In the ranking of the most attractive industries for venture capitalists, software leads, ahead of environmental technologies and web services. This means that the top rankings remain unchanged in the current edition of the Business Angels Panel. For the study by the Business Angels Network Germany, the RWTH Aachen University, the VDI Nachrichten, and the University of Duisburg-Essen, more than 50 experienced Business Angels 43 investors participated in the current survey.
Behind the three most popular sectors, however, there's a lot of movement: Industrial automation has moved up from 9th place to 4th. Biotechnology has also significantly increased its attractiveness and now ranks 5th. Logistics and life sciences, on the other hand, are among the losers, but still land in the top 10. New space startups have made it into the ranking, ranking 18th out of 22.
“The founders usually have a lot of expertise, but rarely look at the market,”
says Rainer Horn, managing partner at Munich-based company Spacetec Partners, about the new space industry.
"Customers are often government or semi-government organizations. To serve them, you need to understand their procurement processes."
Business Angels Panel: Business situation in the long-term average
The business situation – measured on an ascending scale of 1 to 7 – is at a good 5.02 points, and the business outlook is at a slightly better 5.21 points. Both values have declined slightly compared to the previous quarter, but remain at a long-term average level. Despite these stable values, almost 40 percent of respondents report that the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative impact on their deal flow. A good 82,000 euros flowed per investment. The average investment per participant in the Business Angels Panel is just over 86,000 euros.
Twelve of the 43 participants in the study reported a successful exit, and only one reported a total failure. On average, the business angels surveyed have deployed only 59 percent of their investment funds so far. This means that 41 percent of the investable capital is still available. The investors received an average of 31 business plans from startups. This is significantly higher than the long-term average of 20.
