Verena Pausder, head of the German startup association brunch image

Brunch with Sifted

September 20, 2025

German tech veteran Verena Pausder: ‘Without more capital, we will be overrun by the US and China’

The German Startup Association chief on her entrepreneurial roots, co-owning a football club — and why politicians should be as bold as founders

Verena Pausder is back in Berlin after a week on the road. 

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Miriam Partington

Miriam Partington was a senior reporter at Sifted, based in Berlin. She covered the DACH region and the future of work, and wrote Startup Life , a weekly newsletter on what it takes to build a startup.

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