Contrary to the Europe-wide heatwave, the business climate in the German venture capital market (VC market) cooled in the spring quarter. The sentiment indicator fell by 10.2 points to -35.8 points in the second quarter of 2026 and thus remains well below its long-term average. The cooling is due to a poorer assessment of the current business situation by early-stage investors, while business expectations once again hardly changed. The expectation assessment, which is only slightly better than the assessment of the current situation, suggests that early-stage investors do not expect any significant improvement in the subdued sentiment over the next six months.

German Venture Capital Barometer 2nd Quarter 2026(PDF, 244 KB, accessible)

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