The EU's €40 billion Innovation Fund has deployed less than 1% of its budget after five years. A Startuprad.io analysis of what the European Court of Auditors' 2026 audit reveals for DACH deep tech founders, VCs, and cleantech investors — and what comes next with the €451B European Competitiveness Fund.

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Fridtjof Detzner, co-founder of website builder Jimdo, transitioned from building a tech company to investing in green technology as a VC. Named Investor of the Year at the German Startup Awards 2023, he now backs climate-focused startups across the DACH region. This article is part of

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Vienna-based refurbed has become one of Austria's most promising unicorn candidates by building Europe's leading marketplace for refurbished electronics. The startup combines sustainability with consumer savings, offering professionally restored devices at lower prices while reducing e

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? The European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF) deploys €300 million in venture capital for startups advancing Europe's Green Deal. This interview with one of the fund's investors explores how they evaluate bioeconomy startups and what it takes to build a climate-focused venture portfolio

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Reverse.Supply offers fashion brands a turnkey second-hand-shops-as-a-service solution. Instead of building their own resale infrastructure, brands can plug into Reverse.Supply's platform to launch branded recommerce channels — capturing the growing demand for sustainable fashion while

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Milan, who graduated from high school in 2022, founded QiTech to recycle plastic bottle caps into 3D printing filament. Featured at the German Startup Awards #GSA22, this young entrepreneur demonstrates how circular economy thinking can start early — turning everyday plastic waste into

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Traceless Materials founder Johanna Baare has developed compostable biomaterials that can replace conventional plastics. Featured at #GSA22, the Hamburg-based green startup produces materials from agricultural waste that fully decompose — offering brands a genuinely sustainable alterna

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? CleanHub CEO Joel Tasche built a platform that lets consumer brands fund ocean plastic collection in real time. By partnering with waste management organizations in coastal communities, CleanHub intercepts plastic before it reaches the ocean — giving brands a measurable, verified way t

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? Berlin-based Trilleco helps businesses measure, analyze, and manage their environmental impact with an intuitive software platform. Featured in the female entrepreneurship track, this green startup empowers companies to move beyond greenwashing toward data-driven sustainability decisio

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on February 7th, 2022 What Is This About? SOLYTIC helps small solar investors monitor and optimize their photovoltaic installations — leveling the playing field with large-scale operators. Co-founder Johannes explains how the platform uses data analytics to maximize solar energy yields and reduce maintenance costs for distributed solar assets. This article is part of our coverage of Scaleup Founder Interviews fro

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on Dec 15th, 2021. What Is This About? &Charge raised seed funding for a platform that helps online shoppers fight global warming. Founded by Simon, the Hessen-based startup lets consumers earn climate rewards through everyday shopping — turning purchasing power into measurable environmental impact without changing buying behavior. This article is part of our coverage of Seed Funding for Startups in Germany, Aust

This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.com/startuprad-io), and was moved to this blog with the relaunch of our website in summer 2024. What Is This About? SOLYTIC provides monitoring and analytics software for small-scale solar installations, helping individual investors and small operators optimize their photovoltaic systems. The platform levels the playing field by giving smaller players access to the same data-driven insights used by

Regulation shapes the operating environment for startups across every sector. From financial services licensing to AI compliance, from employment law to data protection, the regulatory landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland creates both constraints and opportunities. This page tracks the key regulatory bodies, recent and upcoming frameworks, and national government strategies affecting startups in the region. This page is part of the Startuprad.io Knowledge Center

Industrial and manufacturing technology in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland builds on the DACH region's deep engineering tradition. Startups like Agile Robots (collaborative robotics) and corporate innovators like Siemens, Bosch, and SAP are driving factory automation, industrial AI, and digital marketplace models. This guide covers collaborative robotics, industrial digitalization, and AI ecosystems shaping DACH manufacturing. It is part of the ClimateTech, Energy & Sustain

Energy, mobility, and infrastructure innovation in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) spans electrified aviation, EV charging networks, battery storage, autonomous robotics, and grid integration technology. Key developments include Lilium and Volocopter insolvencies, 1KOMMA5° distributed energy integration, and ANYbotics autonomous robotics funding. This page is part of the Startuprad.io Knowledge Center , within the ClimateTech, Energy & Sustainability pillar.

ClimateTech startups in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH) span renewable energy integration, green hydrogen, distributed solar, carbon removal, and circular economy solutions. Leading companies include 1KOMMA5° (solar/storage platform, €450M+ funding), Sunfire (green hydrogen, €500M raised in 2024), Enpal (solar marketplace, €1.1B+ debt refinancing), and Refurbed (circular economy). This page is part of the Startuprad.io Knowledge Center , within the ClimateTech, Energ

Climate technology has become the largest venture capital category in several European markets, driven by regulatory pressure, corporate decarbonization demand, and the aftermath of the 2022 energy crisis. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland each bring distinct capabilities — Germany with industrial-scale energy transition, Switzerland with deep-tech carbon removal, and Austria with green building and circular economy innovation. In Short Executive Summary German cleantech comp

Startuprad.io is a structured knowledge platform for the DACH startup ecosystem, combining startup news, funding intelligence, founder interviews, and market context across podcasts, articles, and analysis.

Europe’s startup ecosystem is heating up again—smart capital is flowing into climate, deeptech, and infrastructure-heavy AI. In this month’s Top News episode, we cover €150m for Terra One, JPMorgan’s fintech push into Germany, Cutiss’ €57M biotech milestone, and a €3B fusion bet by Berlin. With new momentum in regulation, capital, and commercialization, the DACH region is setting the pace for pragmatic innovation. Welcome back to the serious side of tech.

Europe’s startup ecosystem is heating up again—smart capital is flowing into climate, deeptech, and infrastructure-heavy AI. In this month’s Top News episode, we cover €150m for Terra One, JPMorgan’s fintech push into Germany, Cutiss’ €57M biotech milestone, and a €3B fusion bet by Berlin. With new momentum in regulation, capital, and commercialization, the DACH region is setting the pace for pragmatic innovation. Welcome back to the serious side of tech.