From Celonis to gorillas: Germany’s unicorns in the crisis check

• Although there is still plenty of venture capital for founders, the turnaround in interest rates and the economic downturn are making financiers more selective.
• Fresh capital is only available for companies that can demonstrate a credible path to profitability – or are working on truly revolutionary developments.
• The Handelsblatt analyzes and evaluates the future prospects of all German unicorns.

The euphoria surrounding the rise of the German start-up scene last year was so great that hardly anyone noticed how it ended. According to the Pitchbook database, a total of ten start-ups in Germany have become unicorns in 2021.

That’s what the scene calls it when the company is valued by its investors at at least one billion euros.

In 2022, the euphoria gave way to worries. Pitchbook only counted six new German unicorns. Even if the Cologne-based translation start-up Deepl could soon add a seventh: Today, many start-up entrepreneurs are happy if they can keep their rating.