It’s about large sums of money: US venture capitalist Voyager Ventures says it has almost half a billion euros at its disposal, and the company recently raised a total of $275 million to invest in other promising startups. A large part of this money could flow to: Germany.

Voyager is particularly interested in startups in the areas of energy, critical raw materials and industrial automation – a newly opened office in Munich is now intended to help find promising ideas in German-speaking countries. With the charging station payment specialist Enapi and the wind power AI platform Annea, Voyager is already supporting two German startups, and further investments are to follow.

The big boom in Germany

Germany, the country of innovative startups? Yes, says Voyager boss Sarah Sclarsic. “We are really excited about the German ecosystem, the skilled workers here, the potential customers,” explains Sclarsic to FOCUS online Earth. “There is world-class science and technology here, and excellent education at the universities. The precision and engineering skills are really deeply rooted in Germany.” Many of the technologies that are being invested in have their origins in Germany.

The idea is that virtues that can also be used for startups. In fact, Germany has now become a dynamic location for young founders. According to the Startupdetector database, around 22,000 startups were active in Germany at the end of 2025, and 3,568 of them were founded last year alone – a record number. German founders collected almost 8.4 billion euros in venture capital in 2025 last year, according to an analysis by the auditing firm Ernst & Young.

“A chance to reinvent yourself”

The energy transition and the green transformation of the economy should also offer young founders and their startups a market that they can serve. Because many time-honored industries in particular now have an opportunity, says Sclarsic.

“Many countries are suddenly falling behind in industries that they once dominated,” explains the New Yorker. Technical developments, especially from China, have significantly reduced the costs of solar panels, batteries and other electricity-based applications – others could also use this so-called “Electric Tech Stack”.

“With this tech stack it is possible, for example, to build cars that are significantly cheaper,” says Sclarsic. “This is really a big opportunity for Western car manufacturers and Western suppliers. It’s a chance to reinvent themselves, with a product that may look different than it did 100 years ago, but can now be even better than before.”

Climate protection as a side effect

In this new world, there are also further challenges that need to be solved, says Sclarsic – here too, there are many opportunities for German companies. As an example, she cites the startup Enapi, in which Voyager is already investing. The Berliners are working on simplifying the payment process when charging at a charging station. “It’s now very easy to buy something online, it’s just a click away,” says Sclarsic. “Charging an electric car is still very difficult, so there’s a huge opportunity for founders to build an infrastructure that will move hundreds of billions of dollars.”

For many other, currently unsolved problems, there may already be bright minds somewhere in the German-speaking region who are working on a solution – Voyager Ventures wants to find these minds with the Munich office. Whether this bet will work remains to be seen. In any case, Sclarsic is optimistic: “We have a generation of founders that are now pushing forward. They don’t wait. They recognize the opportunity that is presented to them.”

Sclarsic and Voyager Ventures are also concerned with climate protection – but rather indirectly. “It’s about smart solutions, it’s about efficiency,” says the investor. “CO2 emissions are a sign of inefficiency. If you let off huge amounts of gas, that’s a waste that you don’t really want. That’s why we need to reduce our emissions dramatically – we’ve long had processes in place that are more efficient and therefore cheaper.” And perhaps there are a few more of these processes hiding somewhere in Germany.