Deep Tech Germany: AI, Robotics & Frontier Innovation by Startuprad.io™ – Details, episodes & analysis

What happens when an FBI-trained negotiation coach brings elite sales psychology into the startup world? You get a masterclass in influence, integrity, and investor persuasion.

Today’s episode of Startuprad.io features Matthias Bullmahn, a crisis negotiation expert, former Accenture executive, and storytelling coach — here to show founders how to negotiate like pros and scale without manipulation.

What You'll Learn:

• How to apply BATNA to investor negotiations and enterprise sales

• The 3 killer words ruining most pitches — and what to say instead

• Why founders fail when they ignore buyer psychology and emotional triggers

• How to use the Motive Compass to close deals faster

• How AI fits (and fails) in human-centric sales strategies

Guest Spotlight:
Matthias Bullmahn is one of Germany’s leading voices in ethical sales psychology, negotiation, and strategic communication. He’s trained with the former heads of the FBI and Scotland Yard, founded a department at Accenture focused on agile transformation, and today advises founders, corporates, and investors on emotionally intelligent deal-making.

Now It Is Up To YOU:
If you’re a founder, executive, or investor who values clear strategy over sales fluff, this episode is your playbook.

Subscribe to Startuprad.io on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, leave us a 5-star review, and share this episode with someone negotiating their next big deal.

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Guest Name: Matthias Bullmahn, Sales Psychologist & Strategic Communications Expert

Related Blog Posts on Startuprad.io:

• 🎙️ Mastering Startup Negotiation Tactics: Sales Psychology Meets FBI Playbooks

• 🧠 BATNA for Founders: Your Ultimate Safety Net in Investor Talks

• 💬 3 Words That Kill Your Startup Pitch (and What to Say Instead)

• 📊 Case Study: Ecotech Startup Closes Investor Without Product in Market

Relevant External Resources:

• Harvard Negotiation Project

• Motive Compass by Dirk Eilert (German)
  
  Timestamps:
  00:00 – Introduction to Matthias & FBI Training
  04:54 – BATNA and Deal Power for Founders
  08:45 – Ethical Sales Psychology Explained
  18:55 – The Motive Compass: What Drives Buyers?
  27:40 – AI in Sales: When It Works, When It Fails
  39:10 – How to Win Trust in a Distracted Market
  47:05 – Final Advice for Founders & Pitch Mistakes

Why do Europe’s startups scale slower than their U.S. counterparts? In this raw, revealing episode, Andy Goldstein uncovers what’s really holding back the European venture capital scene—and what we can do about it.

• How investor education can radically improve VC decision-making

• Why German founders hesitate to internationalize—and how to fix it

• The mindset shift European investors need to unlock global-scale success

• How AI sales tools and founder conviction can drive early-stage growth

Andy Goldstein, Managing Director Europe at VU Venture Partners and Co-Founder of the German Accelerator, is a serial entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and innovation catalyst. With decades of experience across the U.S. and Europe, he’s reshaping how VCs invest—and how startups scale.

Loved this episode? Help others discover it!
Follow Startuprad.io, subscribe on Spotify & Apple Podcasts, and leave us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review. Share this with founders, VCs, and every entrepreneur you know.

👉 Struggling with small biz finances? Tide’s free account + up to €400 cashback makes it a no-brainer: tide.co/Podcastsde – use code STARTUPRADIO

Guest Name: Andy Goldstein, Managing Director Europe, VU Venture Partners
Blog Post: http://startuprad.io/post/the-transatlantic-investment-divide-why-europe-needs-a-new-vc-mindset

Relevant Resources:

• VU Venture Partners

• German Accelerator

Timestamps:

• 00:00 – Introduction to Andy’s journey from IBM to VC

• 06:00 – What’s broken in European VC mindsets

• 12:45 – How VU trains VCs through real investments

• 20:50 – Sales culture differences: Germany vs. U.S.

• 28:15 – Startup internationalization: Why Germany lags

• 35:30 – Traits of the top 1% of founders

• 42:00 – Final thoughts + podcast wrap-up

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Are you a biotech founder ready to scale in Europe—or an investor scouting your next unicorn? Then don’t miss this masterclass with Annick Verween, Head of Biotope, one of Europe’s top biotech startup hubs (Financial Times-ranked).

Hosted by Joe Menninger of Startuprad.io, this candid conversation explores Annick’s unique path from “derailed marine biologist” to biotech investor and community builder.

This isn’t just another interview—it’s a strategic deep dive packed with biotech startup insights, founder advice, and real-world funding tactics:

How hubs like Biotope are bridging the gap between innovation and investment, fostering next-gen biotech ventures.

From regulatory minefields to IP protection and operational excellence—learn what it really takes to scale.

Annick unpacks her selection formula: People. Science. IP. And why listening is the #1 founder trait.

• 💥 Love the problem—not the tech.

• 🤝 It’s a people business.

• 🏗️ Operational excellence is non-negotiable.

• 🧾 Combine investment and grants for a winning strategy.

Annick shares how Biotope scouts and selects biotech startups using:

• 🔍 Deep due diligence on science & IP

• 🧗 A hands-on "base camp" selection process

• ⚖️ Balancing bold innovation with calculated risk

• Annick’s journey from BASF factory to biotech leader

• How EIT Food's Rising Foodstars shaped Europe's agri-food scene

• Biotope’s impact in planetary health, sustainable materials & more

• Why Zymofix is a biotech success story to watch

• Annick’s top productivity hack (and why it’s so effective)

“Don’t just focus on VC. Combine grants and investments into a smart, hybrid funding model.” – Annick Verween

#biotech #biotechstartup #biotechfunding #scalingbiotech #biotechhub #planetaryhealth #agrifoodtech #founderadvice #startupeurope #venturecapital #seedround #EITFood #innovation #IPstrategy #startups #VCfunding

• 🌐 Startuprad.io

• 🌐 Blog Post

• 👤 Annick Verween on LinkedIn

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in October 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from Essen, Germany, and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on Thursday, October 20th, 2022.

Another one of our former guests gets a Snoop Dog investment. Quick delivery startup Gorillas seems to sell itself to competitor Getir, according to Bloomberg, despite an earlier announcement they are looking for more investments. Gadget rental service Grover adds 270 m € in venture debt, getting it close to 2 billion €. Our former guest Nuri (formerly Bitwala) had to file for insolvency, now investors jump ship and the company is wound down this year. Volocopter is sued by early crowdfunding backers, Home24 has a takeover offer from a brick-and-mortar furniture retailer and BioNTech takes on cancer. Also, Munich-based travel tech Holidu raises 100 m € in a combination of 75 m equity and 25 m debt funding.

Let’s talk startups:

Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/

Tvarit is an industrial ai startup, that helps companies to reduce rejections by 40%-60% in metal casting, as well as saving up to 18% on energy. Learn more here: https://www.tvarit.com/

This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here:

Tech Startups Germany - Startups and Venture Capital

The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early stage startups. Sign up for early access here:

Startup Raven

Europe’s largest cannabis funding to date: Snoop Dogg-backed German cannabis startup gets $37.6M Series B led by British American Tobacco

learn more about the Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 (German Startup Awards) founder Finn Age Hänsel in our interview

Delivery Startup Getir in Advanced Talks to Buy Gorillas (Bloomberg). They write:

• “Proposed deal for Gorillas would be a mix of cash and equity
• 
  
• 
  
• The combination would give Getir, which is backed by Mubadala Investment Co. and Sequoia Capital, scale in key European markets including the UK and Germany.
• 
  
• 
  
• Gorillas had previously held talks with a number of competitors about the prospects for a merger or sale of its business, people familiar with the matter said previously.
• 
  
• 
  
• Chief Executive Officer Kagan Sumer said earlier this year that he planned to look for new financing to recalibrate the company to work toward profitability.”
• 
  

As consumer spending tightens, yet appetites for tech remain the same, Berlin-based Grover sees an uptick in rental interest and is now bringing its debt... Folge direkt herunterladen

The industrial ai startup Tvarit is focused on optimizing the process of casting metals. This process is abundant for parts in robots, cars, all kinds of machines, and heavy equipment. With their approach they help their clients save up to 18% of their energy bill, increase production quality and lower the wastage of the process. Tvarit has raised almost 3 million in funding since our 2019 interview and is looking for Series A funding. Suhas founded 17 startups prior to Tvarit, with this being startup №18, for which he sees the potential to become a unicorn. We’re excited to see how Tvarit will develop industrial ai further and help factories across the world save money and produce better quality products.

We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what’s best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help!

The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree

Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/

This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here:

Tech Startups Germany - Startups and Venture Capital

Suhas is a serial entrepreneur who has founded 18 startups, including his last one Tvarit in Frankfurt. Tvarit is an industry 4.0 AI startup that Startuprad.io has been following since 2019. Suhas is an engineer by training (ISEP in Paris). Suhas has worked for more than 12 years for Qualcoom and other companies before becoming an entrepreneur. He has been (co)founding industrial companies and startups in Europe and India already in the past, so this is nothing new for him.

In this interview we focus more on the development of Tvarit, for everyone who likes to learn more, we will also link the October 2019 interview in our blog post.

As industry 4.0 and the industrial internet of things (IIoT) continue to evolve, so too does the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing. Manufacturers are already using AI-powered robots for tasks like welding and fabricating, and the technology is quickly being adopted across the industrial sector. One area where AI is making a big impact is in metal casting. By analyzing data from the casting process, Tvarit can help to optimize production and improve quality control. As a result, factories that adopt AI-powered metal casting solutions are able to produce parts more efficiently and with fewer defects and less energy. Tvarit is one company that is leading the way in this area, and its industrial AI software is helping manufacturers around the world to improve their operations.

Here is our blog post: Folge direkt herunterladen

Berlin-based green startup Trilleco is on a mission to help businesses analyze and manage their environmental impact, with their industrial IoT data platform. The startup's non-code data platform makes it easy for companies to see how they can reduce their carbon footprint and make positive changes for the environment. Female co-founder Miriam Janke is passionate about helping businesses operate in a more sustainable way and contribute to the goal of limiting global warming. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Trilleco is also working towards a circular economy where resources are reused instead of being thrown away. Through its innovative platform, Trilleco is helping businesses make meaningful progress towards a more sustainable future.

This interview is part of our female entrepreneurship track, where Joe is sick leave cover for Johanna.

We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help!

https://linktr.ee/startupradio

A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day - no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance.

The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: https://startupraven.com/

Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/

Miriam Janke (https://www.linkedin.com/in/miriam-janke/) is an inspiring young female founder who has co-founded green startup trilleco to work on a better future. She is currently with her startup in the Paris TechStars accelerator, where she is working on developing her green business goals. Miriam is a TEDx speaker on environmental protection and has spoken widely about the need for more female entrepreneurs in the green business space. Her work with trilleco is helping to make the world a cleaner and more sustainable place, and she is an inspiration to other young women who are looking to make a difference in the world. We can all learn from Miriam's example and be inspired by her commitment to making a difference.

Trilleco (https://www.trilleco.com/) is a green startup based in Berlin that has developed a data platform to help industry 4.0 become more sustainable. The platform makes data from the company accessible and makes the environmental impact visible to enable the company to manage it. The company's goal is to help reduce the environmental impact of industrial IoT by making it easier for companies to adopt green practices. Trilleco is one of the first companies to offer a no-code data platform that makes it easy for companies to get started with green practices. The company has ion the EIT Manufacturing program and is currently part of the TechStars Accelerator in Paris.

They have offices in Finnland, Germany and Spain. They also operate in Austria, Switzerland and Italy. You can learn more about them here: https://www.trilleco.com/careers

Germany is preparing for a potentially rough winter, in many ways. Now Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe): Asked Germans not to put up any Christmas lights this season. Startups in GSA keep laying off staff, but also raising significant funds. We have our usually shortened list a bit longer this month, to show that it is not all gloom and doom here. You will also notice that the M&A activity is up, totaling 55 bn US$ in summer 2022 (for all of Europe), and is still going strong.

Let’s talk startups:

Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, or listen to our internet radio station here:

The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree

This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here:

Tech Startups Germany

The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here:

Startup Raven

Find all links, news and show notes here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-september-2022-53339fae6ca7

Everphone started with their first fundraising for Series C in December 2021 and now make an additional closing of 32 mn Euros, which totals — according to PitchBook 232 m US$ Series C for their device-as-a-service model

European crypto app downloads have almost halved from 2021 amongst the biggest drops are Blockchain.com and unicorn Bitpanda.

Sifted writes “Beleaguered Austrian crypto trading platform Bitpanda saw a 65% decrease in app downloads from 563k in H1 2021 to 197k in H1 2022. In June, the company laid off a third of its employees, admitting that it had hired too fast and needed to cut back expenditure amid the crypto market rout.” VCs keep an eye on their investments and the app downloads are a proxy for growth here for them.

Yes, they are not startups, but it gives you a great overview of the current environment, also for the startups

• Automotive supplier Dr. Schneider has to file for insolvency with 4000 people employed there
• Shoe retailer Ludwig Görtz is a staple in German shopping streets founded in 1875 with their big stores and 1.800 employees, now they have to file for insolvency
• German toilet paper producer Hakle is a household staple in Germany. Now they have to file for insolvency, due to high costs of raw materials, energy, and transportation
• Traditional Austrian lighting company Kolarz, founded in 1918, has to file for insolvency

Lots of mergers in monetizing podcasts, the first Julep from Munich was bought by Libsyn and now London-based Auddy buys Vienna-based Audiomy

Keep in mind here, that most startups are likely not in financial trouble, but they rather try to extend the money they have already raised. The consensus seems to be cutting 15–20% of the workforce for most startups.

• Berlin-based escooter company Tier fires... Folge direkt herunterladen

COMPREDICT is a Darmstadt, Germany-based deep tech startup, offering virtual sensors for cars. They already convinced Michelin and Blackberry to invest, so we thought it would be about time to catch up with the team around Rafael.

Virtual sensors in a car take data from physical sensors and fuse them to generate additional measurements.Rafael Fietzek, MD and Co-Founder COMPREDICT

We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below.We want to make sure that we provide what’s best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help!

Startuprad.io - Global Top 125 Tech Podcast | LinktreeGlobal Top 125 Tech Podcastlinktr.ee

This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://techstartups.sounder.fm/

A normal car has four physical wheel speed sensors to measure each wheel. With us, you need only two physical sensors and save money.Rafael Fietzek, MD and Co-Founder COMPREDICT

We are always looking for ways to make the show better. Please take this opportunity and share your feedback with us! You can also suggest topics or interview partners that you’d like featured on future episodes by leaving a comment below — we would love to hear from YOU!!!

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Find it here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/meet-compredict-the-startup-where-blackberry-and-michelin-invested-15b6f4aa6c70

Startups in GSA did better than expected. We had a few insolvency filings, but also amazing fundraisings like Celonis 1 bn US$ combination of equity and debt funding. Insuftech Wefox raises 400 m. One can already see the signs of a downturn, M&A activity going up, as well as the news about insolvencies or job cuts/ hiring freezes. But — according to a Bikcom survey — 8 out of 10 startups are still hiring. Deal time our recent guest Qonto buys former guest Penta and there was more in a B2B neobank deal week. Even Allianz had to learn, that one can not buy fintech success and there is more news on Wirecard.

We will also bombard you with funding data on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as global numbers. Keep in mind you can read all our news on our blog https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-summer-2022-wrap-up-603e2c1939ae

Celonis remains a success story with a 400 million Series D extension and a 600 mn US$ credit facility, at a valuation of nearly 13 bn US$. They are cementing their spot as Germany’s most valuable startup as well as its only decacorn. They do process mining and help to identify unrealized efficiencies. Right now, they’re helping with supply chain issues, for example.

Wefox, the Berlin-based insurtech, closes USD 400 million Series D round at 4.5 bn Dollar valuation

• German crypto startup Nuri had a streak of bad luck. First, they announce to cut almost 20% of their headcount, then millions of their client’s money is frozen with Celsius and now a blog claimed it all hit during fundraising
• Eventually followed by an insolvency filing https://medium.com/startuprad-io/berlin-based-crypto-bank-nuri-formerly-known-as-bitwala-with-500-000-b4953e15dbfa
• Berlin-based crypto neoborker Nuri had to file for insolvency. Now the insolvency administrator says there are parties interested in buying the company

• Neobrokers close to the edge: No good news from the SEC report on the poster child of all neo-brokers. Unfortunately, there is no report for Germany mentioning e.g. Trade Republic
• Robinhood almost imploded during GameStop meme stock chaos — TechCrunch
• Bankman-Fried’s FTX Is Seeking a Path to Buy Robinhood — BloombergWhat does this mean for BitPanda, Trade Republic, Scalable Capital, and N26? Do they also need to look for a strategic buyer rather than an IPO?

B2B Neobanks Had a pretty big Deal Week

Qonto Announces Plan to Acquire Penta https://buff.ly/3zwPCI3 as we have predicted two weeks before https://buff.ly/3zxUSeH we have extensive coverage of Penta from the past linked in the article, as well as an interview with Qonto’s head of Germany. Also Kontist was selling itself at a pretty hefty discount https://buff.ly/3c9pmuF

Viability of Quick Delivery Business Model still Questioned

• After only one year: Gorillas is closing shop in Belgium. Efarmz is taking over parts
• Gorillas wants to save itself with advertising from consumers and food giants of the world, the producer of the products they are delivering every day
• More signs of the current economic environment for startups: Munich-based quick delivery startup arive delivers tech gadgets and lifestyle products. They just had... Folge direkt herunterladen

Starwars fans may remember that death star was destroyed due to a data leak.Mirko Ross, Founder and CEO ASVIN, Podcaster Hackwerk

We interview Mirko, CEO of Asvin a cybersecurity startup. During the interview, we touch on data leaks in Star Wars, vulnerabilities in IoT, IoT devices, software, supply chains, distributed systems, and even in space (think cube satellites). ASVIN provides many tools to uncover and fix these vulnerabilities. Mirko is also a cybersecurity podcaster at Hackwerk, which you can also hear on our internet radio station www.startup.radio.

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Botnet operators can take over millions of devices by simply scanning the internet and following up with a brute force attack.Mirko Ross, Founder and CEO ASVIN, Podcaster Hackwerk

A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who build amazing things every day - no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance.

The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: https://startupraven.com/

https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/asvin-provides-cybersecurity-for-the-internet-of-things-b035203b70f