2024 wasn’t a fertile year for unicorns in Germany.
Only one company, Munich-based EGYM which offers health and fitness institutions access to software and machines, made it to the $1bn mark. That’s down from the three unicorns minted in 2023: solar startup 1KOMMA5, AI translation startup DeepL and AI defence startup Helsing.
Might 2025 yield more billion-dollar valuations — and who might be next? Using Dealroom data, Sifted identified 10 German startups that are likely to become unicorns.
All valuations are based on Dealroom estimates.
Vivid — Berlin
Estimated valuation: $853m
Banking and investment app Vivid offers saving, spending and investment tools. Users get access to a German IBAN, can make peer-to-peer payments and buy and sell stocks and shares. Its last round was a €100m Series C raised in February 2022 from investors including SoftBank and Ribbit Capital.
Isar Aerospace — Munich
Estimated valuation: $825m
Founded in 2018, rocket launcher Isar Aerospace is one of the darlings of the German deep tech scene. A spin-off from Technical University Munich (TUM), the company has so far raised $451m in funding from investors such as Earlybird, HV Capital and the NATO Innovation Fund. Isar Aerospace is hoping to launch its first rocket into space on Friday March 28th at the earliest, the company said in a statement. The launch was originally planned for March 24th, but the company had to reschedule it due to unfavourable weather conditions.
The Exploration Company — Munich/Bordeaux
Estimated valuation: $660 — 990m
Buzzy space startup The Exploration Company is building a reusable space capsule dubbed “Nyx” that can fly to space stations and the moon carrying 3,000kg of cargo. The company which was founded by aerospace engineer Héléne Huby in 2021 is planning to conduct its first flight to and from the international space station in 2028. In November 2024, the company announced it had raised $160m in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to almost $230m.
Billie — Berlin
Estimated valuation: $640m
Having partnered with Klarna, Billie offers a “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) service for B2B companies, enabling buyers to delay payment while the seller gets paid immediately. Billie takes care of overpayments or late payments and offers features like a post-purchase invoice agreement and a support platform for customers. The company last raised in October 2021, when it secured a $100m Series C from investors such as Creandum, BNPL giant Klarna, Speedinvest and Tencent.
Moonfare — Berlin
Estimated valuation: $625m
Moonfare’s digital platform enables high-net-worth individuals and institutions to invest in private equity. The company last raised in February 2023, when it added a $15m extension to its Series C round, bringing the total round to $175m.
H2 Mobility — Berlin
Estimated valuation: $605m
H2 Mobility works on hydrogen-filling infrastructure and has built a network of stations across Germany to support the adoption of hydrogen-powered transport. It has raised $131m so far — a large part of its cap table are corporate investors including Hyundai, Shell, Total Energies and Equinor.
FINN — Munich
Latest valuation: $603m
Car subscription startup FINN enables customers to pay a fixed monthly fee to subscribe to a vehicle instead of owning or leasing one. The subscription includes insurance, maintenance, registration and taxes. Founded in Munich in 2019, the company has so far raised $256m, with backers including HV Capital, Picus Capital and UVC Partners. Finn was Europe’s fastest-growing consumer startup by revenue in 2022, with an annual revenue of €125.4m, according to last year’s Sifted leaderboard.
Moss — Berlin
Estimated valuation: $550m
The fourth fintech of the list, Moss is a corporate spending management platform, providing businesses with corporate credit cards, expense management and invoice tracking. The company secured a €75m Series B round in 2022, and in 2023 raised €50m debt from HSBC Innovation Banking. Its backers include Cherry Ventures, Tiger Global and Global Founders Capital.
Neura Robotics — Metzingen
Estimated valuation: $528 —792m
Neura Robotics builds ‘cognitive’ robots that can ‘see’, walk and manipulate objects. It has five models — some of which are not yet on the market — including MAiRA, a cognitive robot arm and the trolley-like MAV robot which can transport heavy loads. The company raised a €120m Series B round in January this year, which it said it will use to fuel its R&D and launch new products built on its cloud-based software platform, the ‘Neuraverse’.
Osapiens — Mannheim
Estimated valuation: $480m — 720m
ESG platform Osapiens supports companies in becoming more sustainable. Its SaaS solution helps companies fulfil legal ESG requirements, create more transparent supply chains and calculate their carbon footprint, among other things. Osapiens last raised funding in July 2024 when it picked up $120m in Series B financing, led by Goldman Sachs.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/10-german-soonicorns-to-watch/
