a corporate venture dimension that only matters if there's genuine strategic overlap with Axel Springer's business. b2venture stands apart on institutional depth: a fund history dating back to 2000 and the ability to invest from pre-seed through Series A make it one of the few Berlin firms that can stay with a company across multiple rounds.
For practical targeting:
- Raising a €200,000 pre-seed: Angel Invest, APX, Atlantic Labs, possibly 10x Founders
- Closing a €5 million Series A: Alstin Capital, 468 Capital, b2venture
- Fit-dependent middle ground: b10.vc and Auxxo, worth engaging if their specific criteria match your profile
Use the filter tool above to narrow the full database by stage and check size before building your outreach list.