Objective of this research project was to give an overview of external private equity financing in German enterprises, especially in new firms. Within the framework of this project we could identify  - with the help of the Mannheim Enterprise Panel (MUP) – those persons (who are not the original owners and managers) and who hold equity investments in German firms – directly as well as indirectly via an investment company. We analyzed the data of the MUP to get the following information: Number of external private investors in (young) firms in Germany; share of firms according to industry sector, in which those private investors hold equity investments; the mean share of equity and the distribution of equity shares.