In this episode of Startuprad.io, we dive into the world of energy informatics with Dr. Niklas Panten, CEO and Co-Founder of Etalytics, a cutting-edge startup transforming how industries approach energy efficiency. Etalytics leverages AI-driven solutions to tackle rising energy costs, meet sustainability goals, and enhance operational efficiency for sectors like data centers, pharma, and automotive.

What You’ll Learn:

• The Story of Etalytics: Discover how this innovative company emerged from groundbreaking research at the Technical University of Darmstadt to become a leader in energy optimization.

• AI-Powered Tools: Learn about Etalytics’ flagship products—EtaOne, EtaEdge, and EtaMind—and how they work together to deliver seamless, data-driven energy solutions.

• Industry Impact: Understand how Etalytics helps industries like data centers reduce their environmental footprint, achieve regulatory compliance, and stay competitive in the face of rising energy demands.

• Challenges and Growth: Hear about the hurdles Etalytics faced during its journey, from launching during the COVID-19 pandemic to scaling its operations and maintaining company culture.

Key Topics Covered:

• The rising demand for energy-efficient solutions in industries heavily reliant on power.

• How Etalytics leverages machine learning and AI to solve complex energy management problems.

• The significance of sustainable energy practices in today’s regulatory and economic environment.

• Etalytics’ plans to grow its team from 50 to 120 employees and expand into markets like the U.S., UK, and Asia.

Who Should Listen:
This episode is perfect for startup founders, sustainability advocates, tech enthusiasts, and industry leaders looking to stay ahead in the fast-evolving world of energy management. Whether you’re curious about AI applications in industrial settings or want insights into building a successful startup, this episode is packed with actionable takeaways.

Links to Explore Further:

• Original Blog Post: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/etalytics-transforming-energy-management-with-ai-solutions

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Welcome to the October 2024 edition of "This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian Startups," where we bring you essential insights into the GSA startup ecosystem. Join hosts Jörn “Joe” Menninger and Chris Fahrenbach as they unpack the month’s top stories, from groundbreaking funding rounds to unicorn achievements and major pivots in tech and innovation.

Episode Highlights:

1. Lilium’s Financial Struggles and eVTOL Innovation Setbacks
This month, the NASDAQ-listed eVTOL pioneer Lilium, based in Germany, navigates financial challenges, pursuing self-administered bankruptcy due to funding constraints. Although recent setbacks impacted its market valuation, Lilium’s story represents the high-stakes reality of aerospace tech, where R&D costs often create financial risk. Discover the unique challenges that innovators in sustainable aviation face and Lilium’s hopes for a future in clean transportation.

2. Egym and Orderfox Join the Unicorn Club
In major achievements for the healthtech and AI sectors, German fitness tech company Egym and Swiss AI-driven industrial procurement firm Orderfox each attained unicorn status this October. Egym’s valuation now exceeds $1 billion, fueled by tech advances that position it toward IPO readiness. Orderfox, leveraging AI to optimize industrial processes, underscores the GSA region’s strength in practical, data-driven solutions. Learn how these companies reached new heights and the impact of their technologies on health and industrial sectors.

3. Austria’s Gropyus Secures €100 Million for Sustainable Housing
Austrian startup Gropyus made waves with a €100 million investment to expand its modular, timber-hybrid housing production. With a mission to address Europe’s housing crisis through sustainable materials and design, Gropyus embodies the shift toward green construction tech. This investment supports their scalable model of eco-friendly housing solutions, meeting the demands of an evolving market.

4. EU’s Deep Tech Initiative with Trusted Investors Network
In a strategic move to elevate Europe’s role in global tech, the European Union launched a deep tech support network, collaborating with over 70 venture capital firms in the Trusted Investors Network. Aiming to close the technology gap with global leaders like the U.S. and China, the EU’s partnership initiative highlights Europe’s vision for advancing fields like AI, biotech, and sustainable energy.

5. SolarisBank’s €178M Loss and Restructuring Efforts
German fintech SolarisBank reported a €178 million loss, announcing job cuts and a restructuring to regain profitability. The company’s experience is indicative of the broader European fintech scene, where scaling comes with financial pressures. Discover how Solaris is adapting its strategy in the competitive fintech landscape, aiming to enhance operational efficiency.

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🚀 Discover the Future of Infrastructure Inspection with Twinsity's AI-Driven Technology! 🛠️

Welcome to Startuprad.io! In this episode, we're diving deep into the world of cutting-edge innovation with Twinsity, a startup revolutionizing infrastructure inspection using AI and drones. 🌐 Join us as we chat with Fabien Chalas, co-founder of Twinsity, who unveils their groundbreaking drone technology for inspecting aging infrastructure. 🏗️ Their software creates high-resolution 3D models and utilizes AI to detect defects like cracks and rust, ensuring safety and efficiency.

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🌟 What You'll Learn:

• How Twinsity's technology is reshaping infrastructure inspection.
• Their journey from a family business to a global startup.
• Plans for expansion into North American and Latin American markets.

Sponsored by Hessen Trade Invest and the European Enterprise Network, this episode explores the transformative impact of Twinsity's work on infrastructure maintenance. Whether you're an investor, tech enthusiast, or curious about the future, this episode is a must-listen!

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🔍 Key Questions Discussed:

• How does Twinsity's remote-first approach impact recruitment and company culture?
• What are the technical challenges behind drone-based inspections?
• How does AI enhance defect detection compared to traditional methods?

🌐 About the Founder:

Fabien Chalas, co-founder of Twinsity, brings a wealth of experience from his background in software engineering and renewable energy infrastructure. His vision drives Twinsity's mission to revolutionize infrastructure inspection.

🚀 About Twinsity:

Twinsity, founded by Fabien Chalas, leads the way in infrastructure inspection with its advanced drone technology and AI-driven defect detection. Their innovative approach ensures safety and reliability for critical assets worldwide.

Don't miss out on the future of infrastructure management! Tune in now to learn how Twinsity is transforming the industry.

💡 Find all blog posts with all the links on our blog

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/twinsitys-ai-driven-approach-to-safeguarding-structural-integrity-startuprad-io-e-423-4d0af81e5ca7

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Welcome to our March 2024 wrap-up with vital news from the startup and tech entrepreneurship scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

Our startup news is recorded with Chris in New York City and Joe in Frankfurt. Recording date is March 25th 2024 and all news not included will be in our next news to be released on April 25th 2024.

Happy Easter!

Today we publish on Holy Thursday (Gründonnerstag) in Germany. Note that the Friday before and Monday after Easter are public holidays. Many people will take off around the holidays. So don’t expect your calls to be returned promptly during this time.

A Seismic Shift in the Regional Startup Scene

You are witnessing a seismic shift in the GSA startup scene with us here and today. The headlines of our startup news used to be dominated by fintech funding. Now we have more than 7 billion € investments in green startups (battery, renewable energy) vs. “only” around 150 million in fintech funding in different forms. This is surely a foretaste of what’s to come.

Our Highlights:

The European energy landscape is witnessing significant developments with key investments across sectors.

Northvolt’s Gigafactory in Northern Germany, backed by €900 million in subsidies and a €4.5 billion investment, aims to produce 1 million car batteries annually, driving electric vehicle adoption and job creation.

Enpal secured €1.1 billion in refinancing commitments, while Sunfire raised over €500 million, bolstering Europe’s green hydrogen economy.

ENVIRIA secured $200 million in capital from BlackRock, signaling confidence in the solar sector.

Solaris Bank secured €96 million in funding but faced a €6.5 million fine from BaFin, reflecting fintech regulatory challenges.

Magic gained traction with open AI’s and Tesla’s former Andrej Karpathy as investor, and Bitpanda established a €50 million VC fund for blockchain startups. However, the startup community grapples with stress, with nearly half considering quitting, underscoring the toll of rapid innovation.

Let’s talk startups: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-march-2024-a49996ca44f9

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Housekeeping & Time to Brag — Celebrating one Million Downloads in a Quarter!

1 Million confirmed downloads in Q4 2023: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7176895440510955520/

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The Hosts

The news are co-hosted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. And Christian “Chris' ' Fahrenbach, co-founder Startuprad.io, freelance reporter, lecturer, author and blogger . Reach out to them:

Joe on LinkedIn

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In this episode, we dive deep into the latest tech and startup highlights shaping the landscape of innovation. Join us as we explore groundbreaking developments and game-changing investments that are driving progress in the tech world.

🔍 Our Highlights:

1. Microsoft's bold move to invest 3.3 billion euros in expanding data centers in Germany is a testament to the importance of AI and cloud computing. Chancellor Olaf Scholz applauds this commitment to progress and global openness.

2. Vienna-based AI startup Magic secures a whopping $117 million in funding, setting ambitious goals to surpass ChatGPT-4 with its AGI ambitions. Meanwhile, Stuttgart's Instagrid raises an impressive $95 million to expand into North America with its innovative portable battery systems.

3. Amidst the success stories, we also shed light on the challenges faced by fintech and MedTech sectors. Elinvar grapples with insolvency despite a hefty €50 million investment, while Sanity Group, a cannabis company, makes tough decisions by cutting staff.

4. But there's no shortage of triumphs! BioNTech emerges victorious in a lawsuit, Flixbus makes strides by expanding to India, and Mondu secures a massive €30 million for its expansion plans. However, changes in German insolvency regulations pose new challenges for debt-funded startups like Instafreight.

5. And lastly, EV charging platform Monta electrifies the scene by raising an impressive €80 million for its European expansion, signaling a bright future for sustainable transportation.

Stay ahead of the curve with Startuprad.io as we bring you the latest updates and insights from the dynamic world of tech entrepreneurship. Don't forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to never miss out on our exclusive content! #technews #startupradio #entrepreneurship #innovation #techinvestments #ai #cloudcomputing #AGI #fintech #medtech #biontech #evcharging #MontaExpansion

Let's talk startups: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-february-2024-c5d6ea9a5b5c

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Executive Summary

In this episode of Startuprad.io, host Jörn "Joe" Menninger interviews Martin Cudzilo, founder of ARCheck, discussing the challenges in the cleaning industry and the development of augmented reality technology. Cudzilo shares his entrepreneurial journey, the potential for AR and AI to revolutionize cleaning, and the impact of ARCheck on efficiency and cleaner support. They delve into the challenges of managing sick leave, the early development of ARCheck, and the upcoming launch of the minimum viable product. The episode provides insights into the transformation of the cleaning industry and the powerful potential of augmented reality technology.

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Our Enabler HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Learn more here: https://www.htai.de/ and https://www.een-hessen.de/

Find all blog posts with all the links on our blog

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The Founder

In this episode of Startuprad.io, Jörn "Joe" Menninger welcomes Martin Cudzilo as the esteemed guest. Martin, with over 25 years of experience in the cleaning industry, has a deep understanding of the challenges faced in this sector. His entrepreneurial journey began with the establishment of his own cleaning company, where he recognized the need for innovative solutions to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of cleaning operations.

The Startup

AR-Check, the innovative startup founded by Martin Cudzilo, has emerged as a game-changer in the cleaning industry. The company has completed two rounds of fundraising and is currently open to new investors for its third funding round. AR-Check's groundbreaking and disruptive project aims to revolutionize the market by integrating augmented reality (AR) technology with cleaning processes, providing real-time guidance and quality checks for cleaners.

Venture Capital Funding

AR-Check is currently in the process of raising its Series A funding. You can reach out to Martin via LinkedIn, or leave it to us to make

Tune in to the latest episode of our podcast, where we discuss the top news and trends in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) startups. From European unicorns to emerging tech companies, we cover it all in this monthly show. Don't miss out on the latest tech news and startup updates!

Our Highlights:

Joe already did a 2023 review focused on valuations and investments. All publications more or less agreed that 2023 was hopefully rock bottom for startups, their valuation, funding and founding of new ones and it should get better. Thumbs pressed for that (as is German custom). Our former guest Finn raises 100 M€, unicorn 1Komma5 Grad is looking for 100 M€, Unzer loss amounts to 400 M€ and Everphone raises 270 M€. Despite the dire situation, almost 2,500 new startups were founded in Germany. Also one should take notice of Karlsruhe, a city with a world-class technical university, that is home to INTERATEC which raised 118 M€ for efuels. Please, take a moment and match again all the bad news we have gathered here and weigh it against entrepreneurs sticking their heads out and even raising hundreds of millions from investors. Congratulations to those brave ones! Let's talk startups:

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Find all links and Show Notes Here:

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-january-2024-startuprad-io-e-412-8aed840bed61

#startupradio #startupnews #startuppodcastgermany #technews #technologynews #techpodcast

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Join us for a deep dive into the startup world of Germany in 2023! We'll recap the latest trends in startup valuations and investments, featuring top Berlin, Hamburg, and other German startups. Learn about the innovative ideas and entrepreneurs driving the German startup scene forward. Don't miss out on this valuable information for investors and aspiring entrepreneurs alike!

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All Links and Show Notes Here is our blog post:

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/deep-dive-a-recap-of-2023s-startup-valuations-and-investment-trends-d0d876b4cd1e

We are talking about #Startupscene #germanstartuppodcast #germanstartups #startups #innovation #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #businessnews #insolvencies #earlystageinvestment #seed #seedfunding #preseedfunding #laterstagefunding #valuation #privateequity #venturecapital #fundraising #deeptech #biotechnology #AI #europeanstartupodcast #europeanstartup #startupeurope #ecosystem #ecosystems #scalablestartups #jobcreation #marketcapitalization #dealvolume #europeanperspective #cleantechnology #cleantech #fundingslump #biotechcompanies #entrepreneurinterviews #startupradio

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Welcome to our December 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup and tech entrepreneurship scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂. Our startup news is recorded with Chris in New York City and Joe in Frankfurt. The recording date is December 19th, 2023 and all news not included will be in our next news to be released on January 25th, 2024. Note: We will take a holiday break until January 18th, 2023, when you can expect the first publication in the new year.

Our Highlights:

Aleph Alpha's AI models get bad press. Escooter Tier lays of one-fifth of the workforce. Solarisbank also fires employees, and so does the Austrian scale-up neoom. Sport Alliance gets 100 M US$ funding and Hugo Boss chips into a sustainable fashion fund. Trade Republic is now a fully licensed bank and Instafreight has to file for insolvency. In total, we have more than 30 M US$ new VC investments in Austria, more than 25 M US$ investments in Switzerland, and more than 400 M US$ investments in Germany, vs only three insolvencies. Yes at the core we are very positive :-). It feels better, at least a bit. Let's talk startups:

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All Links and Show Notes

Here is our blog post: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-december-2023-startuprad-io-e-409-f30d787f0c1f

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Welcome

Welcome to our November 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

Our Highlights

AI startup Aleph Alpha raises half a billion dollars, CMBlu raises 100 mn € for energy storage, WeFox gets 55 M US$ from Deutsche and Unicredit, and Vanguard pulls the plug on their German robo advisor. It seems that Sono Motors has found an investor to keep going at least until the end of 2024 and the German subsidiary of WeWork also has to file for insolvency.

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This recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. Look for our dedicated sub-podcast in partnership with them: Tech Startups Germany on our https://linktr.ee/startupradio

Top NewsAleph Alpha raises 500 mn US$

Heidelberg-based Aleph Alpha raises a total investment of more than half a billion US Dollars from a consortium of industry leaders and new investors for their AI for Enterprises and Governments.

CMBlu Energy raises 100 mn €

German Energy scale-up CMBlu offers „warehouses for energy", with batteries storing up to gigawatt hours. They now raised 100 million Euros, with Strabag being the sole investor, one of Europe's largest construction companies, based in Vienna.

WeFox Raises 55m US$

Deutsche Bank and UniCredit back $4.5 billion insurance startup Wefox with $55 million in fresh funds. WeFox is an online insurance broker and it did not raise equity, so their valuation stayed the same.

Sono Motors May Have Found An Investor

Sono Motors was once hailed as a new hope for the German startup scene, listing early in the US in November 2021. The company wanted to increase the reach of electro-cars by adding solar cells but ran into many problems while developing electro-cars. In the end, they had to file for insolvency but are now restarting with tech that allows the retrofitting of solar panels for fossil fuel busses. Sono Motors filed a 6-K form with the SEC saying that the company secured its survival for 2024, apparently most of the 250 employees can find further employment. Read more in our blog post: Sono Motors Finds Investor https://buff.ly/3Rjuo9t

Vanguard Pulls The Plug on Their Robo Advisor in Germany

Vanguard's German robo advisor costs millions and scores only 4 mn assets under management (AuM) at the end of 2022. A disaster according to FinanceFWD. To put this in perspective: Scalable Capital had 11 months after launch more than 100 mn AuM

WeWork Germany Files For Insolvency

WeWork's German subsidiary filed for insolvency - the company had issues everywhere.

Find the full news with all links and show notes here:

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-november-2023-startuprad-io-e-405-99d9efb6f3ff

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Executive Summary

In this episode of Startuprad.io, host Jörn "Joe" Menninger interviews Michael Duttlinger from Cashlink. They discuss the importance of transparency with shareholders and how communication is key during a pivot. Cashlink, a leading registrar for tokenized securities in Germany, aims to disrupt the securities market and provide a more cost-efficient and transparent alternative to traditional intermediaries. They recently raised €7 million in a fundraising round and are collaborating with major financial institutions in Germany. Cashlink is focused on growth, acquiring new issuers and clients, and building its regulated financial institution to support the growing market for tokenized securities in Germany.

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Our Enabler HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Learn more here: https://www.htai.de/ and https://www.een-hessen.de/

Questions Discussed in the Interview

• How has transparency played a role in Cashlink's relationship with shareholders? 
• In what ways did the communication with shareholders intensify during the pivot period?  How does Cashlink differentiate itself from traditional infrastructure providers such as Clearstream Banking Frankfurt? 
• What benefits does tokenization bring to participants in the securities market? 
• How has Germany's progressive regulation for tokenization contributed to the growth of Cashlink and the ecosystem as a whole? 
• What challenges did Cashlink face during its pivot from a fintech for money transfers to a tokenization market focus? 
• How did Cashlink navigate investor and stakeholder concerns during the pivot period? 
• How does increased competition in the tokenization market disrupt the traditional securities market and benefit investors? 
• What role does automation play in making securities handling more cost-efficient and creating new investment opportunities? 

The Founder

Michael Duttlinger, the founder of Cashlink, started his fintech journey with a typical garage story reminiscent of those heard in Silicon Valley.

All Links and Show Notes

https://blog.startuprad.io/revolutionizing-securities-exploring-tokenization-and-transparency-with-cashlink-e-403-f655217533fc

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Welcome to our October 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

This time we wrap up October 2023 in our 400th episode!

Our startup news are recorded with Chris today in Germany and Joe in Frankfurt. The recording date is October 25th and all news not included will be in our next news to be released on November 30th.

This time we made more cuts to our news here. We hope you like the lighter version of it. If you think we cut too much, feel free to let us know.

For everyone who celebrates it: Happy Halloween AAAAAAAAAAAAAAND Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Highlights:

BioNTech is a very special case in Germany, but now one of their former Senior Vice Presidents (Katalin Karikó, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 for her research in mRNA). Two German companies IPOed (yes, no startups, but still a good sign). Solar startup Nexwafe starts 120 M € funding, Black Semiconductor from Aachen is looking to raise 500 M €, and there is bad news about the former unicorn Infarm.

Let's talk startups:

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Our EnablersThis recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Look for our dedicated sub-podcast in partnership with them: Tech Startups Germany on our https://linktr.ee/startupradio

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Top NewsFormer Employee of BioNTech Receives as 13th Women Nobel Prize in Medicine

BioNTech is a very special case in the German startup world. During corona, they have been assumed to be responsible for 0.5% of GDP growth of all of Germany, one of the five largest economies in the world. Now they have another very unique distinction: A former Senior Vice President (2013–2022) of the company Katalin Karikó, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2023 for her research in mRNA. Congratulations to her, being the 13th woman to have won a Nobel prize in medicine, she is sharing the prize with Drew Weissman.

Solar Startup Hunting for 100+ M € in Funding at 500 M Valuation

Freiburg, Germany-based solar startup Nexwafe starts new funding, aiming for 120 m € in Venture Capital at a valuation of up to 500 M €

Black Semiconductor 500 M € in Funding

Aachen, Germany-based chip startup Black Semiconductor about to close large funding of 500 M €, with up to 70% of government funding. The founders are looking to develop a new way to connect elements on semiconductors but may need up to 7 years for the...

In this episode of Startuprad.io, host Jörn "Joe" Menninger speaks with Rafael Fietzek, Co-Founder and Managing Director at COMPREDICT, to explore the groundbreaking advancements in automotive technology. COMPREDICT is leading the charge with its revolutionary virtual sensor technology, powered by AI, that is set to transform the way vehicles operate.

Key Takeaways:

• Virtual Sensors & AI Integration: Learn how COMPREDICT’s AI-driven virtual sensors are designed to replace traditional hardware sensors in vehicles, enabling more efficient and predictive vehicle maintenance. These virtual sensors enhance operational performance by monitoring critical aspects such as tire and brake wear, as well as vehicle dynamics, all through AI.

• Series B Funding Success: Rafael discusses COMPREDICT’s impressive $15 million Series B funding round, backed by high-profile investors like Michelin, BlackBerry, and Toyota's investment arm, Woven Capital. This investment boosts COMPREDICT’s credibility and positions them for further growth.

• Strategic Partnerships: Find out how COMPREDICT is collaborating with leading automotive manufacturers, such as Renault, Alpine, and Toyota, to integrate their virtual sensors into mass production vehicles, making a significant impact on the industry.

• Recruitment Challenges: The episode highlights the difficulties COMPREDICT faces in recruiting top international tech talent, as well as the hurdles associated with international visa processes, which slow down the hiring of skilled workers from outside Europe.

• Networking and B2B Sales: Discover the importance of networking at industry conferences and how building relationships with key decision-makers in the automotive sector is vital to securing large B2B deals.

• Future Roadmap: Rafael outlines COMPREDICT’s growth strategy, including plans to secure more production deals, continue expanding into global markets like Japan and the U.S., and prepare for a future Series C funding round.

Who Should Listen:

If you are a tech startup enthusiast, automotive engineer, AI expert, or investor, this episode offers valuable insights into how COMPREDICT is shaping the future of the automotive industry with cutting-edge AI solutions. You’ll also gain an inside look at the challenges and strategies involved in scaling a deep tech startup in a highly competitive industry.

Don’t miss out on this engaging conversation that covers innovation, AI, automotive partnerships, and the future of virtual sensors. Whether you're interested in automotive technology, AI applications, or startup growth strategies, this episode has something for you.

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Executive Summary

In today's episode, we have a very special guest joining us, Christian Rebernik, CEO & Co-Founder of Tomorrow University. We'll dive into Christian's journey, from his early days as a CTO of companies like Scout24 Group, dating Website Parship, World Food Program, bwin, or N26 to his current role in shaping the next generation of banking and now building a next-generation university. We'll explore how he's bridging the gap between technology and education, revolutionizing the way we learn and empowering future change-makers. Stay tuned for an engaging and enlightening conversation on the innovation landscape, the role of online learning, and the power of meaningful connections in business and personal relationships. Let's get started!

Like what you hear? You can tip us here: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Startuprad.io

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This recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Look for our dedicated sub-podcast in partnership with them: Tech Startups Germany on our https://linktr.ee/startupradio

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The Founder

Christian is the CEO and Co-Founder of Tomorrow University. He is a CTO with a strong technical background, but his key strength lies in his ability to understand and leverage technology for business growth. Christian believes that it is crucial for developers to have a clear understanding of the customer's needs and the reasons behind the work they do. In his past experiences, he noticed the negative impact of treating developers as mere "coding monkeys" without involving them in customer interactions. This motivated him to establish Tomorrow University, where developers are encouraged to engage with customers and align their work with business objectives. Christian's mission is to bridge the gap between business and technology, empowering developers to make a meaningful impact through their work.

The Startup

What sets Tomorrow University (https://www.tomorrow.university/) apart from its competition is its unique approach to learning. They have developed a cutting-edge learning model that emphasizes real-world challenges and hands-on experiences, taking students out of their comfort zones.

All Links and Show Notes Here is our blog post: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/from-cto-of-n26-to-founding-a-non-profit-online-university-startuprad-io-0e68274207aa

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Welcome to our summer 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

This time we wrap up September 2023. There have been a lot of news sad (insolvencies, final closures, …), but also good ones (expansions, fundings, …) that we just had to make a selection in order not to bore you to death.

Our startup news is recorded with Chris live in New York City and Joe in Frankfurt. The recording date is September 26th and all news not included will be in our next news to be released on October 26th.

Our Highlights:

We track close to 500 mn Euros in newly announced investments in GSA. We have the first defense tech unicorn in Berlin and a lot of great news from Greentech startups in Germany. Some proptechs are not doing well, but not all startups associated with construction are performing poorly, as shown by the fundraising from Schüttfix. Long-distance trucking gets more autonomous with FERNRIDE and some bank news: Deutsche Bank uses Swiss DLT startup Taurus' technology and we learn more about JP Morgan's retail offering in Germany. Unicorn Flix already hired banks for their IPO in H1 next year. We also keep you updated on the bank holidays in Germany in the next weeks.

Let's talk startups:

Find all links and show notes here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-september-2023-startuprad-io-e-397-40c9c7b5fa2c

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Welcome to our summer 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in around 30 minutes sometimes less 🙂.

This time we wrap up July and August. We came up with the summer news because the September news has always been very long, overcrowded, and covered 3 months. That was a bit too much of a break and too much news in one piece. So we looked to wrap up summer and since the US is an important market and Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer it seems like a good fit.

This summer has been a bit different and there has been a lot of news, so we focus more on the most recent ones and we have cut a lot of news here.

For everybody in the US who celebrates it: Happy Labor Day!

Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-summer-2023-july-august-episode-fdb709d89fbd

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Our Highlights:

Binance has not - yet - gotten permission to operate in Germany from BaFin, Nextwind raises 750 m US$, Bitpanda surpasses 1 M customers in Germany and Germany sets a new record in new founders. We also shared that SAP wants to invest in Aleph Alpha, they confirmed this and two more.

Germany's law for legalizing cannabis falls short of the expectations of cannabis entrepreneurs. Europe dominates climate fintech funding and the overall fintech funding shows a sign of life. Bafin also stopped mini VC investments - trashing the business model of some fintechs - AND we found newly closed VC funds in excess of 2.8 bn US$ that are open to European founders.

Our Enablers 

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Top News Du kommst hier ned rein 🙂 Is the usual saying in Frankfurt if a Bouncer won't let you in a Club

Fintech blog Finance Forward reports German finance oversight BaFin signals no license for Binance for Germany. So they can neither advertise nor expand in Germany. To be clear, this is not a final NO, but rather a "Binance keeps trying, but BaFin signaled a No"

750 M US$ for Wind Energy

Wind Energy in Germany: StartUp Nextwind raises 750 M US$ Venture Capital investors include Sandbrook Capital, Canadian funds Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), and Imco

Bitpanda - The Austrian Unicorn

Surpasses 1 million customers in Germany alone https://buff.ly/44mMyKP it is not sure how many of them are really active, but that is always a tough question, even for the startups. But the question is important since one only makes money with active users.

Germany Sets a New Record in Founders

Despite the current economic situation, Germany has the highest share of founders in 24 years!!! According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Germany had a larger than 9% founder quota, meaning people from 18–64 who (co) founded a new business within the last 3,5 years (Young...

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Find all blog posts with all the links on our blog https://medium.com/startuprad-io/navigating-the-insurtech-landscape-thinksurances-rise-in-the-digital-insurance-era-startuprad-io-1555e1d35e0a

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Executive Summary

In this episode of Startuprad.io, our guest is Florian Brokamp, CEO and Co-Founder of Thinksurance. Brokamp discusses the positive economic state of the company, the importance of smart investors analyzing macroeconomic trends, and the growing industries of AI and insurtech. He emphasizes the stability of the insurance industry and the need for digitalization. He shares insights on their fundraising journey and the different parts of their company's offerings. Florian also highlights the importance of proper risk valuation, data transparency, and providing value to distributors, customers, and insurers. Overall, Thinksurance's vision is to connect insurance carriers, distributors, and customers through its technology platform.

Questions Discussed in this Interview:

How did Thinksurance navigate the fundraising process and secure funding for their business?

What were some of the challenges Thinksurance faced during the fundraising process, and how did they overcome them?

How does Thinksurance differentiate itself in the B2B commercial insurance space in Germany?

How does Thinksurance use data to address the lack of transparency in the insurance industry?

What is the importance of properly pricing risks in the insurance industry, according to Thinksurance?

How does Thinksurance define their target user and how do they cater to the needs of different types of users?

How has Thinksurance's market coverage and relevance increased through onboarding large associations and brokers?

How does Thinksurance aim to streamline the consultation process and provide value to distributors, customers, and insurers?

What is Thinksurance's approach to hiring and maintaining a strong company culture?

How does Thinksurance plan to further penetrate sales channels and collaborate with partners to address their digitalization needs?

The Founder

In this episode, our guest is Florian, the CEO and Co-Founder of Thinksurance, an insurtech startup from Frankfurt, focused on revolutionizing the commercial insurance industry through their technology platform. Throughout the episode, Florian shares insights into the economic landscape, the challenges of fundraising, and the growth potential of industries like AI and insurtech. He highlights the importance of finding investors who believe in the long-term vision and emphasizes the need to update legacy systems in the insurance industry.

The Startup

Thinksurance is a German insurtech company that provides digital insurance solutions for businesses and brokers. As mentioned by Florian Brokamp, the CEO and Co-Founder of Thinksurance, the company focuses on updating the legacy systems of the insurance industry, enabling a seamless and efficient consultation process between customers, insurers, and brokers. They offer a comprehensive suite of services including core consultation, Consult Direct service, and a data suite that collects and analyzes market...

Welcome to our June 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

We follow our top-down structure in the news.

Welcome to our startup news wrap-up for June 2023 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on June 27th, 2023. All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog link below.

Note: We will now go into the summertime: In July and August we will only publish content every other week AND the next startups news will be our summer wrap-up, to be published on September 4th, in the US celebrated as Labor Day.

Our Highlights:

1 Komma 5, a Greentech startup, becomes a unicorn after only 23 months. We are wondering if this is the rise of climate tech startups already? Switzerland has a record funding with Teylor of 275 m €. GetYourGuide shows travel tech is back in favor of VCs with 194 m US$ funding. Germany and Intel agree on subsidies and investments for a new mega chip factory worth more than 30 bn Euros. Fernride, a pioneer of autonomous electric trucks, gets a 30 M US$+ Series A funding.

Let’s talk startups:

Top News The Rise of Climate Tech Startups Has Begun, So It Seems

Hamburg’s 1KOMMA5° has raised €430 million — and just become a unicorn at just 23 months old

Related: 1KOMMA5 buys danish solar company Viasol

Related: 430 mn debt funding

A Record Funding for Switzerland

Swiss-based SME lending fintech Teylor raises 275 m Euro, gaining Barclays as a new investor. Other investors include M&G Investments …

Traveltech Startups Seem to Be Back

GetYourGuide raises $194 million to fuel curated travel experiences and global expansion

30 bn For a New Chip Factory

Intel, Germany strike record €30B deal for chip mega-factory

Do You Know Fernride?

FERNRIDE a German pioneer of autonomous, electric trucks, raises 31 M USD in Series A funding

Find all Links and Show Notes here

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-june-2023-episode-388-960515c65b87

Startups, Venture Capital, Unicorn, New Unicorn, Europe, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scaleups, Tech News, Venture Capital News, Startup News,

Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to our May 2023 wrap-up with important news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

We follow our top-down structure in the news: First, the top news, then we look with a bird's eye view at the startup ecosystem in the German language countries, dig deeper by looking at exciting startup cities and end with general news. And for those serious about startups, there is even a collection called: "Stay Ahead of the Curve," where we share in-depth reads, articles, studies, and podcasts.

Our next news episode will be published on June 29th, and then we are - for the news - in summer break.

Our Highlights:

Germany is now officially in a recession, but one with barely any unemployment. Also, we still track many startups going out of business, BUT the overall picture is improving. The German VC and PE Barometer - which captures the mood of many German investors - is showing an uptick. This shows especially in the massive amount of new funds raised; they promise a bright future for startups! We tracked at least 3,4 bn Euros of newly raised funds, which will be invested entirely or partially in startups in Europe and GSA. Look at our medium blog; we have more information on what the investors are looking for and how to pitch them. We also have investments and exits worth at least 5,4 bn Euros and news in this episode, including WeFox, Tier Mobility, Infarm, Blinkist, Bitpanda, Aleph Alpha, Sono Motors, and many more.

Let's talk startups:

Find all links and the other news here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-may-2023-episode-385-87fd564d483a

Tune in to our 24/7 Tech Entrepreneurship Internet Radio Station here:

www.startup.radio

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Top NewsDeal or No Deal?

Getir is in talks to take over German grocery app rival Flink | Financial Times

But then: Flink's sale to Getir fell through. Now Flink is raising 150 M € from investors, including grocery giant Rewe and Doordash

Tier Mobility to Merge with Competitor

European e-scooter giant Tier Mobility maps route to merger

Will Infarm Be Soon Outfarm?

Infarm keeps shrinking and is leaving Europe, reports Handelsblatt. The greenhouse startup reportedly has only 80 employees in Europe left and will get an investment at an unknown valuation for their relocation - likely to the Middle East with low energy prices

Blinkist Makes a Large Exit!

Berlin-based startup Blinkist is sold to Australian education startup Go1 for an undisclosed amount, reported to be "hundreds of millions." Blinkist offers short wrap-ups of nonfiction books as text or audio

Large Drops in Valuations are Not Only for the Small...

Executive Summary

In this episode, Joe interviews Lukas, co-founder of Minds Medical, and Ingo, senior partner of SYNPULSE. The story follows the pivot of Minds Medical from a healthcare-focused AI startup serving hospitals to its services for fintech/insurtech companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discuss the challenges of extracting structured data from unstructured medical documents and the potential applications of this technology in the insurance industry. The conversation highlights the joint offering of intelligent document processing for the insurance industry and the acquisition process between the two companies.

When Corona hit, all hospitals stopped picking up the phone. So we had to focus all our energy on the insurance product.

Lukas Naab, Founder Minds Medical

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With SYNPULSE8 we are now building a product for the global insurance market.

Lukas Naab, Founder Minds Medical

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Our Enabler HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen 

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Learn more here: https://www.htai.de/ and https://www.een-hessen.de/ 

We discovered for example that one large hospital in Germany has more than 200 different forms just to discharge patients. [And there are more than 1.800 different hospitals in Germany]. This amount of unstructured data requires machine learning and AI to be useful.

Lukas Naab, Founder Minds Medical

The Founder

Lukas is the founder and CEO of Frankfurt-based AI startup Minds Medical. Since the acquisition of Minds Medical he is in the new company the principal product owner for SYNPULSE8. During the outbreak of corona, hospitals had many other things to do and just stopped picking up the phone, all at the same time. So Minds Medical had to focus completely on their insurance product. They eventually decided to join forces with SYNPULSE since they already had a joint offering for disability insurance providers.

The Startup

Minds Medical was acquired by SYNPULSE, now known as SYNPULSE8. This becomes part of their offering to insurance companies and insurtech startups, active in the healthcare space. The problem these insurers are facing is the sheer amount of unstructured medical data they get bombarded with...

Executive Summary

Learn how to acquire competitive advantages in your eCommerce ventures with a buy & build strategy, unlock potential growth and add new capabilities: In this episode, Joe, interviews Peter, the founder of an AI startup called Pythia. Peter discusses his company’s buy-and-build strategy for acquiring e-commerce startups, which involves integrating them into their standardized processes and assigning brand managers or CEOs to oversee them. He also talks about the challenges facing companies in the current market, including rising prices, tighter financing, and more restrictive customers. Peter’s company is looking for profitable e-commerce companies with solid earnings and adjusted earnings, and they plan to continue buying until late 2027, with the goal of reaching €80 million in revenue and €20 million in profit. 

There has been a kind of Bermuda triangle created by external forces for e-commerce companies recently. Financing becomes more expensive, inflation increases production prices and consumers are more restrictive with their purchases Peter Hart — Founder and CEO DIPQ and Pythia
Happy Father’s Day

At the day of the publication of this interview, we celebrate in Germany Father’s Day. In Germany, the day is always celebrated on a Thursday, Ascension Day, also a public holiday in Germany, which gives fathers time to celebrate.

Happy Father’s Day!

Note: Mother’s Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday in May in Germany, where we do not publish, so no Mother’s Day episodes exist. Sorry to all mothers, and belated happy Mother’s Day as well! 

Over the last 12 months, we looked at the demand for consumer products and made a buy or build decision, which always ended up to be a buying decision, due to the lower multiples. Peter Hart — Founder and CEO DIPQ and Pythia

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We usually look at Shopify stores. If they are not, we move them over time to Shopify.Peter Hart — Founder and CEO DIPQ and Pythia

 

The Founder

Peter Hart is a young and exceptional entrepreneur. He appeared in Germany’s version of Shark Tank and got a deal for 200.000 Euros as a 25-year-old. Currently, he is not even 35 and already runs 12 brands simultaneously. You can learn more about how he achieves this in the Starting Y interview in the links on the blog post.

He started with a body aftershave brand called Dr. Severin and then went on to develop the software he used to forecast consumer trend tools into the AI startup Pythia. With this, he built and bought several consumer brands and now logically continues this approach by buying up profitable e-commerce shops with Dipq (no website).

Currently there are not many investors active. For all of our acquisitions we have been the only ones bidding.Peter Hart — Founder and CEO DIPQ and Pythia

 

The Strategy

Peter has with Pythia a competitive advantage in...

Welcome to our April 2023 wrap-up with important news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

Our Highlights:

Considerable funding made headlines last month. We have more than 600 M euros in funding in our highlights alone. A potential large exit: Software AG, the Darmstadt-based listed software company, is close to a 2.4 bn US$ exit with an offer from Silverlake Partners. Also, Berlin-based Blinkist may be close to a 200 M € exit. Hundreds of millions of raised funds were announced by Enpal (via ABS), Isar Aerospace, IntegrityNext, Razor Group, and Tado. Also, SAP is close to investing in Germany’s hottest AI startup Aleph Alpha from Heidelberg. Diverging picture in Airtaxi space: Lilium is looking for new investors; Volocopter builds the taxis and expects them to fly in less than 500 days at the Paris Olympics.

Let’s talk startups:

Top NewsSoftware AG Close to a Multi-Billion Acquisition

Private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners, based in Menlo Park, is close to buying Germany’s Software AG in $2.42 billion deal. The offer is already public, reported Reuters. Shares of listed Software AG jumped 53% at the announcement. The investor already knows the company: In February 2022, Silver Lake had invested 344 million euros in the software developer’s convertible bond, which upon conversion would represent nearly 9% of issued Software AG shares.

Enpal Raises More Than 300 M€

Enpal raises up to €356 million via Securitization of Solar Receivables with first German residential solar ABS. ABS are asset-backed securities, that means if Enpal can not pay interest or pay back the final sum, the investors have the collateral (assets) backing the security

Blinkist Close to 200 M € Exit

Reports blog Deutsche-Startups, with an offer from an — yet unnamed — American company. The blog, with its founder Alexander Hüsing is usually pretty well informed and has been right before.

Isar Aerospace Closes €155 Million Funding

Isar Aerospace closes €155 million Series C funding round, ignition sequence start, all engine running. Investors are 7-Industries Holding, Bayern Kapital via its Scale Up Fund Bavaria, Earlybird Venture Capital, HV Capital, Lakestar, Lombard Odier Investment Managers, Porsche Automobil Holding SE (Porsche SE), UVC Partners, and Vsquared Ventures

100 m € for IntegrityNext

The company has been bootstrapped for seven years, but now IntegrityNext takes €100 million from EQT Growth fund.

Razor Group Raises 88 M US$

Berlin-based Razor Group, an e-commerce aggregator, closes Series C at $88M at $1.2B valuation, acquires Stryze to consolidate.

Tado Raises Money, As IPO Plans Falter

Smart thermostat startup Tado wanted to IPO but then came Corona and Ukraine. They originally wanted to explore a sale or IPO after their 2021 fundraising, but the SPAC deal faltered and they needed to adapt. So they raised 46.9 M US$. Their existing investors already include Siemens, Amazon, and EON.

SAP To Invest In AI Startup Aleph Alpha

German press reports that the software giant SAP is about to invest in German ChatGPT competitor Aleph Alpha, which also claims to have eliminated fake news from its software. As yet, the valuation and investment are not known.

Related: Heidelberg-based startup, a competitor of ChatGPT, claims to have eliminated fake news from its tool Luminous

Airtaxi Lilium is Looking for New Money, and Volocopter is Planning to Fly

Airtaxi Lilium: 0 Euro revenue, 253 mn € losses. They are looking for new investors. Volocopter on the other hand, wants to start operating their drones as taxis ASAP. They also pledged to operate their air taxis in Paris, during the Olympic Games, in less than 500 days.

Related: Volocopter starts production — founders magazin

All Links and Show...

Executive Summary

Learn how CreditShelf, a leading German fintech company, secured 100 million euros of investment from Goldman Sachs and what that means for businesses seeking credit.

CreditShelf recently received 100 mn € from Goldman Sachs to lend out via their platform; Goldman joins other investors like the European Investment Fund. The fintech works with Raisin Bank to get SMEs loans within four weeks. They IPOed already in 2018 in Frankfurt as the first pure-play fintech in Germany.

The Founder

Daniel is a returning guest. We interviewed CrediShelf shortly after their IPO in 2018 (link below). Daniel holds an MBA from the University of Mannheim and a Ph.D. from the University of Düsseldorf. He has experience s a management consultant from Kienbaum and Bain & Company. He has also been an executive director for Swiss banking giant UBS for eight years in their investment bank (Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC)) in Zürich and Singapore. He is one of the three co-founders of CreditShelf, which was set up in 2016, and currently acting as the CFO of the company.

The Startup

CreditShelf is a credit platform connecting institutional investors and German Mittelstand (German small and medium enterprises). They provide corporate loans using a licensed bank (Raisin Bank). The loans work as a fast stand-alone solution (can be paid out within 4 weeks) or part of a more significant credit, involving other parties and banks. The company has successfully developed an online credit marketplace platform whose processes are supported by proprietary, data-driven risk analysis software. On their platform, they offer loans for companies located in Germany from 100.000 € to 5 M €, stretching up to 5 years for supplies, scale-up, real estate, and M&A. The CreditShelf platform models the entire credit process, from the loan application through credit analysis and risk management to loan disbursement and servicing.

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All Links and Show Notes

Here is our blog post: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-fintech-got-100-mn-from-goldman-sachs-to-invest-creditshelf-782d9f2223b7

Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:50 Daniel Bartsch, CFO - Former Management Consultant and Investment Banker

00:03:16 The Company - CreditShelf

00:13:42 Loan Demand in Germany Outstripping Supply

00:23:44 CreditShelf’s Outlook on the Economy in 2023

00:25:18 Hessen and Frankfurt as Startup Hub

#startupradio #startup #startups #fintech #fintechfinance #fintechstartups #fintechstartup #frankfurt #germany #credit #sme #lending #lendingcompany #credit #venturecapital #technology #techstartup #techstartups #joemenninger

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Welcome to the September 2024 Startup News from Startuprad.io! This episode covers the most impactful developments in the startup scenes of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Stay informed about key trends, funding rounds, and industry shifts that could influence your business or investment decisions.

Key Highlights:

1. Intel Pauses €30B Chip Factory in Germany

   Intel has halted its €30 billion chip manufacturing project in Magdeburg due to cost-cutting measures and financial challenges, despite a €10 billion investment from the German government. We discuss the implications for Europe's tech industry and startups.

2. Magic AI Secures $320M Led by Eric Schmidt

   Vienna-based Magic AI has raised $320 million, led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, elevating its valuation to $1.5 billion. Magic aims to revolutionize coding with its AI-powered developer assistance software. Learn how this could impact the European AI landscape.

3. Flink Raises $150M for Quick Commerce Expansion

   Berlin's Flink secured $150 million to expand its quick-commerce services in Germany and the Netherlands. Despite a volatile market and a valuation just below $1 billion, Flink aims for profitability and growth. We explore their strategy.

4. Northvolt Faces Financial Challenges

   Swedish battery maker Northvolt is experiencing financial difficulties linked to troubled partnerships with automotive giants like Volkswagen. We examine how this affects Europe's green energy goals and the startup ecosystem.

5. Germany's WIN Initiative Unveiled

   Germany introduces the WIN Initiative to inject €12 billion into its startup ecosystem by 2030. Backed by major players like Deutsche Bank and Allianz, the initiative aims to improve access to capital and foster innovation.

6. DePoly Tops Swiss Startup Awards

   Swiss startup DePoly wins the 2024 Top 100 Swiss Startup Awards for its innovative plastic recycling technology. We highlight what sets DePoly apart in the Swiss innovation scene.

Additional Insights:

• Austria's Hydrogen Valley: Austria plans to invest €578 million to build Europe's first Hydrogen Valley, aiming to produce over 10,000 tons of green hydrogen annually by 2030.

• Berlin's Startup Revival: Mayor Kai Wegner outlines plans to rejuvenate Berlin's startup scene, targeting a top-three position in Europe.

• Major VC Fundraisings:

  • Insight Partners nears a $10 billion fund closure.

  • Atomico raises €1.12 billion to invest in Europe's top founders.

  • Headline secures an $865 million growth fund focused on European startups.

  • Redalpine launches its largest fund yet at $200 million.

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• Original Blog Post: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/categories/startup-news

Intro

Welcome to our March 2023 wrap-up with important news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

We follow our top-down structure in the news: The top news, followed by a bird’s eye view at the startup ecosystem, next deeper looking at fascinating startup cities, and we end with general information. And for those serious about startups, there is a collection called: Stay ahead of the curve, where we share exciting reads, articles, studies, and podcasts.

Welcome to our startup news wrap-up for March with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on March 27th, 2023. A little disclaimer: You may have noticed a lot of stress in February here at Startuprad.io. We should have remembered a few news items in our backlog and added them to this episode.

All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode for April, to be published on April 27th. Find all links to the quoted information on our Medium blog link below.

If you celebrate it: Happy Easter! We also try to bring you a bit of culture from Germany here.

Our Highlights:

Good news and bad news for Fintechs Raisin and N26. Raisin gets its unicorn status back and gets a lot of new business, so much in fact that the complaints at Bafin are mounting. N26 generated 200 mn € revenue in 2021 but has to deal with a senior employee uprising. Neobank Ruuky is saved last minute. Startup Bonify reportedly makes a 20 mn € exit, but employees only get invited to a barbeque. GoStudent is a no-go with courts, and the first Goldman-backed fintech in Germany struggles. Bavarian Airlines may be just a hoax, and Grover shows the first signs on their way to an IPO.

Let’s talk startups:

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Our EnablersThis recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen.

This recording was made possible by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen. These organizations have made tremendous contributions to helping startup businesses succeed and thrive, providing a range of services from helping to find grants to ongoing partnerships. By taking advantage of these resources, startup companies can network and develop innovative strategies for success on the international stage. The dedicated support of HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen is paramount in providing startup businesses with the tools for lasting success. Look for our dedicated sub-podcast in partnership with them: Tech Startups Germany on our https://linktr.ee/startupradio

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Top NewsGood News and Bad News at Raisin

The rising interest...

Welcome to our February 2023 wrap-up with the important news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.

We follow our top-down structure in the news: First the top news, then we look with a bird’s eye view at the startup ecosystem in the German language countries, dig deeper by looking at interesting startup cities and end with general news. And for those of you who are really serious about startups, there is even a collection called: Stay ahead of the curve where we share interesting reads, articles, studies, and podcasts.

Welcome to our startup news wrap-up for February 2023 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on February 21st, 2023.

All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog, link below.

Our Highlights:

Rising interest rates are leading to an interest rate war between the neobrokers. We covered the troubled company Windeln.de, which is now liquidated. Farewell! Moonfare extended it’s Series C funding to more than 130 m US$, but we are not sure who invested in the last batch, since a fund is mentioned, that was also founded by Moonfare’s founder. The City of Mainz goes live with its quest to become a world-class biotech hub. N26 was reportedly in advanced talks to buy dutch broker Bux, but buxed out shortly before the closing. AAAAAAnd, we like to end on a high note: Raising is in the process of reclaiming its unicorn status with new funding. We have also some event recommendations for you and discounts from 20% to 100% for the events listed in our show notes.

Let’s talk startups:

Our EnablersThis recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen

Look for our dedicated sub-podcast in partnership with them: Tech Startups Germany on our https://linktr.ee/startupradio

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Top NewsNeobrokers Just Started — What May Be An Interest Rate War (Chris)

After german unicorn Trade Republic had a smashing success with offering 2% interest for money deposited there now also fellow unicorn Scalable offers even 2,3%, BUT only from 100k € on and only if you are a subscriber (4.99/month) 

Farewell Windeln.de

We have often talked in our news about the precarious position of windeln.de. Now it is finally liquidated 

Who Extended Moonfare’s Series C?

Moonfare is a fintech from Germany, allows individuals to invest in Private Equity Funds, founded by former KKR Germany Head Steffen Pauls. They cap their Series C extension round at about $15M, bringing its Series C funding to $130 million+ the Berlin-based fintech allows HNWI, family offices, banks, and their advisor's access to top-tier private markets investments. BUT German business magazin Manager Magazin reports that for this extension the only investor mentioned by name is one that Mr. Pauls has co-founded.

You can find his profile at 7 Global Capital here on their website as Managing Partner and Founder.

City of Mainz Starts to Invest some of Their...

Happy 2023, as well as a happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. 2023 Chris and Joe will again bring you startup news once a month (with a small summer break) wrapping up what was going on — and we found noteworthy — in the GSA / DACH startups scene.

Our Highlights:

WeFox is under fire for growing with acquisitions of insurance broker pools, BioNTech makes largest acquisition in its history, DeepL confirms unicorn status and snipes at Grammarly, Solarisbank in trouble with BaFin, Trade Republic has to disclose numbers and Sono Motors gets longer runway with EU money.

Let’s talk startups:

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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. Look for Tech Startups Germany here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio

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Top NewsWeFox got some splaining to do 🙂

Extensive, but not favorable coverage of insurtech Wefox came out this month. The main complaints are that the growth is basically driven by acquiring existing pools of insurance brokers (not really what you would associate with an insurtech startup). They made that way 600 million Euros in revenue in 2022. But these pools do not get innovative systems from WeFox, or innovative insurance offers from them, they just keep working. Also, there has been no innovative product that really drove the growth at WeFox as an innovative unicorn

BioNTech makes the largest acquisition to date

BioNTech may be one of Germany’s most successful startup companies. We talked about it in our news before, the company alone is responsible for approximately half a percentage point of Germany’s GDP Growth in 2021 — Keep in mind that Germany is the 4th largest country in the world by nominal GDP.

Here is the new piece: Mainz-based pharma company BioNTech (famous for their corona vaccine) makes the largest acquisition in its history with UK-based AI startup Instadeep

Related: BioNTech’s founder on the future of mRNA technology

Cologne-based DeepL confirms unicorn status and snipes at Grammarly

DeepL takes aim at Grammarly with the launch of Write, to clean up your prose.

Related:

Cologne-based translation tool DeepL confirms unicorn valuation for their 2022 fundraising of 100 mn US$

Solarisbank joins N26 in Troubles with BaFin

Bafin is Germany’s bank oversight body (think FSA or SEC). They have already limited the number of customers N26 can acquire due to lapses in following regulations (especially AML), now Solarisbank is in too: “Solarisbank in Germany can now only get new partners (fintech clients) with permission of German finance oversight BaFin, due to continuing problems. BaFin also sends an “observer”

Trade Republic Updates

Trade Republic generates more than 1 bn Euros inflows of new client money with 2% interest rate offer and a lot of favorable press coverage.

Also, Trade Republic has to publish their numbers: There is a legal requirement in Germany to publish your balance sheet 12 months after your business...

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups, our startup news wrap-up for December 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on December 19th, 2022. Keep in mind, this news episode covers everything since our last news episode.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode, which will be January 2023, the first news for 2023. Guys, another year is over! Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog, link below

Our Highlights:

Enpal makes huge fundraising in the current environment, more than 800 mn €. Sennder doubles its valuation in the next funding round to 2 bn US$ and has already 60 mn commitments. The funding environment may be bleak, but investors announced new funds for VC and PE investments worth 3.1 bn US$ targeting startups and scaleups in GSA or Europe. One blog asks if the time of Rocket Internet is over, Matter Labs raises 200 mn, a big heist drives a startup into insolvency and Getir buys Gorillas for 1,2 bn US$, a far cry from Gorillas' former 3 bn US$ valuation.

Let's talk startups:

Top News Enpal Fundraising

Enpal could double its valuation in the new funding round. Berlin-based unicorn Enpal closes €855 million in debt funding to accelerate the adoption of solar energy.

Sennder Raises New Funds At Double Valuation

Digital forwarder unicorn Sennder is raising new money, at a  2 bn US$ valuation. According to the report, they already have  60m commitments.

Fundraising For VCs Went Quite Well - More Than 3.1 bn Euros Worth of New Investment Funds Have Been Closed

The largest is EQT Ventures. It has Money if your startup needs it: EQT Ventures III closes Europe's largest venture capital fund committed to early-stage tech startups. The money will go to early-stage startups in Europe and North America. For more funds, wait for our later section with new fund announcements.

A service for our audience: Learn more and send in pitches here: https://eqtgroup.com/current-portfolio/funds/eqt-ventures-iii 

Has Rocket Internet Already Seen Its Best Years?

"Mucho trouble over at Rocket Internet," wrote Robin Wauters in his readworthy newsletter for Tech.eu. The article asks if their era is over. Staff cuts and investment stop point in that direction.

Startup Brand Ranking

Jung von Matt publishes their annual  GERMAN STARTUP BRAND RANKING

Some of the top 50 startup brands are known from our news: About You, Flink, Numa Group, getquin, Vivid, Flaschenpost, Tier Mobility, Zolar, Enpal, Sono Motors, Trade Republic

Matter Labs raises 200 mn US$

Matter Labs, the Berlin, Germany-based developer of zkSync, a solution that reduces the cost of Ethereum transactions, raised $200M in Series C funding https://buff.ly/3UorChp

Not Oceans Eleven, But Still BIG

Berlin-based luxury watch marketplace Watchmaster was one of the largest marketplaces of its kind. After a spectacular robbery where 10 m € worth of watches have been stolen the company has to file for insolvency https://buff.ly/3Fi3qsG 

Getir Buys Gorillas And It Is Not Going Well For the Gorillas Founder

First, this kind of news appeared: Getir will take over Gorillas soon - according to press reports. The negotiations have been dragging on for some time now.

Then, we got the confirmation: Getir acquires German competitor Gorillas in $1.2 billion deal - where Gorillas was once valued at 3 bn...

Executive Summary

UniApp is an ed-tech startup from Germany, that helps international students to prepare for their study abroad and helps in the application process, both on their platform. They help students to find the right place to study for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as online-only programs. Their portfolio includes now universities and colleges in 27 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, and Canada. The tool also works as a CRM for universities and colleges to streamline their international applicants.

“We bootstrapped in less than 2 months to more than 20.000 users”Fahed Jaarah, Founder and CEO UniAppSubscribe Here

The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree

“We created a search engine for education that is not manipulated by ads.”Fahed Jaarah, Founder and CEO UniAppThe Founder

Our guest today, founder and CEO of UniApp Fahed, brings a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship to the table. Having studied at universities across Europe (Cologne, Paris, Buckinghamshire outside of London), he has worked on various projects with notable organizations such as private rating agencies and investment advisers a small investment boutique. After 3 years working within this sector, he decided to take his newfound knowledge and apply it to the world of ed-tech by founding UniApp — creating a modern platform to support students during the process of looking for study abroad by matching students with mentors at universities around the world. With his expertise in launching successful businesses aiding college and university students, Fahed is quickly becoming a prominent figure in the international education community.

The Startup

UniApp (https://uni-app.com/), started out as Udrus.com and was initially designed to enable Arabic-speaking students to study abroad. However, the team soon expanded its vision to provide study-abroad opportunities for international students from all over the world, under the new name of UniApp. Using a unique application process that takes into account 600+ data points for each individual student, UniApp has become a leader in ed-tech by making the complex college application process easier and smoother for its users. With a platform that eliminates language barriers, UniApp is paving the way for study abroad programs around the globe. By focusing on the needs of the study seeker and their future potential, UniApp is playing a huge role in making study abroad accessible to everyone — whether it's internationally or from within their own region. UniApp also can match you with institutions for an undergraduate degree, advanced degree, or even an online degree.

For institutions of higher learning, the application helps them to get matched with better-fitting students and don’t have to click through many ads on search engines. The tool works as a kind of CRM program and communication tool for the institutions.

Venture Capital Funding

UniApp raised 1 mn Euros in Seed Funding in Q2 2022. They are also currently in fundraising mode again.

UniApp is Hiring

You can learn more about them on their website here: https://uni-app.com/about-us/ and reach out via the website.

All Links and Show Notes

Here is our blog post:

Our Highlights:

FTX may be history, BUT a German Blog reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX. FTX also triggered Bitpanda to order a special audit from KPMG. We have some more job cuts, this time the 2nd round. Gorillas may sell itself at 1 bn USD even though they have raised 1.3 bn USD in venture capital already. Air taxis are still hot, Volocopter raises more than 180 m US$ to get closer to certification and Lilium sells 100 Airtaxis to Saudi Arabia. The German VC market is stabilizing, according to KfW Research. Our former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and pockets 100 m Euros. Gitpod, a startup from Kiel convinces the founders of GitHub and Shopify to invest.

Let's talk startups:

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Top News FTX may soon be History, BUT

A German blog Finance Forward reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX, which is headquartered in Switzerland. Their information has been spot-on in other cases in the past.

Job Cuts Keep Coming - 2nd Round Now

Proptechs Homeday and McMakler enter the second round of job cuts. Homeday cuts 20 jobs (60 before) and McMakler again 100 employees

Gorillas May Sell Itself at a Huge Discount

Sequoia-backed grocery startup Getir is close to buying its troubled rival Gorillas in a heavily discounted deal said to be worth less than $1 billion. They have been valued at their series C investment at 2.1 bn US$ and to date they raised more than 1.3 bn US$.

Related: Deutsche-Startups uncovered that Gorillas (which is in the process of selling itself) paid 300 m € this year for french competitor Frichti.

Lilium Sells 100 Airtaxis

Saudi Arabia buys 100 air taxis from Munich -based startup Lilium. The delivery is expected 2025. Before the deal, they also hired former Airbus executive Klaus Roewe. Fingers crossed for them, they did not generate revenue yet, but 841 m Euros in losses so far.

Volocopter Raises 182 M US$

Volocopter raises $182M to bring air taxi closer to certification, as part of their Series E funding

The company is currently testing its two-seater VoloCity air taxi for the requirements set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Volocopter is looking to certify its aircraft in H2 2023 and generate revenue with rides in 2024.

Creditshelf Partners with Goldman Sachs

Our former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and hits profitability - Goldman Sachs is providing the German alternative lender for SMEs with up to €100m of secured funding. Learn more in our interview with Creditshelf here https://buff.ly/3NVANo1

Creditshelf is Germany’s only listed pure-play fintech, offering a credit platform, where investors can grant credit to German small and medium enterprises.

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Our Enablers

Younium 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 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/

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Welcome to the second Episode, brought to you from the European Angel Investment Summit 2022. 

The European Business Angel Network (EBAN) is an organization that brings together business angels from all over Europe. The aim of the organization is to provide a forum for business angels to share best practices and learn from each other. EBAN also offers training for new business angels who want to get involved in startup investing. The organization held one of its two annual conferences in Brussels recently, bringing together business angel investors from all over the continent. This year's conference was particularly important, as it provided a much-needed opportunity for startup founders to connect with potential investors. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing economic uncertainty, many startups are struggling to secure funding. 

The conference offered a unique opportunity for startups to pitch their businesses to a large group of potential investors. The conference was a valuable opportunity for startup founders to meet with potential investors and get their businesses off the ground.

300 seed-stage startups applied to be at this event of which 25 have been chosen. The event took place in Brussels. 

We focused on startups from Germany and made short interviews with them on-site. If you want one or more of these startups back for a full interview, let us know in the comments or via email. The event was a great opportunity to network and exchange ideas with other startup founders, business angels, and VC investors from all across Europe. 

We also got insights into the early-stage startup scene across the continent and had the chance to listen to some great startup pitches. All in all, it was a very inspiring event that definitely left us wanting more. The next event will take place in Athens, Greece in April 2023. You can apply for the event via the EBAN website: https://www.eban.org/ 

Publication Schedule Startuprad.io

We are in the hot fall for Startuprad.io, where we publish two episodes each week, until Christmas. We will finish the year with our annual fintech review on December 25th and be back for you on January 19th, 2022.

Enabler

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Chapters:

00:00:00 Intro

00:00:17 Welcome by Joe

00:01:06 Desire Dosch - Guide Care

00:06:34 Hannah Helmke - right. based on science

00:13:30 Katja Filippenko - Saatgutkonfetti

00:22:15 Nikolaus D. Bayer - German Business Angel of the Year 2020

00:26:18 Harald Holzer - HIGHEST - TU Darmstadt

Find all blog posts with all the links on our blog

https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/female-founders-at-the-european-angel-investment-summit-2-2-e63ba80f5d51

Topics discussed in this episode:

health tech, MedTech, home care, care-dependent, care at home, startup, startups, business angel, seed...

The European Business Angel Network (EBAN) is an organization that brings together business angels from all over Europe. The aim of the organization is to provide a forum for business angels to share best practices and learn from each other. EBAN also offers training for new business angels who want to get involved in startup investing. The organization held one of its two annual conferences in Brussels recently, bringing together business angel investors from all over the continent. This year’s conference was particularly important, as it provided a much-needed opportunity for startup founders to connect with potential investors. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing economic uncertainty, many startups are struggling to secure funding. The conference offered a unique opportunity for startups to pitch their businesses to a large group of potential investors. EBAN director Jacopo Losso spoke about the importance of business angels in the current climate, saying “business angels are more important than ever in these challenging times.”Losso went on to say that business angels “provide the seed funding that is essential for many startups.” The conference was a valuable opportunity for startup founders to meet with potential investors and get their businesses off the ground.

For this event more than 300 seed-stage startups applied, of which they have chosen 25 for the event. The event we attended took place in Brussels. We focused on startups from Germany and made short interviews with them on-site. If you want one or more of these startups back for a full interview, let us know in the comments or via email. The event was a great opportunity to network and exchange ideas with other startup founders, business angels, and VC investors from all across Europe. We also got insights into the early-stage startup scene across the continent and had the chance to listen to some great startup pitches. All in all, it was a very inspiring event that definitely left us wanting more. The next event will take place in Athens, Greece in April 2023. You can apply for the event via the EBAN website: https://www.eban.org/

This episode also kicks off our hot fall, where we have two episodes each week, until Christmas. We will finish the year with our annual fintech review on December 25th and be back for you on January 19th 2023.

Our Enablers Hessen Trade and Invest

Hessen Trade and Invest is the enabler of some of the most important interviews that have been conducted for this website. Without their brand, Invest-in-Hessen.com, none of these would have been possible. These interviews would not have been possible without Hessen Trade and Invest’s willingness to help facilitate my travel and connect me with startups in their network.

Younium

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

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/

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This Episode

00:00 Introduction00:16 Welcome by Joe01:46 Jacopo Losso — Managing Director of the European Business Angel Network 07:28 Philo Boras — CEO and Co-Founder Aurora Life Sciences 11:36 Nauman Basit — Founder, CEO and CTO of racksnet 16:58 Pascal Schmitt — CEO Voxel Sound 20:35 Stephane Ruiz — European...

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.

Our Highlights:

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:

Our Enablers Younium

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

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/

Invest-in-Hessen

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

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Top News Europe’s Largest Cannabis Funding To Date

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

Gorillas May Soon Be Bought By Getir

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.”

Grover Takes Home 270 m €

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 funding to close to €2 billion to meet demand. Grover takes on more debt funding, this time €270 million from London-based M&G

Our Former Guest Nuri (Bitwala)

Will be wound down. Despite seeing interest from investors, they could not get one to sign up. So the company will be shut down until the end of the year. The last day one can use a Nuri account is in mid-December. Neobank Vivid makes...

Executive Summary

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.

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Tech Startups Germany - Startups and Venture Capital

The Founder

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.

The Startup

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.

All Links and Show Notes

Here is our blog post: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/tvarit-has-an-industrial-ai-that-brings-real-change-to-metal-casting-4bba280bbafc 

Topics Discussed in this Interview

In this interview we are talking about metal casting, metal casting parts, industry 4.0, industrie 4.0, industrial internet of things, ai, artificial intelligence, manufacturing,...

Welcome to the Summer 2024 Startup News Wrap-Up from Startuprad.io! In this special Labor Day episode, we cover the most crucial updates from the vibrant startup ecosystems in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, or tech enthusiast, this episode is packed with insights into the latest trends, funding rounds, and ecosystem developments shaping the future of innovation in the DACH region.

💼 New Sponsor Alert:

We’re excited to announce our new partner, ModernIQs.com! Did you know an SEO-optimized blog post can generate significantly more traffic than a social media post? Startuprad.io listeners can create two free SEO-optimized blog posts per month in less than a minute. Sign up using the link in the episode notes. Sign up here.

🔍 Episode Highlights:

• Helsing’s €450M Series C Funding: Munich-based defense AI startup Helsing has soared to a €4.9B valuation with its recent funding. Discover how this positions Helsing as a leader in European security tech and what it means for the future of AI in defense.

• Lilium’s Strategic Dilemma: Explore the challenges faced by air taxi pioneer Lilium, including uncertainties over state aid that could lead to a sale and relocation. Learn how this could impact air mobility and the German startup scene.

• Grover’s €50M Funding Amid Market Challenges: Berlin-based tech rental company Grover raised €50M as it navigates economic headwinds. Find out how Grover is pivoting toward sustainable growth and what this means for the tech rental industry.

• CatalYm & osapiens: We discuss CatalYm’s €150M Series D funding for cancer immunotherapy and osapiens' €110M investment to expand its global ESG platform. These stories highlight the growing investor confidence in Europe’s deep-tech and biotech sectors.

• ECB’s Digital Euro Progress Report: Get updated on the European Central Bank’s first report on the digital euro, marking a significant step in developing Europe’s central bank digital currency (CBDC).

🇩🇪🇦🇹🇨🇭 Local Startup News:

• Germany: The AI startup sector in Germany is booming, with a 35% increase in 2024. We explore the opportunities and challenges in this thriving industry.

• Austria: Vienna-based HR tech startup Speedinvest Heroes (HROs) has filed for bankruptcy, highlighting the challenges in Austria's HR tech sector.

• Switzerland: Swiss startups raised CHF 1.1B in H1 2024, with biotech leading the charge. Despite a 9.5% decline, early-stage investments in AI and energy are showing strong growth.

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#Hashtags: #StartupNews #GermanStartups #SwissStartups #AustrianStartups #TechTrends #FundingNews #AIInnovation #DeepTech #VentureCapital #EuropeanStartups

Our highlights:

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:

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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

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Blog Post

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

Top News Berlin’s Everphone extends Series C to $232M

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

Crypto Boom is slowing

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.

Insolvencies hit household names

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

Podcast monetization is getting serious with international involvement

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

More firings :-(

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...

Executive Summary

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

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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

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Blog Post with Links and Show Notes

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Our Highlights

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

Top News Celonis Secures 1 bn US$ Funding

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.

Despite Market Conditions, WeFox Closes 400 m US$ Funding

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

One Former Guest Has to File for Insolvency

• 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 Facing Headwinds

• 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...

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in June 2022 by Startuprad.io. My co-host is again Chris from New York. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, and our partner station IBGR.Network.

We recorded this new episode on Monday, June 27th, 2022. Keep in mind, that we will have a summer break and be back for you with another news episode on Labor Day, which is September 5th, 2022. In this episode, we will wrap up July, and August.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode in September.

We will also slightly change our publication schedule for this July and August, mostly going to one publication every two weeks. You can keep up to date with our Google Calendar for all publications.

Our highlights:

Startups in GSA also shedding headcount, including unicorns that recently raised money. All signs point towards them extending their runway, expecting a recession. Some startups face a challenging fundraising environment, but others like WeFox want to almost double their valuations. Also, Personio and Trade Republic raise additional funds.

In our “stay ahead of the curve” section, we have a lot of articles an entrepreneur should read to prepare for the potential downturn.

German economic minister Habeck is unveiling his new startup strategy, considering even a minimum investment in VC Funds for German insurers and pension funds.

The fast delivery startups seem to hit a wall and even formerly mighty Gorillas now explores strategic options.

Let’s talk startups: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-june-2022-2651b2b64fe

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Management Summary

Germany has a coalition government in power. The coalition contract of the three governing parties “Koalitionsvertrag” wants to enable the recreational use of cannabis in Germany, during this term. Jakob and Benedikt give us an update on the timeline, expected market size, and how Canasativa wants to get a big share of this market. The brothers also expect the legalization in Germany to have a domino effect in the EU kicking off a round of legalization in other countries.

We expect legalization in Germany to be just the start for legalizing cannabis for recreational use in the European Union. Benedikt Sons Co-Founder and CEO of Cansativa

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Tech Startups Germany

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We are building the leading retail platform for in Germany, as well as the leading B2B marketplace in cannabis. Benedikt Sons Co-Founder and CEO of Cansativa

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Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in May 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Christian Fahrenbach from New York City and Jörn Menninger, from Frankfurt. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, and our partner IBGR.Network.

We recorded this news episode on Thursday, May 19th, 2022. The next news will go live on June 30th. Keep in mind, that we will have a summer break afterward and be back for you with another news episode on Labor Day September 5th, 2022. In this episode, we will wrap up July, and August.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode in June.

We will also slightly change our publication schedule in the summer — as we have done before. For July and August, we will only post a new episode every other week (July 14th, 28th, and August 11th, as well as August 25th). We will be back to normal at the start of September.

We also partner with Artic 15 you get a discount with our code in the show notes at www.medium.com/startuprad-io

• Artic15 startupradio

Our Highlights:

We can proudly announce unicorn No 29 Taxfix, No 30 Onefootball and on the downside, RaisinDS loses its unicorn valuation. Really bad news for car sharing: BMW and Mercedes pull the plug on their joint venture. Our 2018 guest ProGlove is sold in a 500 m € deal (525 m US$) and Orderbird is sold in a 100 m € deal (105 m US$). Other unicorns are currently on the hunt for new capital and feel the heat of the current funding environment.

Let’s talk startups:

Our Enablers Invest-in-Hessen

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 This is Tech StartUps Germany by Startuprad.io, a global top 125 Tech Podcast. You will find interviews with all sorts…techstartups.sounder.fm

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Find all news and show notes here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-may-2022-de23cf4942e3

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Executive Summary

Exaloan started out as a rating agency for digital assets. They developed into a global platform to connect crowdlending platforms and institutional investors. They started out with the rating of digital assets. Soon they realized that it makes more sense for them to help investors with the access to lending platforms and building of their portfolio in crowdlending assets using tokenization.

Our mission is to close the global financing gap, which is a staggering 5.2 trillion US$, which means there are more than 100 m SMEs that are lacking financing.  Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of ExaloanWith our partners we have created a tokenization engine, a digital asset platform, on which we can create a digital token for the loans, we have sourced from crowdlending. This is really a step to the next level. We are joining digital assets with digital lending.  Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of Exaloan

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The Founder

Our guest today is Luca Frignani (https://www.linkedin.com/in/luca-andre-frignani/), the CEO and co-founder of Frankfurt based fintech Exaloan (https://www.exaloan.com/). He is an original Frankfurt boy, with roots in Italy and Czech Republic. Since he is already very international, he spent quite a bit of time studying in France Lille and Nizza. He also spent time in London and Zürich. At one time he also worked as a quant analyst, developing investment strategies.

Development banks are seeing crowdlending platforms are a very important tool.Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of Exaloan

The Startup

Exaloan (https://www.exaloan.com/) is a Frankfurt-based fintech company. They are a rating agency for digital assets. It is also working with its clients to give them access to international crowdlending platforms and help them to build a portfolio. They are cooperating with platforms in Germany, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, just to name a few.

Venture Capital Funding

... learn more on our blogpost at www.medium.com/startuprad-io

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Welcome to This Month in GSA Startups in April 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Christian Fahrenbach ”Chris” from New York City today and me Jörn Menninger “Joe”, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, the blog Fundscene, and our partner IBGR.Network.

We recorded this new episode on Monday, April 25th, 2022. The next news will go live on the 26th of May, the day we celebrate fathers day in Germany. For this reason, we have at this date two publications: the news and an episode on men’s health.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode.

We also partner with the EU-Startups Summit and Artic 15 you get a discount at both events with our codes in the show notes www.medium.com/startuprad-io. You can meet Joe in person in Barcelona at the EU Startups Summit on May 12th and 13th.

The discount codes are:

• EU Startups STARTUPRADIO20
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Our highlights:

Despite slightly declining global VC investments GSA still generates Unicorns. This time we welcomed Grover and Choco officially into the league. Swiss Beqom is not confirmed, but also a massive investment. Apple and Porsche are rumored to work together on joint projects. Gorillas is looking for funding again, after raising a billion US$ (850 m Euros) in September 2021. Germany’s second most valuable fintech Mambu had to publish numbers. The corona patron registration app Luca first boomed during the lockdown, then their data protection was questioned, now they pivot to a fintech with the backing of investors including the Wefox founder.

Let’s talk startups:

Find all the links and show notes on our blog www.medium.com/startuprad-io

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CO2 is a very clean way to produce biopolymers.Fabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

This is our first in-person interview since the breakout of the corona pandemic in early 2020, made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-In-Hessen.com.

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We start with CO2 and at the end of our process … there are polymers that can be used like plastics.Fabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

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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

When you have something biodegradable, it will be lasting less than 6 months in the water.Fabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

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The Founder

We interview Fabiana Fantinel (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabiana-fantinel-33a24110/), an Italian, who founded her company CO2Bioclean (https://co2bioclean.com/) in Frankfurt. She has a Ph.D. in Chemistry and her Post-Doc at the Max Planck Institute brought her to Germany. She also holds an MBA.

Our process is already patented. … currently, our efforts are in working on the scalabilityFabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

The Startup

The startup CO2Bioclean is a green startup. They use CO2 to turn it into polymers that can be used like plastics but are biodegradable. The startup just received EU funding to start a small-scale plant to improve its patented process and work on its scalability.

Our material will last less than one year in the environment.Fabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

Venture Capital Funding

Received 6.6 mn Euros in total from European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator https://www.deutsche-boerse-cash-market.com/dbcm-de/newsroom/fokus-news-list/EU-Accelerator-f-rdert-drei-Bio-konomie-Start-ups-2914060 They will use the funding to start a first production facility to demonstrate the technology at industrial scale.

There will be additional funding round to start the production at an industrial stage, likely starting in 2023.

There is no microplastic from our material lasting for years in the ocean.Fabiana Fantinel, MD and Founder CO2BioClean 

Find all links and show notes on our blog www.medium.com/startuprad-io

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Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss and Austrian (GSA) Startups in March 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Chris — not from New York City today and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio and our partner IBGR.Network.

We recorded this new episode on Monday, March 21st, 2022. The recording is one week earlier than usual, due to the travel schedules of Chris and me.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode.

Our Enablers Invest-in-Hessen

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/

Startupraven.com

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

Our highlights:

We have the 100 most influential women in startup and venture capital in Europe. There are two new unicorns to announce in GSA. Unicorn Personio set up a charity fund and Germany’s largest fintech exit (at approx 1 bn US$) is in the making. We have an exclusive interview with the CEO in charge for almost 40 minutes from July 2021. We try to touch on the Russian invasion in Ukraine as lightly as possible, only when it impacts the GSA startup scene since you get more than enough news about this tragedy on ANY OTHER outlet. Please note that this does not mean we don’t care, but it is not our area of coverage. We are also talking about delivery startups and again Wirecard. Not surprisingly, Wirecard will keep the German courts busy for years to come.

Let’s talk startups:

Find all links and show notes here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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🎙️ Next Step in Machine Learning with Danko Nikolic | Startuprad.io Podcast

Join Jörn "Joe" Menninger as he interviews Danko Nikolic, CEO and Founder of Robots go Mental. Dive into their groundbreaking machine learning algorithms inspired by brain research, shaped by Danko's background in psychology and statistics from the Max Planck Institute. Discover how Robots go Mental is transforming AI with innovative self-training algorithms and impactful collaborations, including a project with NASA.

This episode highlights the challenges of launching a deep tech startup in Germany and the critical need for supportive infrastructure. Danko invites talent and investors to join their mission to revolutionize AI.

🔗 [Read more](https://www.startuprad.io/blog)

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"We buy the on-site data from a good auditor and re-sell the data to other customers of this supplier."David Schneider, CEO and Co-Founder Qualifyze 

Our Enabler Invest-in-Hessen

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/

"I approached the company for an investment, and they sent me the chief of staff to vet the company. Over a few beers he decided to join me as co-founder, but the company never invested."David Schneider, CEO and Co-Founder Qualifyze

The Founder

This time our guest is David Schneider (https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%87%BA%F0%9F%87%A6dr-david-schneider-1100a066/), Founder and CEO of Frankfurt-based Qualifyze (https://www.qualifyze.com/), a startup that helps in the chemical and pharma industry with audits. David did see a lot of places while studying in the Netherlands (Maastricht, Rotterdam), National University of Singapore and Università Bocconi in Italy. He was also and intern with JP Morgan in investment banking in London, Rothschild in Frankfurt, or BASF in Ludwigshafen. Before starting his own company, he was working as a consultant for more than 3 years. He tried to attract investment from a steel trading company, and he convinced the person the company sent to become his co-founder.

The Startup

Qualifyze (https://www.qualifyze.com/) started out as a marketplace for commodity chemical products, called ChemSquare in 2017. They soon realized that in the chemical and pharma industry the required suppliers’ audits are a big hassle and they pivoted to help their clients with digitizing them. These audits are essential for supply chains in the chemical and pharma industry, where faulty ingredients can lead to deaths or damage to equipment or nature.

"We decided to get the supplier qualification on our platform to make the chemical platform work and it turned into a new business model." David Schneider, CEO and Co-Founder Qualifyze

Venture Capital Funding

They raised a Series A funding round, led by HV Capital of 14 mn US$, which was disclosed in November 2021.

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Welcome to This Month in GSA Startups - meaning Germany, Austria and Switzerland, for February 2022 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, our partner station IBGR.Network and the Fundscene blog.

We recorded this new episode on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022. Today we bring you everything from a new Switzerland-based unicorn to a new take on quick delivery - pardon the pun.

We start out with mega-deal in Gaming: ESL Gaming is sold for 1bn US$, Munich-based Fintechsystems is sold for 120 mn € and Aachen-based Next Ego may accomplish THE turnaround of the whole year, coming out of insolvency, they are looking to list via SPAC, valued at 1.5 bn €. Switzerland has a new unicorn, congratulations to Scandit, Gorillas wants to buy a french competitor and is thinking about a SPAC deal. Also, we have a large update on neobanks in Germany, and they are not all doing well.

Let's talk startups:

https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-gsa-startups-february-2022-44520c52b1eb

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This Month in German Startups - January 2022

Happy New Year guys! Welcome to This Month in German Startups in January 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio and our partner IBGR.Network.

We recorded this new episode on Monday, January 24th, 2022. All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. There will also be a special episode on Atomico’s State of European Tech 2021 together with Bill, the founder of the IBGR Network, as an audio-only podcast.

This is a new year with 365 blank new pages, so let's write the best story possible.

Our highlights: The last year was amazing for the German startup scene, there are now officially 25 unicorns and we feel that there will be more. 60 mn for sunfire from the federal government, Go Student’s tutors and students start to critique the company, Tado is looking to IPO via a SPAC. Also Cherry Ventures had been good in snatching up stakes in unicorns early. Now Cherry raises their 4th fund.

Let's talk startups:

Tune in to our Internet Radio Station here:

www.startup.radio

Startuprad.io is globally a Top 75 Science Podcast, Top 125 Tech Podcast, and Top 650 Business Podcast (Chartable.com)

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Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio

Our EnablersInvest-in-Hessen

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://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany

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All show notes and news links are here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-germany-austria-switzerland-january-2022/

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HoHoHo Welcome to This Month in German Startups in December 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main.

We recorded this new episode on Monday, December 20th. All news not included here will be published in our next news episode. There will also be our annual Fintech Review on December 25th and we will be back with an AI startup interview on January 13th. So we take a few weeks off around the holidays. Happy Holidays!

We are not there yet, so let's get started:

Today we bring you another new unicorn, a monster funding of 266 mn US$ at Mambu, Volocopter calls off its SPAC IPO and gets a backlash from its early crowd investors, also Jokr is now the 3rd quick delivery unicorn - in record time - and we have an update on Sono Motors. We also take a look at the State of European Tech survey by Atomico and several news pieces on the German Venture Capital Market, as well as VC in general.

Let's talk startups:

Subscribe Here

Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio

Enablers Invest-in-Hessen

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://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany

Startupraven

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

Find all links and extensive show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-december-2021/

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