Zeitgeist

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• some additional facts

  The entrepreneur scene in Berlin attracts more and more foreign investors. In May 2004, the gaming company Wooga collected 24 million USD, among others from Highland Capital Partners and Balderton Not only Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary invested into Amen but also Capital. Index Ventures - one of the biggest European venture investors. In November, Niklas Zennström the entrepreneur who invented Skype invested 4.2 million USD into 6 Wunderkinder. On Ja 02,2012, Soundcloud announced that it will receive 50 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (also invested in Twitter) and GGV Capital den Rest.
  
  The domestic entrepreneurial culture has changed in the recent years. It has changed from copying American business models (like the ebay clone Alando established and sold to ebay by the Samwer brothers) to developing new ideas.
  
  Berlin does not offer close connections to local universities as the Silicon Valley does with Berkley and Stanford. Furthermore, the German bureaucracy is not very inviting in comparison to other countries because e-government is not very well developed. However, Berlin offers low rents and skilled employees from every country. Wooga employs people from 20 nations. And well, even Alexander Ljung left Sweden in order to found Soundcloud in Berlin. According to a statement from Harry Nelis (Accel Partners), the market for venture occasions in Berlin is the biggest in Europe by even topping London. The development and adaption of businesses on a European scale is easier here than in the capital of the UK.

  Posted by Henning Haarhaus January 09, 2012 14:02:47

• Great article

  ...but is money really going to start pouring into Berlin?

  Posted by dmachine November 17, 2011 18:56:47