Gregor Haidl
Partner
Sessions (2)
Sessions featuring Gregor Haidl at Bits & Pretzels 2026 | Founders Festival in Munich
Investment Landscape Germany
The session’s core message was that Germany’s startup-financing landscape is becoming more capital-rich and more structurally coordinated, but founders still need to understand which instruments fit which stage of their journey. The moderator framed the discussion around where money can be found and what has changed in Germany’s investment environment, then introduced Dominik Steinkhler of KfW and Gregor Haidl of HTGF. Steinkhler highlighted the newly announced second phase of the WIN Initiative, expanding from a €12 billion private-capital mobilization effort to a target of €25 billion, alongside structural measures intended to improve the startup lifecycle from founding through exit. Haidl added that market momentum is visible through more capital, the Scale Up Europe Fund, higher investment volume this year than the entire previous year, and rising interest in deep tech, climate tech, and sovereignty tech. The conversation then turned to the role of HTGF as a central direct-investment vehicle for the German Economic Ministry. Haidl explained that HTGF is evolving beyond early-stage first tickets into a multistage platform, especially after integrating the DeepTech & Climate Fonds, described as a €1 billion fund for climate and deep tech investments from Series A and B onward. On later-stage funding, Steinkhler cautioned that Germany is still not at the level of the U.S., but pointed to several German mega-rounds above €100 million as evidence that larger transaction capacity now exists. Both speakers described the ecosystem as maturing, with larger rounds and the hope of larger exits helping convince the next generation of founders that ambitious company-building is possible in Germany. Steinkhler outlined structural measures aimed at unlocking more institutional capital, especially by creating vehicles that make venture and growth investments easier for large pension-system investors. He described KfW Capital’s fund-of-funds approach, including a vehicle of more than €1 billion and a follow-on structure designed to give institutions a track record and scale they can allocate to. The moderator listed multiple instruments, including Deutschlandfonds, Zukunftsfonds, Scale-up Direct, FOAK first-of-a-kind funding, Solvency II changes, WIN, and Wachstumsfonds. Steinkhler clarified that Deutschlandfonds is a broader programme bracket with €30 billion in guarantees intended to generate €130 billion of economic investment, while FOAK will combine €300 million from KfW with additional private money for first-of-a-kind assets. The final available segment focused on the practical reality for founders, especially in deep tech. Haidl argued that €300 million may not sound large in isolation, but is relevant if it crowds in private capital and targets the difficult first-of-a-kind stage. He stressed that deep tech financing differs from software because companies often face major inflection points before revenue is available for analysis. His main advice was that deep tech founders should not rely only on equity; they must orchestrate equity, debt, and grants, understand which instrument fits which stage, and build the financial education and networks needed to combine them effectively. Compared with two years ago, he said founders now need more substance, capital efficiency, and early market traction, even in hardware.
What Investors Really Look For
The core message of this investor panel was that founders earn investor conviction less through polished fundraising theater and more through honest clarity: a credible personal motivation, a transparent account of traction and bottlenecks, and evidence that the team can carry a difficult company-building journey. The session opened by positioning the panel as a “reverse pitch” where investors would not pitch their funds but explain what actually makes the difference when they choose a founder. Katja Ruhnke, chair of Business Angels Germany and co-founder of CK Ventures Capital, introduced her perspective as an angel investor investing with her sister Connie. She described their thesis as impact-oriented: they look for companies “who make the world a bit better,” using Hays Circle, a reusable packaging startup, as an example rooted in her own frustration with single-use packaging from online shopping. Katja then shifted from the business idea to the founding team. She said she normally has already reviewed the pitch deck before a conversation, so the meeting is about understanding the founders: whether they can handle the toughness of the startup journey, whether they have passion, and whether someone in the team can be a “people catcher” who can convince customers, employees, partners, and investors despite having little to offer at the start. Her clearest red flag was lying. She accepted that founders may present their company in a brighter light, but said any discovered lie leads to an immediate no. She also argued that founders do not overrate fundraising; instead, they underestimate it, especially the time needed to close a round and the time required to build real relationships with investors. Laura Keilhofer of Alstin Capital explained the Series A perspective for B2B software companies. She said Alstin typically comes in after founders have figured out founder-led sales and need to scale a sales organization. Because Alstin has in-house PR, marketing, and sales experts who help with hiring, CRM playbooks, SDR and AE training, Laura needs to understand not only why the product matters, but who is buying it and why. Her red flag mirrored Katja’s: fluffy answers and lack of transparency. If a founder has pilots but no hard traction numbers, she would rather hear that clearly than hear vague claims that customers love the product. She also advised founders to spend less time polishing a huge market-sizing slide and more time proving they know their ICP and the next customers they should pursue. Gregor Haidl of HTGF framed deep tech investing around the need for new European champions in areas such as robotics, climate tech, and AI. He described HTGF as a multistage platform with over 800 investments, 200 exits, and more than $10 billion attracted for its portfolio, with early-stage first checks of $1 million to $2 million and up to $5 million per company. He also described the integrated DTCF as a public Series A to B fund that can invest up to $10 million in the first round and follow on with up to $50 million per company. For him, the key criteria are ambitious teams combining technical excellence and business acumen, disruptive technologies, and market or first-customer proof points that can become venture cases. His red flag was casted founding teams with no shared history or deep internal motivation, because deep tech can take more than a decade. The discussion closed in the available transcript with the panel probing how investors distinguish gut feeling from observable grit, especially in technically driven founders who spend years committed to highly specialized work.