After VC funding fell for four consecutive quarters, data from July this year suggests funding in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) is on the road to recovery. That is being propped up by Germany though, which has also seen some of its startups ramp up hiring in the last 12 months.
Using data from Dealroom, Sifted has compiled the 15 fastest-growing DACH startup teams over the last 12 months — to eliminate the high percentage growth of small early-stage startups growing quickly, companies had to have raised at least $50m to be considered. Total funding and headcount figures are taken from Dealroom. Of the 15 fastest-growing startup teams in the DACH region, 13 hail from Germany. The other two are Swiss.
Here are the DACH region’s fastest growing startup teams.
1KOMMA5°
1KOMMA5° tops the list with a huge headcount boost of 268% — it comes after a €200m Series A raise in April 2022, and a follow-up €430m Series B in June 2023. The startup helps kit out residential properties with sustainable energy alternatives, and is one of Europe’s highest-valued solar startups.
Founded: 2021
HQ: Hamburg, Germany
Team growth this year: 268% to 250 employees
Last raised: €430m Series B, June 2023
Total funding: $803m
Matter Labs
Matter Labs' main product is zkSync, a crypto scaling solution that reduces the cost of Ethereum transactions and aims to increase the accessibility of trading on the blockchain. Its Series C round in November 2022 included backing from Lightspeed Venture Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. Dealroom estimates its valuation to sit between $800m and $1.2bn.
Founded: 2018
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Team growth this year: 140% to 103 employees
Last raised: $200m Series C, November 2022
Total funding: $256m
Enpal
Enpal rents out rooftop solar panels on a subscription basis, helping customers avoid hefty installation fees. In January 2023, it raised a €215m Series D, and has since raised €430m in debt. It’s backed by the likes of BlackRock, SoftBank and HV Capital.
Founded: 2017
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Team growth this year: 129% to 2,041 employees
Last raised: €430m debt, June 2023
Total funding: $513m
DeepL
DeepL is an AI-based language translation platform to be used by businesses and individuals. Its services compete with the likes of Google Translate and Bing. It reached unicorn status in January 2023 after raising €100m in late VC funding from investors like Institutional Venture Partners, Atomico and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Founded: 2009
HQ: Cologne, Germany
Team growth this year: 117% to 700 employees
Last raised: €100m late VC, January 2023
Total funding: €100m
Terra Quantum
Swiss startup Terra Quantum is developing a suite of quantum computing services that can be accessed through the cloud, from random number generation to quantum cryptography. It's developing a new encryption protocol that the company says can’t be broken by quantum computers.
It's been backed by Swiss VC firm Lakestar since its seed round in 2019 and has also attracted investment from Investcorp.
Founded: 2019
HQ: St Gallen, Switzerland
Team growth this year: 116% to 80 employees
Last raised: $75m, Series A including $60m in January 2022 and $15m in February 2023
Total funding: $86m
Qwello
Qwello is a builder, owner and operator of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure providing charging in European cities across major European cities. It focuses on inner-city areas and operates charging poles in partnership with local municipalities. It last raised €50m in early VC funding from US private equity firm Tiger Infrastructure Partners.
Founded: 2017
HQ: Munich, Germany
Team growth this year: 115% to 88 employees
Last raised: €50m early VC, November 2021
Total funding: €50m
Xterio
Xterio is a free-to-play games developer and publisher. It also helps developer partners create their own games. It last raised $15m from Binance Labs to expand its AI-driven games and to develop an AI toolkit to generate 2D and 3D assets such as characters in mobiles games.
Founded: 2022
HQ: Zug, Switzerland
Team growth this year: 114% to 30 employees
Last raised: $15m early VC, July 2023
Total funding: $55m
IntegrityNext
IntegrityNext helps businesses meet ESG requirements, manage ESG risks and improve supply chain sustainability. It aggregates data from thousands of suppliers and helps its customers monitor their own ESG metrics. After being bootstrapped since it was founded in 2016, it announced a €100m funding round from Swedish investor EQT Growth in March 2023.
Founded: 2016
HQ: Munich, Germany
Team growth this year: 111% to 76 employees
Last raised: €100m, March 2023
Total funding: €100m
Tourlane
Tourlane acts as a one-stop shop for travellers booking multi-day trips that include several tours or events to schedule. Users can work with a travel expert as well as the online booking platform to plan their trip. It last raised a $20m Series C extension in November 2020, and is backed by the likes of HV Capital and Sequoia.
Founded: 2016
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Team growth this year: 81% to 476 employees
Last raised: $20m Series C extension, November 2020
Total funding: $99.5m
Sunfire
Sunfire helps industrial companies decarbonise by developing and producing electrolysers for the production of renewable hydrogen and syngas — a renewable synthetic gas which can be used as a clean alternative to fossil fuels. It raised a €86m Series D in March 2022 and received a €169m grant from the German government in August 2023.
Founded: 2010
HQ: Dresden, Germany
Team growth this year: 80% to 310 employees
Last raised: €86m Series D, March 2022, €169m grant, August 2023
Total funding: $443m
Leapsome
Leapsome is an HR SaaS platform for performance management and employee engagement. It integrates existing tools like Slack, Teams, Calendar and Jira. Leapsome last raised a $60m Series A in March 2022 from Creandum, Insight Partners and Visionaries Club.
Founded: 2016
HQ: Berlin, Germany
Team growth this year: 76% to 197 employees
Last raised: $60m Series A, in March 2022
Total funding: $60m
Fernride
Fernride, a spinout of the Technical University of Munich that designs operating software for autonomous trucks — the vehicle can drive itself, within a specific area and with human supervision. It last raised a $31m Series A led by the CVC arm of German logistics giant HHLA.
Founded: 2019
HQ: Munich, Germany
Team growth this year: 75% to 114 employees
Last raised: $31m Series A, June 2023
Total funding: $50.2m
1nce
German startup 1nce allows users to connect a device to the Internet of Things (IoT) for a one-off payment of $10 for 10 years — for use cases including smart utilities, asset tracking and vehicle telematics. It last raised an undisclosed seed round in January 2022 from I Squared Capital.
Founded: 2017
HQ: Cologne, Germany
Team growth this year: 74% to 250 employees
Last raised: undisclosed seed round in June 2022
Total funding: $50m
Ariceum Therapeutics
Ariceum Therapeutics is developing novel drugs for systemic targeted radiotherapy (STR). This approach reduces the exposure of healthy tissue compared to typical chemotherapy, and aims to minimise side effects. It last raised a €22.8m Series A extension from Earlybird Venture Capital, Andera Partners and Pureos Bioventures.
Founded: 2021
HQ: Munich, Germany
Team growth this year: 71% to 24 employees
Last raised: €47.8m Series A, including €25m in June 2022 and €22.8m in April 2023
Total funding: $52.5m
JOLT Energy
JOLT Energy operates charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) in major European and North American cities. It aims to quickly develop a network of urban fast-chargers to improve the accessibility of EVs. It last raised €150m in growth equity VC from InfraRed Capital Partners.
Founded: 2018
HQ: Munich, Germany
Team growth this year: 70% to 39 employees
Last raised: €150m growth equity VC, March 2023
Total funding: $165m
