home24 IPO Is The Sixth IPO In Three Years Deutsche Börse Venture Network - Growth Network Now Has Over 500 Startups And Investors - Leupold: “Startups Now Much More Visible To Investors”

Tomorrow's IPO of home24 SE (ISIN: DE000A14KEB5) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange is the sixth IPO of a Deutsche Börse Venture Network startup. The platform, which has been connecting startups with national as well as international investors for three years now, has also surpassed its number of members to over 500 – home24 has been on the platform since its launch.

“In Venture Network's past three years, we have succeeded in matching numerous startups with relevant investors from Germany and abroad. This helps young companies to save a lot of time, which they can invest in developing their business model,” said Eric Leupold, Head of Pre-IPO & Capital Markets at Deutsche Börse AG. “This has enabled us to improve the funding situation for start-ups in Germany – they are now much more visible to investors.”

“Investor Talks” organised by the network enable start-ups to regularly connect with selected investors, who are also network members – not only in Germany, but also in New York, Zurich or Paris. In total, the start-ups on the platform so far were able to raise a total of around US$ 1.9 billion in 70 financing rounds.

“At the same time, we have continuously developed our offering and now are making special trainings and investor meetings available to start-ups in the early funding stages,” explained Leupold. “Later-stage startups last year received an additional option through our Scale segmentwhen they are heading for an IPO.”

In addition to home24, NFON AG (ISIN: DE000A0N4N52) went public on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange this year. A further 13 companies have achieved their exit trough other means in the past three years – for example, by selling the company or being taken over by a competitor.

Deutsche Börse launched Venture Network in June 2015 to improve the funding situation for start-ups in Germany and to build up an ecosystem for growth. The Venture Network rests on three pillars funding, networking and growth management trainings, in which start-ups can also exchange experiences with other start-ups. Targeted partnerships such as with the Technical University of Munich, the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Deutsche Handelsbank have further expanded the ecosystem.