The blackprint Institute, part of the blackprint Group, has published the blackprint PropTech Report H1/2026. This semi-annual report analyses the German PropTech market as an innovation engine for the construction and real estate industry, presenting market size, structure, and capital flows as a connected system. The investigation for the first half of 2026 reveals an ambivalent development: the market is growing significantly and shows high start-up activity, but capital injection from its own industry is increasingly absent.
As of 30 June 2026, the German PropTech market reached a new all-time high of 1,568 active companies. This represents a 7 percent increase compared to the end of 2025 and more than a threefold increase since the last pre-Corona year. In the first half of 2026, 144 new PropTechs were founded, marking the strongest start since the beginning of data collection and a 74 percent increase compared to H1/2025. This growth is primarily driven by small, agile teams. The smallest size category (up to 5 employees) saw an increase of 19 percent. The consolidation rate due to economic difficulties remained stable at around 7 percent of the existing companies. Founding activities and capital flows are increasingly shifting to segments related to existing property, refurbishment, and operational management, which is due to increased regulatory and operational pressure in these areas.
In the venture capital sector, a different picture emerges. At EUR 272.3 million, the weakest figure since the start of data collection was recorded in the first half of the year, representing a 42 percent decline compared to H1/2025 and marking the third consecutive annual decline. Debt capital, at EUR 1,128 million, continued to exceed venture or equity capital. However, a large part, approximately 94 percent, of this debt capital was dominated by a single case, which reflects the importance of project and asset-related financing rather than broad market momentum. Apart from this major case, invested capital focused on asset-related models with stable cash flows.
At the same time, the investor base shrank to 126 capital providers, a decrease of 37 percent. Publicly supported early-stage investors topped the list of most active investors. Strategic capital from the real estate industry itself accounted for only about eight percent of investments. Annika Wagner, Chief Development Officer and Managing Partner of the blackprint Institute, commented on the data, stating that financing no longer focuses on market breadth, but on demonstrable effectiveness and scalability. The market is maturing but also becoming more selective. Start-ups and capital are shifting into segments directly affecting existing properties, refurbishment, and operations. She noted that the decoupling from the overall market is striking, as the pull of the AI wave, which is driving the venture capital market nationally and globally, has barely reached the PropTech sector so far.
Sarah Schlesinger, CEO and Managing Partner of the blackprint Group, emphasised that an industry that perfectly masters investment logics in its core business hardly applies them to its own innovation sector. It waits for ready-made solutions that cannot emerge without capital. The third consecutive decline in venture capital should therefore not be seen as an economic indicator, but as a call to the industry: an innovation sector is only as strong as it is funded by its own industry. Investments today secure access to tomorrow's solutions and the resulting return opportunities.
Blackprint has also revised the underlying PropTech definition. This revision was based on several months of market demarcation, incorporating research findings on industry-relevant drivers of change and market feedback. Newly included in the definition are explicit building and property-related energy solutions, from tenant electricity to storage and submetering, which are, however, clearly distinguished from the pure energy industry. This adjustment accounts for major drivers of change such as ESG regulations, the energy transition, and artificial intelligence. The revision of the definition serves to ensure comparability of time series and reflects the real shift in the sector under these drivers.
