Verena Pausder is a prominent German entrepreneur, angel investor, and advocate for digital education. She founded Fox & Sheep and the HABA Digitalwerkstatt, which teach coding and digital skills to children.
Pausder has invested in numerous early-stage startups across edtech, consumer tech, and impact-driven ventures. She serves as President of the German Startups Association (Startup-Verband) and authored the bestselling book 'Das Neue Land,' which calls for a more innovative and digitally literate Germany. Her angel investments typically focus on founders building products that combine technology with social impact, and she is one of the most influential voices shaping Germany's startup policy landscape.
Berlin, Germany
Angel Investor
Pre-Seed to Seed
/germany/angel-investor/verena-pausder
Founded 2018 with backing from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Runs the Maze X 3-month accelerator for social impact startups, providing tailored mentoring, impact investor access, and a EUR 50K stipend. Notable alumni include Speak. Scope: International.
Photomath is a Zagreb-founded edtech application that uses camera-based recognition and AI to solve mathematical problems step by step, helping students understand concepts rather than just providing answers. The app has been downloaded over 300 million times, making it one of the most popular education apps globally. Google acquired Photomath in 2023, integrating its technology into the broader Google education ecosystem. Founded in 2014 by Damir Sabol, Photomath stands as one of Croatia's most successful consumer technology products and a landmark example of AI-powered educational tools built in Southeast Europe.
Bitkom's Innovators' Pitch 2026 live finals featuring startup teams in future technologies for logistics and education. Application deadline was February 23, 2026 (now closed); live pitch takes place March 19, 2026 with equity-free prize money and ecosystem visibility.
Social innovation accelerator promoted in the Munich ecosystem for mission-driven startups and social impact business models. Application deadline: April 15, 2026. Program start: mid-2026. Program notes include zero-equity participation, no-fee access, and travel reimbursement support for selected teams.
Founded 2012 by 50 entrepreneurs. Accelerator offering hands-on mentorship and seed investment for tech, impact, and healthtech ventures; the mentor network includes founders behind BlaBlaCar, Le Bon Coin, and Showroomprivé. Support: equity investment, mentorship, Paris workspace. Scope: National.
Antler Berlin is the German branch of Antler's day-zero venture-building model, designed for people who want to start companies before they have a finished team or fully formed idea. Instead of operating like a conventional accelerator that waits for startups to apply, Antler brings together selected founders, operators, and domain experts, then structures an intensive process around co-founder matching, problem discovery, validation, and early company formation. The Berlin program matters because it plugs into one of Europe's deepest pools of technical, industrial, and cross-border startup talent. It is especially relevant for B2B SaaS, climate, and deep-tech founders who need both an initial company-building framework and access to follow-on capital. In ecosystem terms, Antler Berlin sits at the very beginning of the funding pipeline, upstream from seed funds and growth investors. That makes it a useful counterpart to more established accelerators and incubators already in the directory, broadening coverage of how new startups are formed in Germany before they become visible to mainstream venture capital. It also reinforces the directory's mapping of institutions that shape founder formation, not just later-stage company financing.
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