10 Berlin seed investors back startups in 2026. Point Nine Capital and Cherry Ventures lead the most Berlin seed rounds. HTGF co-matches private seed investment up to €1M for qualifying German startups. Cavalry Ventures is the fastest seed decision-maker in the city.
Berlin's seed VC market is Germany's densest - 10 active seed funds in one city. You can run competitive seed processes across 6-8 Berlin investors in 8 weeks.
HTGF's government co-investment program is unique to Germany and unmatched in Europe. A €300K Berlin seed round with HTGF co-investment becomes a €600K raise automatically.
Berlin seed VCs close faster than London and Paris equivalents - 8 weeks versus 12-14. German founders who structure early for HTGF eligibility extend runway by 6-9 months.
This guide covers 10 active seed investors in Berlin writing cheques in 2026.
| Type | Check size | Sector focus | Website | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Point Nine Capital | Dedicated SaaS seed | $500K-$5M | B2B SaaS, marketplace, vertical SaaS | pointninecap.com |
| Cherry Ventures | Seed VC | $500K-$5M | AI, B2B SaaS, consumer, marketplace | cherry.vc |
| Cavalry Ventures | Pre-seed to seed | $200K-$2M | B2B SaaS, API-first, developer tools | cavalry.vc |
| Heureka.vc | Seed VC | $100K-$1M | B2B SaaS, marketplace, consumer tech | heureka.vc |
| Speedinvest | Seed VC | $500K-$5M | Fintech, SaaS, health, marketplace | speedinvest.com |
| Picus Capital | Seed VC | $500K-$5M | B2B SaaS, proptech, fintech, DACH | picuscap.com |
| HTGF | Government seed | Up to €1M | All tech sectors, Germany-based | htgf.de |
| APX | Pre-seed / seed | $50K-$200K | All sectors, pre-product to seed | apx.ac |
| Atlantic Labs | Seed fund | $100K-$1M | Marketplace, B2B SaaS, consumer tech | atlanticlabs.de |
| Capnamic Ventures | Seed to Series A | $500K-$10M | B2B SaaS, smart city, enterprise tech | capnamic.com |
Track your Berlin seed investor pipeline
Ellty shows who opened your pitch and which slides they reviewed. Follow up while VCs are engaged.
Start free 14-day trialWhat Berlin seed VCs look for
Berlin seed VCs want early revenue signals - €10K-€50K MRR - before term sheets. Pre-revenue founders should target APX, Cavalry, and HTGF before institutional seed VCs.
German market validation - a paying German enterprise customer - converts Berlin seed VCs fast. One named Mittelstand customer at €500/month gets seed conversations started within 2 weeks.
Track your early investor conversations with a virtual data room that logs who reviewed your early traction and team sections. Berlin seed VCs share deals - track who forwarded your deck to other funds.
Pan-European expansion plan is expected at seed stage even for pre-revenue companies. Germany-only seed companies face harder fundraising unless the TAM is very large.
Berlin seed rounds close fastest when founders have three things: a German entity, HTGF eligibility confirmed, and one paying German customer. Skip any of those and add four weeks to your timeline.
10 Berlin seed investors
1. Point Nine Capital
Europe's most founder-friendly seed fund with the deepest B2B SaaS benchmark data.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025-2026; SaaS benchmarks published; no-board-seat approach for founders
LinkedIn: Point Nine Capital LinkedIn
Sector Focus: B2B SaaS, all sectors
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: pointninecap.com
2. Cherry Ventures
Berlin's top early-stage seed fund by conviction with fastest DACH deal quality.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025-2026; DACH portfolio; pre-revenue teams backed; fast sub-2-week process
LinkedIn: Cherry Ventures LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, DACH
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: cherry.vc
3. Cavalry Ventures
Pre-seed to seed specialist in Berlin with the fastest first cheque in Germany.
Recent Deals: Pre-seed and seed investments 2025; DACH portfolio; sub-2-week decision for pre-revenue founders
LinkedIn: Cavalry Ventures LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, B2B
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: cavalry.vc
4. Heureka.vc
Berlin seed network with deep founder community and HTGF co-investment pipeline.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025; Berlin founder community; HTGF co-investment and portfolio connections
LinkedIn: Heureka.vc LinkedIn
Sector Focus: B2B SaaS, marketplace
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: heureka.vc
5. Speedinvest
Vienna-Berlin pan-European seed fund with the deepest DACH and CEE coverage.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025; Vienna-Berlin crossover; pan-European portfolio; DACH and CEE focus
LinkedIn: Speedinvest LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, pan-European
Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
Location: Vienna, Austria
Website: speedinvest.com
6. Picus Capital
Global seed from Berlin with 20+ country portfolio and founder-first mandate.
Recent Deals: Global seed investments 2025; 20+ country portfolio; no-board-seat; founder-first approach active
LinkedIn: Picus Capital LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, global seed
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: picuscap.com
Track who's reading your Berlin seed pitch
Ellty shows you which seed VCs opened your deck and what slides they spent time on.
Start free 14-day trial7. HTGF
Germany's most active seed co-investor with 700+ portfolio and public fund matching.
Recent Deals: Seed co-investments 2025-2026; 700+ portfolio; public funding matching; Germany's biggest seed fund
LinkedIn: HTGF LinkedIn
Sector Focus: Deep tech, B2B, all sectors
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Bonn, Germany
Website: htgf.de
8. APX
Axel Springer and Porsche-backed seed accelerator with corporate media and auto network.
Recent Deals: Seed accelerator 2025; Axel Springer and Porsche network; Berlin corporate distribution active
LinkedIn: APX LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, media-tech
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: apx.ac
9. Atlantic Labs
Berlin family-office seed with media-tech, marketplace, and corporate network.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025; Berlin media-tech network; family-office mandate; marketplace focus
LinkedIn: Atlantic Labs LinkedIn
Sector Focus: Media-tech, marketplace
Stage Focus: Pre-seed, seed
Location: Berlin, Germany
Website: atlantic-labs.com
10. Capnamic Ventures
Cologne-Berlin seed with corporate partnerships and NRW public co-investment.
Recent Deals: Seed investments 2025; NRW and Berlin portfolio; corporate partnerships; public co-investment access
LinkedIn: Capnamic Ventures LinkedIn
Sector Focus: All sectors, DACH
Stage Focus: Seed, Series A
Location: Cologne, Germany
Website: capnamic.com
Berlin seed vs DACH seed
Munich seed VCs are stronger in industrial tech. Vienna seed VCs focus on regulated sectors. Berlin is the best European city for horizontal B2B SaaS and consumer internet seed funding.
Berlin seed rounds close 30% faster than Munich and 50% faster than Vienna equivalents. Berlin's English-speaking VC community reduces process time versus German-only cities.
Track your parallel DACH seed conversations using a fundraising tracker that shows all active investor conversations in one place. Berlin seed rounds often involve HTGF plus 2-3 private VCs in a single syndicate.
Berlin seed terms run 15-25% dilution at €500K-€2M pre-money valuations in 2026. These benchmarks lag London by 20-30% - adjusted for engineer cost advantages, net runway is comparable.
HTGF co-investment mechanics
HTGF invests as co-investor - you need a private lead investor before applying. Structure your seed round to close the private lead first, then add HTGF as co-investor.
HTGF takes 5-15% equity via standard convertible note at seed. Their note converts alongside your private investors at your next priced round.
Track your HTGF application timeline alongside your VC process with a pitch deck tracker that manages both simultaneously. HTGF decisions run in parallel with private VC - don't wait for HTGF before starting VC outreach.
HTGF portfolio companies get access to their follow-on fund at Series A. HTGF II and HTGF III funds have backed 50+ companies from seed through growth stage.
Berlin seed due diligence
Berlin seed VCs check founding team, market size, and early traction in 2-3 calls. Have 12 months of financial projections, a competitive map, and customer evidence ready.
Technical due diligence is standard at seed for AI and deeptech companies. Cherry and Point Nine both run engineering reviews at seed for technical product companies.
Review the due diligence checklist before your first Berlin seed VC meeting. German VCs apply more conservative scenario analysis than UK or US seed VCs.
IP ownership and founder vesting schedules are reviewed carefully at seed. 4-year vesting with 1-year cliff is the Berlin standard - non-standard terms add 2-3 weeks to process.
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How to pitch a Berlin seed investor
Lead with early traction and HTGF eligibility. Market size and expansion plan come second.
- 1.Form a German GmbH and confirm HTGF eligibility firstHTGF doubles your raise. Most Berlin VCs prefer German entity.
- 2.Get to €10K-€30K MRR before institutional seed outreachRevenue converts Berlin seed VCs significantly faster than projections.
- 3.Get warm intros from Cherry or Atlantic Labs portfolio foundersCold seed outreach in Berlin closes under 3% of the time.
- 4.Send deck via Ellty and track who reviews your traction sectionKnow which VCs opened your MRR data. Follow up within 24 hours.
- 5.Follow up once after 7 business daysBerlin seed VCs deliberate carefully. One clear follow-up is right.
How Ellty helps you land a Berlin seed investor
Ellty is a data room for seed fundraising. Track VC interest and follow up at the right time.
- 1.Organise your seed fundraising documentsAdd deck, MRR data, and team bios. Set access per VC.
- 2.Share trackable links with Berlin seed VCsSend each VC a unique link. Ellty logs every open.
- 3.Follow up when VCs review your traction sectionSee which VCs opened your MRR slide. Follow up in 24 hours.
Berlin seed investors: common questions
- €10K-€30K MRR accelerates decisions. Cavalry and APX invest below this threshold.
- Competitive processes close in 6-10 weeks. HTGF adds 4-6 weeks alongside private VCs.
- HTGF requires GmbH. Most private Berlin VCs prefer it but invest without it.
- Seed VCs take 15-25% for €500K-€2M. HTGF takes 5-15% via convertible note.
- APX, Cavalry, and HTGF invest pre-revenue. Point Nine and Cherry prefer some traction.
