Berlin is bursting at the seams with startup activity.

Today, Point Nine Capital announced its new $53.8M fund (€40M) to support early-stage, European companies. The firm’s approach is to be “the angel VC.” The partners are focused on mentoring entrepreneurs in areas including Software-as-a-Service, eCommerce, marketplaces, and mobile.

Most of the investments are in consumer internet technology, although there are a slew of business-to-business products and enterprise management platforms. Portfolio companies include Delivery Hero, Couchsurfing, Shiftplanning, Vend, Westwing, and Zendesk.

Berlin is setting itself up as a European hub for startups. Along with Point Nine, Rocket Internet is a well-known startup incubator and seed fund based in Berlin that makes investments around the world. Global venture capital fund e.ventures has offices in Berlin, and last year, Index Ventures made Berlin a priority as a startup hub.

The city’s thriving art scene means there is a large pool of creative talent and success stories have generated excitement about the possibilities for local startups. Well-known companies like SoundCloud and Etsy are either headquartered or have offices there, and Rally.org recently launched its European platform and incubator out of Berlin.

Mayor Klaus Wowereit said “Berlin is poor, but sexy” back in 2004. Now, it is poor, sexy, and filled with entrepreneurs.

Filed under: Deals, Entrepreneur

Categorised as: Chief Digital Officer | Digital Media | Feedster

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