The German venture capital market - impact of macroeconomic factors and trends on investment strategies through seed, early, and late stages

Abstract

German venture capitalists are facing challenges due to macroeconomic factors and current geopolitical dynamics. Through a systematic analysis of the literature and interviews with German venture investors, this paper investigates how investment strategies and valuation methods of German venture capitalists are adapting to macroeconomic factors in an uncertain market environment. Results indicate that investment strategies of German venture capital investors are mainly influenced by two factors. The influence of these main factors varies in the different investment phases of VCs. The results suggest that past crises have also affected venture capital firms' investment vehicles, portfolio assessments and valuation methods.