But why could someone trying to start a company like that not get some funding from a company like YC? The expectations would of course be different but it could still end up profitable for everyone.
But having gone through YC in W15, they're definitely not built for Mittelstands. YC pushes you to keep iterating and changing your pitch and product until you're targeting a multi-billion dollar market.
I do believe there's room for a YC for Mittelstands:
Be like Paul Graham circa 2005 – find people who others didn’t think could be founders and coach them from the very beginning to control their companies.