The Berlin VC Field Guide: Who Actually Writes First Checks

Berlin VC lists are messy. Some databases count hundreds of investors here. Only a small subset actually writes first checks between pre-idea and a led seed round - and two of the best-known names have quietly changed identity in the last three years.

This guide maps:

• Who invests at each stage, from pre-idea to a led seed round
• Check sizes and theses, so your ask matches the lead
• Source quality for every claim (see methodology below)
• The stale brands that still show up on every aggregator list

Methodology

Every fund below passed the same five filters:

• Stage fit - does the fund really invest at pre-idea, pre-seed, or seed, not just claim to?
• Check fit - does the ticket size match a normal first round?
• Berlin relevance - Berlin HQ, a Berlin office, or regular Berlin deal activity
• Sector fit - does the fund explicitly invest in your sector?
• Activity - evidence of recent deals, a fresh fund, or team activity

Each fund is labeled by source quality:

• A - Primary: fund website, official press release, legal imprint
• B - Secondary: Sifted, tech.eu, PitchBook, CB Insights, Startbase
• C - Directory: aggregator lists and older blogs
• D - Check needed: no current source or unclear activity

Stage 1 - Pre-idea: before a company exists

Most classic funds aren’t the right first stop this early. Five are built for it:

• HEARTFELT_ (A) - Pre-angel to pre-seed, EUR 100K-400K, follow-ons up to Series A. All new APX-style pre-seed investments now run through HEARTFELT_, while the same team manages the APX legacy portfolio (300+ startups including N26 and DeepL). Anchored by Axel Springer and Porsche; stated preference for under-networked founders.
• Antler Berlin (A) - At inception, up to EUR 500K through Antler ONE. Apply as an individual; co-founder matching, validation, and a first check at company formation.
• EWOR (A) - Ideation to traction, up to EUR 300K/500K depending on track (verify current terms). Fellowship for outlier founders.
• Merantix (A) - Pre-idea to seed, co-founding model. AI venture studio and operator of the Berlin AI Campus; partners with AI researchers and engineers to co-found companies.
• Earlybird Vision Lab (A) - Pre-seed, program plus capital. Supports pre-seed founders with migration backgrounds, part of Earlybird.
• Also in this space: Rheingau Founders (C), a Berlin company builder for B2B SaaS, marketplaces, and healthcare.

Stage 2 - Pre-seed: first checks, often pre-product

Checks here run roughly EUR 100K-500K; expect conviction and a team, not revenue. HEARTFELT_ operates here too.

• Angel Invest (A) - typically EUR 125K, high-volume, fast decisions.
• IBB Ventures / B# (A) - EUR 100K-400K convertibles via its deep-tech B# program. Venture arm of Investitionsbank Berlin; Berlin companies only.
• WestTech Ventures (A) - pre-seed and seed, primarily Germany. Enterprise SaaS: automation, climate, future of work, health. 90+ investments since 2013; also an LP in Point Nine and Project A.
• Atlantic Labs (C) - early stage, generalist. SoundCloud/GetYourGuide heritage, recent focus on decarbonisation, AI, and industrial automation.
• First Momentum (C) - pre-seed, deep tech, technical/student founders. Karlsruhe HQ, active in Berlin.
• Magnetic (C) - pre-seed and seed, critical industries: the compute-energy stack, security, fintech, physical economy.
• Possible Ventures (C) - pre-seed and seed, frontier tech: AI, energy, robotics, space, climate, health.
• 10x Founders (C) - pre-seed, Munich-based angel-network fund active in Berlin.
• Flagged: Motu Ventures has reportedly folded into Earlybird-X (D - check before outreach).

Stage 3 - Seed: leads write EUR 1M and up

• Point Nine (A) - the reference Berlin seed fund for B2B SaaS and marketplaces. $1M-10M per company including follow-on capacity.
• Cherry Ventures (B) - pre-seed to Series A, seed core, check size varies by source. Generalist, often the first institutional investor; Spotify/Zalando operator roots; Flix and Auto1 in the portfolio.
• NAP (A, formerly Cavalry Ventures, rebranded 2025) - pre-seed and seed, EUR 1M-3M initial plus follow-on. Enterprise tech for expert founders: advanced manufacturing, energy transition, security, applied AI.
• Lunar Ventures (C) - early seed, $300K-1M. Deep tech at the earliest stage: AI infrastructure, cryptography, semiconductors, robotics, tech-bio. Portfolio includes deepset and Runware.
• Project A (A) - pre-seed to seed, EUR 1M-6M - effectively seed and Series A in practice, with an in-house operations team.
• Fly Ventures (A) - first checks for technical founders, Berlin-based deep tech specialist.
• Visionaries Club (C) - prototype to growth, $100K-5M. B2B tech and SaaS; family-business LP base gives customer access; backed n8n and Lovable.
• b2venture (A) - pre-seed to Series A, EUR 250K-5M. Berlin office, HQ St. Gallen; runs an angel network alongside the fund.
• Twelve more seed leads worth knowing: Join Capital, 468, BlueYard, SquareOne, Earlybird, HV Capital, Target Global, and others.

Who to call first, by sector

• B2B SaaS / enterprise software - Point Nine first, then Cherry, Visionaries Club, NAP (for legacy-industry edges), WestTech (for German B2B).
• Deep tech, industrial, robotics - Lunar for the most technical theses, Fly for a first check, Join Capital for Industry 4.0 with early revenue, 468 and HTGF as default co-investors.
• Climate and energy - Extantia (climate deep tech), World Fund (scale), Planet A (science-based impact), Vireo (electrification), Nucleus (bio and industrial transformation).
• Health and bio - Amino Collective (pre-seed/seed), Heal Capital (health tech), Lunar (tech-bio), IBB Ventures (Berlin-based).
• Fintech - Embedded Capital (embedded finance), Magnetic (critical industries), Visionaries Club (financial services), plus generalists Cherry, Point Nine, HV, Earlybird.

The stale-brand trap

Pitching a brand that no longer writes checks is the fastest way to signal you didn’t do your homework:

• APX to HEARTFELT_ - all new APX-style pre-seed investments now run through HEARTFELT_; the apx.vc site still shows 2023 content.
• Cavalry Ventures to NAP - rebranded February 2025 after a 2024 leadership transition; same Berlin team, EUR 1M-3M initial checks with follow-on capacity.
• Techstars Berlin, now paused - Techstars’ own page confirms the Berlin accelerator paused as of June 2025, after backing 218 startups since 2015.
• Also worth striking off or double-checking: Elephant & Castle Capital (legal seat Frankfurt, dated portfolio), W Ventures (consulting/venture design, not committed LP capital), Rocket Internet (historical, not a normal VC target), Global Founders Capital (verify current activity), June Fund (reportedly inactive under that brand - D, check needed).

How to use this guide

1. Build a target list by stage and sector. Ten to fifteen funds, not fifty.
2. Match round size to check size. Pre-seed funds here write EUR 100K-500K; seed leads write EUR 1M and up. A EUR 2M ask to a EUR 125K fund wastes everyone’s week.
3. Check the last twelve months of announced deals. A quiet fund may be between funds, quiet by choice, or less active - adjust expectations before spending a warm intro there.
4. Find the partner who owns your sector. Funds don’t invest, partners do - pitch the vehicle and the person, not the brand.
5. Re-check source quality before outreach. A-labeled facts are safe to build a pitch on; C and D labels mean verify first.

The list is only the filter. The actual work is checking fit, activity, and partner ownership.

Last updated July 2026. Source quality marked A-D throughout; statuses and check sizes change quarterly - verify before outreach.

Source: Originally compiled as a LinkedIn carousel.