Welcome to this month in terms of Swiss and Austrian startups for December
2024, and I already made Chris laugh. Hey. How are you doing
there in New York? I'm doing well. The
most Christmassy I got is this sweater, but you're
succeeding. Yes. I got an ugly Christmas
sweater and a Santa hat here for everybody who's just listening to that.
By the way, listening, we will get later to it, but we surpassed already to
2,300,000 downloads for 2024, so we are
doing good. As you already heard, this is our
December news wrap up with Vital News from the start up at tech
entrepreneurship scene in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Our
news cut today is December 17th. As always,
all news not in this, not included here will be
included in our next news wrap up. The news
cycle is picking up considerably. In October, we plowed
through around 20 pages of GSA startup news. We
had collected since last news. In November, we had 36,
and now it's 18 pages for only around 3 weeks. Fair
to say activity is picking up. We needed to cut it
seriously to have, like, really brief news and not having you
here for hours. So let's hope it finds you,
you like it. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for all
of you. We are steadily adjusting our approach here.
Now we mentioned more frequently the source where we got the news from and
a bit more about the news itself. Let us know how you like it. That
said, let's plow through more than 100
news pieces for these news. And I think Chris will, as
always, take the highlights in New York. Yes. And even the
highlights are long today. So we saw that December
really showcased, an impressive momentum across the German startup
ecosystem. For example, Black Forest Lab
reportedly, was hitting a $1,000,000,000 valuation,
and Upvest raised, Germany's largest
fintech round of the year with more than a €100,000,000. On the green
tech front, Focused Energy secured €2,500,000
for nuclear fusion innovation, while Hessen
Startups advanced, groundbreaking c 02 to bioplastic
solution. The, DACH startup ecosystem, DACH
being the German equivalent for Deutschland Osterreich Schweitz of GSA,
the DACH startup ecosystem also saw major ecommerce
moves with Zalando acquiring About You,
selectifying the market leadership in Germany,
Zalando probably being a German version of Zippos
probably, if you wanna compare, From AI adoption
in Germany to record breaking VC mega rounds for European AI
start ups, innovation remains a core driver across the region
with, small and medium enterprises steadily embracing digital
transformation. Key industries we see are Fintech, Greentech,
robotics, AI. Those are standing out, making the month as
a vibrant finale for the year. In total, we covered
€1,500,000,000 more than, actually, in start up fundings
across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, highlighting
probably, yeah, as you said, like a, like a rather
optimistic end of the year and resilience and investor confidence in
emerging technologies and sustainable solutions. New VC funds
raised include Elstin Capital's €175,000,000 and
Fly Ventures' €80,000,000 Deep Tech Fund, signaling
growing national interest in German Fintech startups and, again,
AI powered innovation, buzzword of the year maybe.
Notable deals include Anybotix, €57,000,000
funding, WoodSpace's 8 figure investment, and Berlin based, Carp Me securing
€20,000,000 for carbon management solutions.
And a little note on the certain, on the current
uncertain environment, though, just
yesterday, chancellor Olaf Scholz took the first step to pave
the way for new elections in February 2025. So those
are snap elections, which are an issue since there will be no
debt boosting of debt funded boosting of the economy anymore.
It's one of the hugest disputes is how to get to a balanced
budget or whether Germany should invest more in future
oriented technologies. There might not
be any, tax cuts or any larger political initiatives
until the new government is in power, which may be the case in
March or April 2025 if we are optimistic, maybe even a
bit later. We see the first effects of this, for
example, on the e for business climate index that we will be
talking about a bit more in-depth later on. So let's see how this all plays
out for the overall economy and startups, especially.
Let's talk startups, but first, let's talk schedule.
Yes. Exactly. Christmas is approaching. Expect our last episode
of 2024 to drop on Friday, December 20th.
Our legendary Fintech review, which is, by the way, already recorded and
right now in editing. We will be back with the next regular
start up interview on January 9th, also already
recorded and in editing, and our next news will drop
on January 30th. Get used to the
25 at the end. Business in Germany around
the holidays expect most companies to work only with a skeleton
staff between December 23rd and January 7th
at least. They also will be quite busy with preparing their annual
accounts. December 24th, most companies will either
be completely closed or like grocery stores only open
until 2 in the afternoon, 1400 hours
max. December 25th 26th are public
holidays across Germany. And the the the most
southern states here in Germany, Baton, Wurttemberg, and Bayern, they start the
New Year off pretty well because January 6th is also a
public holiday there. So most people will start working around
January 7th again. The video and audio podcast
will go live on December 19th.
You can also always turn into our Internet radio station
247 startup.radio and, get
your content right to your inbox, startup radio.substack.com.
We will also publish now exclusive content covering the German
startup scene. All other channels are to be found on
the link tree. And for the last time, for very, very long
cooperation, thank you very much, our enablers. This recording is
supported by Hessen Trade and the best and the enterprise Europe network.
Really sorry to see them go, but it's public money. And after a few years,
you just have to enter contract for, EU
reasons. We also have our partner, Modern
IQs, which could help you write at least 2 sale
pieces AI assisted every month. You can watch the
video how to do that here as well. And Chris,
now we get to the top news this month. Right? Yes. And there
we have rather surprising news, about a company in
Karlsruhe called Black Forest Lab. It's one of Germany's
leading AI startups, and it has reportedly already reached a
1,000,000,000 valuation, as its
technologies gain traction globally, which is rather
surprising because the company is still really young. The,
the time frame that is referenced in the article in our show notes is on
it's only 4 months old, but, it has gotten
so big because of interest by through Elon Musk or of
Elon Musk. They he's leveraging their innovations
and therefore has added fuel to their
meteoric rise, one can say. The
company is working on AI
powered imaging, and that is used
from Musk's AI model,
Grok. So, that report was made in, was
published in Welt, which is one of Germany's largest publishers. It should be
rather substantiated. And so, I mean, I guess we're basically on the
way that Carswell rivals Silicon Valley, obviously, as they all
say. It would be by the way, it would be very
great to have, like, a third, start up hop of European
rank here in Carswell. It would be just great. Carswell actually does really, really
well. There's kit. So there's a big engineering, and
and a big engineering university that also has quite
good entrepreneurial initiatives going on for years.
Hasbwe in Institute For Technology. Sorry. Here you go, Chris.
Germany's economic minister Robert Haberk, also running for
chancellor for the Green Party, remains optimistic about North Wall's
€600,000,000 loan despite production delays.
The Swedish battery start up's massive factory in Schleswig Holstein is a
key bet of your all of the whole of the European
Union for their green energy push. But for now, the government,
it's keeping its patient and the checkbook open even though,
as there's probably always the case with such new big developments,
the they are a bit behind schedule. Yes.
Plus plus one should not forget that Northwell fight for
insolvency, which we reported last month. So it's it's very,
very much unclear how much money is is there invested and
lost. And the whole case is a good example for an
overall discussion in Germany about the energy
transformation and the question of how much government should subsidize
and help with those changes.
Deutsche start ups, Dave, writes about Upvest, Germany's
largest Fintech round of 2024.
That is a €100,000,000 to expand its API
powered investment infrastructure supported by heavyweights
like Michael Bloomberg. Upset is set to redefine Europe's
Fintech ecosystem. So probably also another German
unicorn in the making. In manager magazine,
one of the most renowned business, titles.
Oh, yeah. And we also have a blog post about, Upvest on
our own website. In, manager magazine, one of
Germany's most renowned business titles, we see,
report about Wefox's survival deal. It's an Intuitech
unicorn in Germany, which secured a lifeline, but the
terms were reportedly harsh, requiring significant concessions
from existing shareholders. It's a Berlin based startup that has
struggled to balance its valuation with profitability.
So, yeah, just in general highlighting, problems for the
European intro tech scene. Handelsblatt,
a business daily in Germany, wrote about Zalando
and many other news, titles wrote about Zalando
too. Since Zalando is really, really big in Germany and probably one of the
most relevant Amazon competitors, at least when it comes to
clothing and shoes, and Zalando acquires about you
from the OTO Group, one of the most traditional German,
home shopping catalog providers over
decades. They are,
consolidating its position as Europe's leading fashion ecommerce
giant with that, and that is, they, in that case, is
Zalando. The deal marks a significant shift in the retail sector as
Zalando aims to expand its market share and strengthen
profitability. Capitale,
another renowned, German media
title writes about Google in Google's
investment in Usercentrics. And Usercentrics is a
Munich based company, a start up specializing in consent
management solution for GDPR compliance. The
investment now signals confidence in the growing need for privacy solutions in the
digit digital space.
So maybe Google is playing a bit nicer, at least for now, when it
comes to data and data security. And that's a little
overview of some of the most important top stories.
Yes. Housekeeping and time to brag. Simply
put, 2024 was a smashing success for
us. For the first time, we had more than 2,300,000
downloads in a single year. We may even reach 2.5 until the
end of the year. There is now also a paid option for
our block on Substack where we got detailed current
where we go into details about current events like UNSA,
KKR's failed attempt to buy and build as well as Germany's
semiconductor subsidies or the impact of
North Wall Insolvency on domestic politics.
Also, we follow-up on what Chris already mentioned that the
highlights, a former interview guest of our c 02
Bio Clean, Invest in Hesson Fermentation Unit
converts c 02 in bioplastics, a cutting edge fermentation
unit in Hesson is transforming c 02 into biodegradable
plastics, offering a scalable solution for carbon reduction.
Innovation marks a significant milestone in sustainable
manufacturing. You can learn more in our
interview and, of course, in the link, and there is
there is, of course, always interest in working with us. Go down here in the
show notes or reach out to us at at stutterbreak.o.
As we said, our sub stack, or you can find all options
to follow us on Linktree. Chris, I hand the ecosystem over to
you. Yes. So this is where we, zoom in
from some of the most general news about startups and
the entrepreneurial scene to some of the most specific German
news. So let's start with a worldwide worldwide
view. TechCrunch
writes about defense tech. Led by Anduril,
defense tech startups secured an unprecedented funding in
2024, highlighting a search and investor interest for
security and military innovations. The this funding
boom underscores the growing intersection of advanced tech and national
defense. Start ups in that sector are now armed with
cash. Little wordplay here.
But, I mean, it's also a rather serious topic because
the, situations in the Middle East and in
the Ukraine with the Russian war definitely contributed,
to the rise in funding in
this sector. Crunchbase writes about biotech and
health care funding surges. They have also seen a
significant rise in funding driven by demand for innovative solutions
in AI driven diagnostics, in therapies, and digital
health. And, start ups across Europe and North America are leading
this funding resurgence. Healthy and westmans equal
healthier returns. Another wordplay.
In Europe, we see, an article from
PitchBook about European AI VC mega
rounds also surging. European AI,
startups are enjoying a search of VC Mega Rounds as investor
appetite grows for advanced AI technologies.
There are countries like Germany and France leading the charge,
with funding rounds often exceeding €100,000,000.
And, yeah, Europe's definitely having a seat
at the table when it comes to AI solutions.
But we also saw reports about
AI startups often stumbling when scaling their enterprise
go to market strategies. So, yeah, as a as a whole, AI
is used as a buzzword that very often does not have a lot of, like,
practical solutions yet. But industry
insiders suggest a mix of pilot programs, iterative
sales approaches, and understanding enterprise decision making
timelines to crack the code. Startups like those headquartered in
Munich and Berlin have particularly excelled in creating value
driven partnerships by aligning deeply with
enterprising needs. So winning big contracts isn't about AI
buzzwords, as we said, but solving real problems, which is a hard truth for
many founders. More about that, you can read at speedinvest.com.
Tech AU writes about innovation during Europe's in
driving sorry, driving Europe's space industry. The
European Space Startups are driving innovation with advancements in satellite
technology, reusable launch systems, something we know also
from SpaceX, from Elon Musk, and AI for space
applications. An article in Tech EU highlights
how ESA, which is the European Space Administration
Administration Agency? Which is
we cut that. Which is the European Space Agency.
They back accelerators that are fostering a new wave of
space entrepreneurship. So, yeah, Europe seems
on a rocket fueled start up trajectory there.
Sifted, writes about European HealthTech
and their funding trends because we see that health tech startups across
Europe have seen steady investor interest, focusing on
areas like AI powered diagnostics, telemedicine, and
digital health platforms. Even though we see economic
challenges in a couple of the biggest German, the biggest
European economies, we see that the sector continues to attract
funding, particularly in Switzerland and Germany.
In Germany, though, we already talked about in the political
arena where Germany's main parties are galloping up,
for the snap election, which right now is planned for February
23rd, following the collapse of
chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition. So he
is a social democrat, only the 4th one of his party
who ran the country so far. And fun fact,
none of these 4 actually finished
their, terms as
intended. So they all had, snap elections or had,
other issues. The conservatives who are
being led or the biggest opposition party right now who are being led
by Friedrich Mads, they proposed tax cuts, lower electricity prices
to spur growth, but also a lot of critics argue that their
plans lack detailed, funding. Meanwhile,
the Social Democrats and the Greens are advocating for
to reform the so called debt break in Germany, meaning
basically meaning, okay, let's get more loans in order to
invest in infrastructure and, education.
So we will also see that key campaign
issues might be, migration and the
situation in the Ukraine. We
already talked about briefly about the Ifo Institute's Business Climate
Index. In December, it dropped. It fell
again and signaling a continued pessimism among businesses
regarding the economic outlook. Challenges are rising energy
costs, inflation, as I said, the political
situation. And so, yeah, Germany's
economic mood definitely needs a
New Year's resolution or at least a little, like, New Year's Eve pick me
up drink, maybe.
Tech EU writes about how the European u no. How EU
Inc, unveils a pan European startup entity.
The European Commission unveiled a blueprint for a new pan European
startup entity entity designed to streamline
support for scaling startups. The initiative will include
funding, mentorship, and regulatory harmonization across EU
markets. And, yeah. So
the European Union startup world is also becoming a bit more of a
union here. Support for female
funders, is a topic of Wirtschaft
Aktuel, and especially Germany, there is extending funding
programs in order to support female scientists transitioning
into entrepreneurship. It's, yeah, one of the
few concerted efforts to close gender gaps in start up funding,
especially in the STEM field here. Factory
Net is writing about AI adoption in Germany and,
especially a new report that reveals that 1 in 5
companies in Germany has integrated AI solutions,
marking significant progress in tech adoption. However,
smaller firms still face barriers like lack of talent implementation
cost, and bigger companies are a bit
further ahead. VC Margazin
writes about Bavarian startups, which are set to
benefit from a 70 50 €750,000,000
funding injection aimed at boosting innovation and growth in key sectors
like AI, biotech, and
energy tech. So, yeah, Bavaria also has a
reputation for being one of the economic powerhouses of Germany.
Maybe be now they also become a European startup powerhouse.
Handelsblatt writes about the German government easing financial
market access, because the German government has introduced
reforms to simplify those, or this access,
in order to attract more investments and support start ups
better. This time it's an initiative focusing on reducing red
tape and boosting competitiveness for growth
stage companies. Yeah. We will
see how the political Berlin is being able to
keep the capital for the start up scene, especially also in the
capital flowing. HTGF,
the high-tech Grunderfon in Germany, writes, has a
new managing director, Achim Ploom.
It's probably Germany's most prominent early stage
investor. And, yeah, Ploom's
leadership will focus on strengthening the fund's role in scaling
innovative startups across Europe.
And last but not least, Handelsblatt writes about the
stagnant investments in many startups since Germany
startup ecosystem faces still considerable
headwinds amid the economic and political uncertainty,
prompting high profile voices like Verena Pauster to call for stronger
government support. The report highlights the need for
systemic reforms to boost innovation.
That was all I got about the ecosystem. Now let's look at specific
spaces and places in Germany. Let's have a look at the hubs.
Yes. Of course. As always, they're more in the order we found
them than any other thing. Of course, Frankfurt Online
leads to charge again. 21 x receives
regulatory license. A Fintech startup focused on
decentralized securities trading is,
hang on. Madu, we're going to
cut this out. Nope. Sorry. I'll restart.
21x, a fintech startup focused on decentralized securities
trading, secured its regulatory license, paving the way for its launch
in Europe. The approval marks a milestone for decentralized finance
adoption in regulated markets. Mannheim,
Business insider writes, Snox acquires oceans apart.
Mannheim based Snox, an ecommerce brand specializing in socks and
apparel, has acquired insolvent competitor, Ocean Support. The
deal reflects Snox, a crisis growth strategy,
as its transits its mock positions
amid retail consolidation. To the,
in. Desk now files
for insolvency. Based startup, Desk now, a provider
flexible workspace booking solution, has entered its solvency
proceedings despite initial traction during the remote work boom,
financial difficulties, and market saturation has taken their
toll. Desk now joins the pivot or perish
club for start ups. Aachen, the next web, writes,
fiber code secures 20,000,000 for advanced fibers.
A spin out focus on advanced material rate 20,000,000 to
accelerate the production of its high performance fibers for aerospace and
spacecraft. The start up aims to revolutionize lightweight
solution and advanced engineering industries. Lubeck.
Lubeck. Ln. Lubeck and Acheson, I do believe,
ln online pure foods insolvency situation. Lubeck startup,
Irfood, known as Specializd Nutrition
Solutions, is navigating insolvency under court
supervision despite financial troubles. Discussions are
ongoing to structure and save the business. A spoon of
hope may it have to be curved for the struggling food
tech. Chris, you wanna take Austria? Yeah. Let's go
further south. In Austria, we see that the Austrian
software startup Firestar has solved for
insolvency, following the challenges of repaying a
COVID 19 relief loan. FireStart had
strong early growth, but market pressures and repayment issues
then led to financial struggles. We
also see that UB files for insolvency. It's a
BTEC startup, and, they
had challenges in scaling its precision beekeeping
solutions. So, yeah, even agritech,
startups relying on niche innovations are struggling a bit here.
And we also see that WoodSpace raises an
8 figure investment, so there's Happier News, on that side.
It's a prop tech startup, and they are going to expand
its sustainable timber construction solutions.
So it's also also very nature driven. Austrian
startup scene this month is all about nature. The,
investment will help the company meet rising demand for
eco friendly building alternatives. Moving on
to the west of Austria. In Switzerland, we
see that this month we have no giant news
there. We have several big fundings in Switzerland in our
upcoming section further down, though. But that allows us now
to look for VC news and new funds in case
you're looking for money. It's only a small selection. Let me quickly
run through it. Alstom Capital, the venture capital form
firm funded by billionaire, Carsten Maschmeyer, has successfully
raised €175,000,000 for its 3rd fund. Focus
remains on European tech startups with a particular emphasis on scalable
business models in Fintech and HealthTech.
Berlin based VC firm, Fly Ventures, announced €80,000,000
in for a fund targeting technical founders building
deep tech solutions. The fund reflects a growing appetite for tech
heavy, high risk investments in Europe.
And yeah. So we see that 5 Ventures isn't
just investing. They are soaring into the deep tech frontier.
Sorry. I kept a couple of the jokes to
myself for the other ones. But yeah. A prominent German
VC firm has brought founders from SumUp and FELIX,
FELIX, f e l y x, on board as partners to
strengthen its leadership team. This move highlights a growing trend
of VCs incorporating operational expertise to support for
portfolio startups more effectively. We
see that not the NATO Innovation Fund has
outlined its strategy for 2025. They're going to focus on
investments in defense and dual use technologies, which probably
isn't too much of a surprise given what NATO does. The
initiative will support deep tech startups across Europe to
bolster national security innovation. An ousted
CEO is plotting a return to the company they founded
and leveraging shareholder support to reclaim leadership.
That is basically the story of Grover,
a story, yeah, that reflects common founder investor conflict at
startup scale. So we will see how that
comeback is going to come to pass. Yahoo Finance has
a bit more about that in our show notes. And
Berlin based travel startup, Omeo, reported over
30% cent growth in 2024, achieving profitability
after years of scaling. It's all due to
strong demand for its cross border travel booking platform.
And so, yeah, we are happy that we
have a success story here. Moving on to a
couple of industries now. Green Tech first.
Yes. Green Tech. We do have some particular news here. There was
an article in, attacking
unicorn,
And, the data they used
appear to have been just a piece of the overall information. So
Philip Schroeder, the founder of unicorn hits
Bob back publicly on LinkedIn. Philippe
Schroder highlights via business, news via Business Insider from
2 reporters showcasing that they simply misunderstood the internal
documents they have obtained. Also, they did not take into
consideration the current market environment. Learn more on his link
directly. A new section, biotech news, to get, like,
all the big fundings in there, especially concerning
Switzerland.
Kimeo signs 300,000,000 agreement. The Swiss biotech
startup, Kimeo, has signed a 300,000,000 partnership with
Japanese pharma giant, to advance a
cell therapy technology. FinSMEs
writes about Nuema Pharma extend its 0 speed
to 147,000,000
to accelerate the development of treatments for central nervous
system disorders. Startup
Tika. That news is double. Sorry, Madu. We checked this out.
Transcript. Bayer opens CoLab Incubator in
Berlin. Bayer, the large, former former
and, I would say, chemical company has launched
CoLab Berlin, a new biotech incubator designed to
accelerate startups developing health and life science innovations.
The initiative underscores Berlin's growing status as a hub for biotech
entrepreneurship, a shot of innovation
straight into the veins of the startup scene.
Handelsblatt, Germany's top biotech startups. Germany's
biotech sector is buzzing with potential featuring 5 startups
identified as major hopes for investors. The list
includes companies tackling health care, diagnostic, and
biotech manufacturing. Bio biotech isn't just science.
It's serious business. Let's go a little bit
into the Fintech news. BTC echo, Bitpanda launches
trading platform for pros. Austrian Fintech Bitpanda has unveiled a
new platform tailored for professional crypto traders offering advanced
features and tools. Finance forward. Stringman twin
finance forward. Stringman twin back.
Again, finance forward. Stringman
wins back Fintech. The Stringman twins,
famous for backing BioNTech, are now turning their attention to Fintech
Investments, boosting several prominent German startups. Their
involvement highlights growing institutional confidence in Fintech innovation.
When billionaires bet on Fintech, everyone should pay attention.
Plus, we have them on the radar since at least
2020. If you've been following our blog back then, we
had a, a blog post about the twin
the only self made twin billionaires in the
world who have been backing, then barely known
company called BioNTech, to prepare them
for their Nasdaq IPO. Finance forward, the biggest
Fintech flops, a roundup of recent Fintech flops
revealed reveals challenges facing even the most promising
startup from regulatory hurdles to scalability
issues. The failures offer valuable lessons on product
market fit and funding reliance in turbulent markets.
Finanzina, Scalable Catable Scalable Capital
launches its own exchange. Scalable Capital, a German Fintech leader,
has launched its own exchange in partnership with
Deutsche Bank to simplify investing for retail clients. The
move aims to increase markets x market access while reducing
trading costs. Raisin is unicorn
again. After correction where we, I
do believe, blocked about it, the valuation of holding of,
of investors raising lost its unicorn status. So it
was just a booking correction of one of the holdings for one
investor that we're aware of. But after secondary transaction
just recently, it is now valued at above
2,000,000,000 US dollars. Liquid
launches new investment product, wealth management Fintech
Liquid has unveiled a new investment vehicle
aimed at high net worth individuals. The
ELTIF product offers access to private
equity and alternative assets, strengthening
strengthening liquid's value proposition in Europe's wealth
management market. Financing as SMAVA sale
nears completion. The fintech leader, SMAVA, reportedly in the final
stages of being sold with the debates over
realistic valuation dominating discussions. The deal
reflects a cooling trend in Fintech m and a, where buyers are pushing
for lower valuations. Founders repurchase
right. The richer founders of of start up
right have repurchased their company after earlier selling to
investors. Move highlights founders driven turnaround as a growing
trend in the European start up ecosystem. That was
already a lot. Let's go a little bit into the general news, but
I do believe that is something where Chris could take over, and
then I'll be joining him again. Let's do it.
So manager Magat Zinn, writes about the Munich based flying
taxi startup, Lilium. We also talked a lot about it. And the fact
that Lilium is facing a class action lawsuit in the US over
allegations of misleading investors regarding its financial performance
and timelines. The legal challenges add pressure to the already
struggling company there. Germany's
transport minister Volker Wissing, now without a
party since the coalition, broke apart, and he
decided not to stay with the Liberal party, the business friendly
partly party. He announced plans for air taxi test
tracks to launch by 2026, supporting
innovations in urban mobility. The initiative aims to position
Germany as a leader in next generation transport solutions.
AutoOne Group, Europe's leading online car marketplace, has
officially entered Germany's MDACS index. So that
is equivalent to what in the US? I have no idea.
It's a medium sized company. Yeah. Mid midcap
index. Mid cap index. Signaling investor
confidence in its long term growth. The Berlin based company's rise highlights
the demand for digital automotive plat platforms.
More about that at is at stocks.com and startupradio dot,
startupradi startuprate.i0, which is our site.
Then, Delivery Hero's sale of Talabat was priced
at the upper end of expectations, signaling strong investor
demand for food delivery assets.
It boosts Delivery Hero's liquidity as it continues focusing
on core growth markets. So,
yeah, it's still, a very active
start up industry there. Ex Sono Motors CEO,
Lauven Hahn, launched Alright, a new electric mobility
solution aiming to tackle Europe's urban transport challenges.
He's expected to leverage lessons from Sono there, and the Munich
based start up focuses on affordable sustainable e mobility
options. ESA and Unterneema
TUM and TUM, TUM, being the Technical University of
Munich, have partnered to launch Europe's 1st
scale up accelerator program for space start ups. The
initiative focuses on helping scale ups bring advanced space
technologies to market
faster. Staffbase cofounder Martin Boehringer confirmed the
company is exploring an IPO aiming to capitalize on strong demand for
internal communication software. It's a chem
candidates based unicorn that has seen rapid growth and
positioning itself as one of the global leaders in employee engagement
tools. Now back to you.
You're still on mute. Now back to
you. ESUT, Hellsing
launcher smart combat drone, HX
2 Karma, German defense startup, Hellsing,
has officially unveiled the h HX
2, an intelligence combat drone designed for advanced
military operations. Trending
topics. NXRT moves into
military tech based in Austria. They are pivoting into
military technology planning, new solutions for defense defense
related training applications in 2025.
Handelsblattformer SAP employees launched rival
startup. They're developing a direct competitor to
SAP's market leading enterprise software focusing on improved
usability and speed. The startup aims to challenge SAP's
dominance by offering a more agile alternative
for business. Also on Handelsblatt,
Onefootball's strategy shift, Berlin based
Onefootball is overhauling its business model to achieve profitability,
focusing on paid features and partnerships. The football centric
app aims to recover from recent losses by per prioritizing,
sustainable revenue streams, 1 football may finally get back to
the pitch. IT notes, Markt d
e, acquires DHT24,
Germany's classified market sees further consolidation as
MarktDE acquires competitor dhd24.com.
The acquisition strengthens MarktDE's
leadership in the growing digital classroom wide segment.
Deutsche Bahn and Flixteen performed poorly in EU rankings.
Deutsche Bahn and Flixteen scored poorly in European
comparison of rail service quality and efficiency. High ticket pricing
delays and inconsistent service contributed to the
low rankings. Finance forward,
CEO discusses restructuring. CEO, Hubert
Bunning Bunning highlighted the company's turnaround
strategy, emphasizing operational efficiency and streamlining product
focus. The fintech is positioning itself to
regain trust and market share after facing significant
headwinds. From fintech trouble to fintech triumph, we will
see our take on the story where we talk about,
UNSA, which is bay basically KKR's failed buy and
build strategy in the payment space. Let's
go a little bit into creative destruction before we are done for the
day. Investment check. CASC, c a s
c, files for insolvency, a startup in Germany's industrial
sector, has filed for insolvency amidst liquidity
issues. One motion's find investor
post insolvency, Berlinberg's cargo bike startup. One motion
has successfully found a new investor following its insolvency.
Efara, German ebike startup, files for insolvency. A promising
ebike startup has filed for insolvency despite unveiling a new
model just weeks prior. Market
saturation, production cost, and reduced consumer demand
are cited as key reasons. And, Chris, we want to end
today and on a high note with the access. Right?
Yes. And here, we have a lot going on this month.
The news here and their total value show how resilient their start up scene is.
So keep in mind, this is only a small selection. We only included
selected fundraising above €10,000,000, Swiss francs, or US
dollars. So let me give you a couple of these successful
fundraisings and exits that we found. German
startup GeeX, a telecommunications platform, raised €73,000,000
in funding to scale its telecom as a service model. They are
enabling companies to offer their own branded mobile plans.
Swiss robotics startups, Annibotics Annibotics,
sorry, raised €57,000,000
to expand operations and advance its autonomous robot solutions,
particularly targeting industrial and inspection use cases.
And they're aiming at global growth there. Berlin based CoachHub, a
digital coaching platform, secured €40,000,000 in financing from
HSBC Innovation Banking UK to fuel its global
expansion. The investment reflects a booming demand
for digital learning and professional development tools. Berlin
based Koro, an ecommerce startup specializing in healthy
foods, secured €35,000,000 in series c
funding. They are going to expand its product range with the money
and, growing their European
presence. Munich based Planet A
Foods, a creator of sustainable of a sustainable cocoa
alternative raised $30,000,000 to scale production and meet
rising demand. So there we also see that there might be a broader
trend towards feud and feud food innovation.
MoneyCap, writes about LEOOM, a
clean energy startup that secured $25,000,000 in a series a
funding to accelerate its innovative technology development. The
investment will fund here expansion into European and global
markets and targeting sustainable energy adoption.
The Baller League, which is a European sports start up, secured
$25,000,000 to expand its franchise model into the
UK and US markets. So, yeah, here we see,
that there is a worldwide growing interest in alternative sports leagues.
Swiss based Embotech, an autonomous driving start ups for
logistics, raised CHF23,500,000,
an investment that will be focused on enhancing efficiency industrial
logistics, and they will develop scalable solution for self
driving systems with the money. Berlin based, Cargme, we already
talked about it in the highlights a bit. It's a carbon management platform. They raised
€20,000,000 in series a funding to drive AI powered innovation
and emissions reduction, and
funding that reflects increased demand for enterprise solutions addressing
ESG requirements. Munich based Apaleo, a property
management serve software as a service provider raised €20,000,000 to
fuel its growth across European hospitality
markets. That startup is focusing on to
on enabling Hoteliers to streamline operations via
API powered tech. Aachen based Fiber
Code raised raised nearly €20,000,000 in a series b
funding. They're going to take the money to scale its production their production
of high performance fibres for industrial and aerospace applications.
German based this out. I think we already had this, for Aachen.
Madhu, please cut the the fiber code out. Oh, it's I I already
read this for Aachen. Oh, German
based Neo Plus Made raised €18,000,000
to advance its medical technology, particularly in plasma
based therapies, money that will be used to accelerate
product development and clinical trials.
And Munich Munich based Tredium
raised €30,000,000 to continue developing its ESG focused
property platform.
Zurich based Relay, r e l a
I, a Bitcoin focused start up, secured $12,000,000
in a series e funding to drive, European expansion.
Relay is working
on simplifying Bitcoin investment,
investing, and that funding emphasizes the growing popularity of
Bitcoin services in Europe. Swiss based Brytea,
a Fintech startup offering digital financial digital financial
solutions, raised $10,000,000 to expand its offering and scale
operations, highlighting a growing investor appetite for Fintech
innovation, particularly in Europe.
SpotMyEnergy, last but not least, reports a €10,500,000
funding round within the energy tech space,
that a space that is always looking for sustainable innovations.
Startups tackling energy efficiency and carbon management are seeing strong investor
interest. Spot My Energy is proving that. And that leaves us
with some mergers and acquisitions news.
Yes. Thank you. HTGF Cloud Software Group
Acquires Device Trust, the, portfolio
company backed by High-tech Chona Fon. The deal showcases strong
exit opportunities for German enterprise security startups.
TechCrunch, MIRAKL, m I r
a k l, acquires adsberg,
a startup specializing in ad optimization
technology. The acquisition aims to enhance Miracles
marketplace ecosystem by integrating AI driven
advertising tools when marketplaces meet
smarter ads. And as for what,
Pacquatum acquires Easybill, a German
invoicing software providing to expand its ecommerce service
ecosystem. The move consolidates Pataco's strategy
of offering end to end tools for online businesses.
Nomadia acquires German Koradin
Koradinate? Koradinate. Yeah. French based, Nomadia has
acquired German company Koradinate, expanding its geographical
footprint and capabilities in workforce management
solutions. Chris, that was a lot, but I do believe
that's a wrap. It was a lot, and,
it was a wrap for December. It also was a wrap for
2024. Challenging times ahead.
Stay warm. I don't know what else to say. And,
stay confident, I would say. Yes. And everybody,
merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Enjoy the holidays. Get some energy.
The New Year will not get easier. Thanks for
listening. Bye. Have a good day. Bye bye.