DACH Startup News December 2021: Founders, Funding and Ecosystem Updates
Updated: 2 days ago
Discover the latest updates from German startups: new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and insights into the venture capital landscape.
What Is This About?
December 2021's German startup news highlights new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and venture capital insights. This roundup covers the month's biggest developments in the DACH startup ecosystem as the year closed with record-breaking deal activity across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Introduction
December 2021 capped an extraordinary year for German startups with new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and record venture capital activity. This monthly roundup captures the final developments of a year that produced more billion-dollar valuations than any previous period in DACH startup history.
December 2021 capped an extraordinary year with new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and record venture capital activity across the DACH ecosystem — the most productive year in German startup history.
Discover the latest updates from German startups: new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and insights into the venture capital landscape. Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
This article is part of our coverage of DACH Startup News January 2022: Founders, Funding and Ecosystem Updates.
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
Top News
Mambu
Berlin-based Mambu nabs $266M at a $5.5B valuation to double down on embedded financial service and banking APIs Mambu nabs $266M at a $5.5B valuation to double down on embedded financial service and banking APIs | TechCrunch
Volocopter stops SPAC IPO and their early backers are unhappy with it …
Volocopter calls off planned SPAC deal to list on NASDAQ, citing an unfavorable capital market environment. For example Lilium, a competitor from Munich did go public via SPAC but ended below expectations.
This decision seems to be sensible but left the early crowdfunding backers furious. They had hoped for a payday and are afraid to be left alone with the minimum guaranteed payment (1%) promised during crowdfunding Volocopter bläst Spac-Pläne ab – Crowdinvestoren stinksauer | FinanceFWD
One of Germany’s leading business newspapers — normally not known to be very dramatic — writes in their headline that “Volocopter turned from a light tower for crowdfunding in Germany to a memorial” Flugtaxi-Unternehmen Volocopter: Vom Leuchtturmprojekt zum Mahnmal für Crowd-Investoren
Sono Motors Needs More Money
Solar car company Sono Motors raised more than 155 mn US$ in November with their successful NASDAQ IPO. Now they need additional 200 mn Euros (225 mn US$) to start the production of their first model Sion Sono Motors: „Wir brauchen noch mindestens 200 Millionen Euro“
Jokr is a new Unicorn
Berlin-based Jokr is now the third quick delivery unicorn, reports Deutsche-Startups exclusively, after a 200 mn US$ investment by G Squared, which already invested in Gorillas #EXKLUSIV Jokr steigt zum Unicorn auf - Gorillas-Geldgeber G Squared investiert 200 Millionen - deutsche-startups.de
Related: It took SellerX 14 months to become a unicorn, Gorillas only 9 months, and Flink only 8 months Start-up-Rekorde 2021: Atomico stellt State of European Tech vor
Infarm is a new Unicorn
Berlin-based urban farming startup Infarm raises 200 mn US$ from Qatar Sovereign Wealth Fund at unicorn valuation Urban-Farming-Startup Infarm steigt zum nächsten Berliner Unicorn auf
PayHawk
Payhawk, the Berlin-based #payment #fintech raises 112 mn US$ as Series B funding Payhawk erhält frische Mittel
Tonies
tonies, the company behind the kids’ toy tonies box, was listed via a SPAC deal on the Frankfurt Stock exchange. The company merged with 468 SPAC tonies-Aktie via SPAC neu an der Börse
Autoflight
AutoFlight Lands $100M (USD) Investment in Series A Funding from Team Global and Its Founder Lukasz Gadowski AutoFlight Lands $100M (USD) Investment in Series A Funding from Team Global and Its Founder Lukasz Gadowski
Learn more about Lukasz here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/german-startup-awards-2021-special-award-for-lukasz-gadowski
Updates in the NeoBroker Competition
A contender in the Neobroker Wars in Europe Scalable Capital make a move: They want to win over younger investors and lower their monthly minimum for ETF investment plans to 20€/month Digitale Vermögensverwaltung: Wie Scalable Capital junge Fondssparer gewinnen will
Another move in the neobroker competition in Germany: Scalable Capital starts their offer for Bitcoin trading Scalable Capital startet Handel mit Bitcoin
Now We Look In Our Crystal Ball for 2022
German IPO candidates for 2022: Fintechs N26 and Solarisbank, as well as dating portal ParshipMeet may list in public markets in 2022 com! professional trifft auf Professional System | Professional System
We will — again — look in the crystal bowl together with a political analyst in early 2022 looking at the initiatives the new Government wants — and is likely to — start. Let’s get to the ecosystem with this thought
HTGF is Europe’s most important early stage VC, backed half by government and half by corporate money. They have a 2022 outlook on their website as well. “Important developments to watch out for in 2022” | HTGF Important developments to watch out for in 2022 just some headlines here
Investing more energy in researching infectious diseases
2022 will also be a year in which innovation and pioneering technologies are in focus across all areas and industries.
New opportunities with quantum technology and new space
World of work in flux — Constant battle over talent
Ecosystem
Germany has a new government. On December 8th Olaf Scholz was sworn in to be the 9th Chancellor of Germany. He is ruling with his center left SPD, in coalition with liberal FDP and the Green Party. This will lead to changes for startups in Germany, and we will have an SME interview on this early next year with an expert.
Pfizer executives say Covid could become endemic by 2024 Pfizer executives say Covid could become endemic by 2024 One could interpret this as “we are back to almost normal in 2024”
The German VC Ecosystem
Germany’s first VC fund for female founders launches Germany’s launches as first VC fund for female founders | Sifted
German VC and PE Barometer Q3 ‘21
VC Business climate is at an all-time high but improves only slightly
Of the components of the index: Improvements in taxation are expected, but fewer options for exits.
Fundraising and Deal flow are still good
https://www.bvkap.de/statistiken/private-equity-barometer/ergebnisse-2021
German fintechs raised 4 bn US$ in the first 9 months of 2021. This is more than from 2016–2020 combined Funding deutscher Fintechs explodiert - Börsen-Zeitung
Germany News
IFO business climate is not looking as good, as it used to be “Coronavirus Wave Weighs on ifo Business Climate (December 2021)” "Source Link dead 2026-09-14"
2021 set a record for IPOs. German companies raised 9,3 bn Euros with domestic IPOs and 1.8 bn Euros abroad 2021 war Rekordjahr für Börsengänge
Corona and a strong shift to eCommerce show their effects not only on retail but also on rents for retail spaces. In Germany’s top 7 cities, the rents dropped in all cities, some by more than 10% Einzelhandelsmieten brechen in Top7-Städten stark ein
On the State of Venture Capital and the HOT Private Capital Marktes (VC)
European VC investments outperform U.S. ones — and have over the past two decades European VC investments outperform U.S. ones—and have over the last 2 decades | Fortune
Family offices become serious rivals to VC firms for funding start-ups Family offices become serious rivals to VC firms for funding start-ups
The bright new age of venture capital The bright new age of venture capital
$10B is the new $1B, and we need a new framework for startup valuations — TechCrunch $10B is the new $1B, and we need a new framework for startup valuations | TechCrunch
The private-markets party reaches fever pitch — The Economist The private-markets party reaches fever pitch
Decentralized Venture Capital Will Transform Startup Investing Forever "Source Link dead 2026-09-14"
IMF warns of crypto risks, suggests global standards IMF warns of crypto risks, suggests global standards - Times of India
Highlights of Atomico’s — State of European Tech
Crossing the $100B mark — Led by $250M+ rounds, European tech is on track to cross $100B in capital invested in a single year, for the first time. State of European Tech 2021 - Kicking into full gear
Europe’s unicorn count is soaring — Technology companies in Europe grew faster than ever, with another 98 reaching unicorn status so far this year. The decacorn herd ($10B+) also doubled in size: 26 European companies now hold that status. State of European Tech 2021 - Kicking into full gear
The total value of the European tech ecosystem crosses $3T — It took decades to reach a value of $1T in December 2018, but the next two were reached in record time. Where to next? State of European Tech 2021 - Kicking into full gear
Their largest deals include Celonis 1bn US$ from June, Gorillas 950 mn from September, N26 900+ mn from October and Trade Republic from May with 750 mn (all values in US$)
Their largest Exits include Auto1’s IPO in February at 12.9 bn, Zooplus buyout with 3.5 bn, Lilium’s SPAC deal with 3.3bn and Hensoldt’s merger worth 2.8 bn all in US$
Note that Hensoldt is a leading European player in the field of sensor solutions for defence and security applications, owned by KKR. Leonardo bought a 25.1% stake in April 2021 from KKR: https://www.leonardocompany.com/en/press-release-detail/-/detail/24-04-2021-leonardo-acquista
If you guys like, we can make a wrap-up of Atomico. Let us know if you want to hear more about the survey.
Hubs
Frankfurt
Wingcopter receives Investment from Japan-based DRONE FUND DRONE FUND – Wingcopter
Learn more about Wingcopter here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-wingcopter-the-startup-that-develops-drones-for-ups/
Finance software startup Fintus sells majority stake to Anacap PE fund in recent multi-million financing round AnaCap übernimmt Frankfurter Fintech Fintus - FAZ
Frankfurt-based Grovy raises €3 million for its quick grocery delivery service that puts sustainability and work culture first Frankfurt-based Grovy raises €3 million for its quick grocery delivery service that puts sustainability and work culture first | EU-Startups
Frankfurt-based #proptech Thing Technologies raises 7.5 mn Euros venture capital, also involves employees in the funding round Thing Technologies beteiligt Mitarbeiter an Finanzierungsrunde
Learn more about Thing Technologies here: Monthly Startup News from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
Munich
E-commerce logistics provider everstox raises €20 million — @Tech_eu Munich’s e-commerce logistics provider everstox raises €20 million - Tech.eu
casavi raises €20M Series B investment to build Europe’s leading digital property management platform HTGF Financing casavi
Hamburg
Compliance platform Taxdoo raises $64M Series B round to build the Financial Operating System for e-commerce via @HTGF HTGF News Taxdoo
Hamburg-based Dealcode nabs €1 million to make sales teams more successful Hamburg-based Dealcode nabs €1 million to make sales teams more successful | EU-Startups
Bielefeld
Bitly buys Bielefeld, Germany-based QR Code startup Egoditor for around 300 mn Euros Bitly kauft Egoditor (Kaufpreis: 300 Millionen) - Drone Fund investiert in Wingcopter - deutsche-startups.de
Austria
Austrian Growth Capital Fund is intended to invest up to 15 mn Euros in scaleups or buyouts in Austria. Now they make the first closing at 140 m Euro Austrian Growth Capital Fund: Erstes Closing bei 140 Mio. Euro
Do you know the Vienna-based startup Storebox? You should they are now partnering with Ikea in Austria to enable their clients to pick up their delivery from Storebox storage rooms in their vicinity Storebox: Partnerschaft mit Ikea wird österreichweit ausgerollt
kompany is a Vienna-based scaleup, which sold itself to Moody’s for more than 100mn Euros kompany: Wiener Scale-up gelingt +100-Millionen-Exit an Rating-Agentur Moody's
enlivio is a Vienna-based startup, which counts Porsche amongst its investors. Now they start with their app, to enable a mix of on-site and app guided physiotherapy Wiener Startup enlivio startet digitale Physiotherapie nach Covid-Erkrankung | brutkasten
Switzerland
Swiss Private Bank Bordier & Cie Partners With Fintech Moonfare to Access Private Equity Funds Swiss Private Bank Partners With Fintech Moonfare
General News / Companies News Section
Mercedes Beats Tesla in Autonomous Driving
Mercedes gets level 3 license for autonomous driving in Germany, outdoing all competitors including Tesla. This means complete autonomous driving up to 60 km/h 37,3 mph) Drive Pilot: Mercedes erhält erste Serien-Zulassung für autonomes Fahrsystem - FOCUS online
Learn more about the german regulation: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/a-look-inside-the-worlds-first-law-regulating-autonomous-driving-bonus
Fintech News
Berlin-based fintech Fincompare is bought by a syndicate of cooperative banks. Investors (including Speedinvest and ING) have so far invested 20 mn Euros, therefore the price of 15 mn € is quite surprising Volksbanken kaufen Startup Fincompare
Deutsche-Banks in-house neobank for SMEs Fyrst now has 25.000 customers. They stick to their free basic account model, but their competitors are larger with Holvi having 90k clients and Penta 40k clients in Germany Fyrst hat 25.000 Kunden – reicht das für den Angriff auf Penta und Holvi? | FinanceFWD
German/UK fintech unicorn Sumup is trying to be a European Square, by offering banking services via app to retail clients. They add features with acquisitions. Nach dem Square-Vorbild: Sumup startet Banking-App für Endkunden | FinanceFWD
N26 made a Second Closing — Raising Additional Money to their 900 mn Series E Round read more in our blog post https://www.startuprad.io/blog/breaking-n26-made-a-second-closing-raising-additonal-money-to-their-900-mn-series-e-round
Germany’s No 1 crowdfunding platform Exporo restructures and cuts headcount Großer Umbau bei Exporo: Mitarbeiter müssen gehen
A German startup blog writes Klana’s super app is “totally innovation free” Die Super-App von Klarna ist „komplett innovationsfrei“ – E-Commerce-Experte Alexander Graf im FinanceFWD-Podcast | FinanceFWD
Vegan and Vegetarian Startups
That flew under the radar of many: Germany’s largest producer of vegan products Veganz IPOed in November in Frankfurt. They raised almost 50 mn Euros. They IPOed at 87 Euros a share and have been trading up to 94 Euros IPO: Veganz kommt zu 87 EUR Ausgabepreis | GoingPublic.de they raised 47.6 mn Euros (53.5 mn US$) in funds at a 106 mn Euros (120 mn US$) valuation.
Code check is an app for vegans to check if a food contains animal products. They have 4.5 mn users, but despite that, they had to file for insolvency. They did not earn enough money with their users Trotz 4,5 Millionen Nutzern: Unternehmen hinter beliebter App ist insolvent - CHIP
Perfeggt brings in first capital to shell out plant-based egg alternative — TechCrunch Perfeggt brings in first capital to shell out plant-based egg alternative | TechCrunch
Deliver Hero Updates
Foodpanda, a subsidiary of listed Delivery Hero, starts in 6 cities in Germany. They shut their German business end of 2018 and now they are back Foodpanda liefert in mehr deutschen Städten – und sucht Fahrer:innen
Delivery Hero does not get permission to take over Saudi-Arabian competitor The Chefz. This is the second attempt Frankfurt am Main - Behörde untersagt Delivery Hero Zukauf in Saudi-Arabien - Wirtschaft - SZ.de
Indices
Former e-commerce stars Home24 and Westwing will be kicked out of SDAX, the little brother of Germany’s main stock index, effective December 20th. Index tracking ETFs will have to sell, analyst coverage will decrease SDax: Ehemalige E-Commerce High-Flyer Home24 und Westwing fliegen aus dem Index - IT-Times
Most of our followers know TeamViewer and Zooplus. Now both will be kicked out of the share price index Stoxx Europe 600 Drei deutsche Unternehmen fliegen aus dem Stoxx Europe 600
A few — very very much selected — funding rounds
Jina, a Berlin, Germany-based open-source neural search company, raised $30M in Series A funding Jina AI Raises $30M in Series A Funding - FinSMEs
Berlin-based Zolar raises a fresh €20 million, aims to solar panel the world — (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source) Berlin-based Zolar raises a fresh €20 million, aims to solar panel the world - Tech.eu
Interview partner podcast Starting Y: https://anchor.fm/starting-y
Blickfeld the Lidar startup announced an extension of their Series A financing to 31 mn US$ in total. The new investor is New Future Capital, existing investors like Osram, Tengelmann and UVC_Partners participate as well as HTGF HTGF Finanzierung Blickfeld
Kinnevik invests 95 mn US$ together with Coatue, Eurazeo, Atomico, Creandum, and La Famiglia in #Berlin-based #carsharing startup Vay, enabling them to deliver and return shared cars with remote drivers Vay sammelt 95 Millionen ein - Singular investiert in Formel Skin - Flash Ventures setzt auf Flash - deutsche-startups.de
N26 boss invests in an all female-founded finance education platform called Beatvest, following the model of Masterclass N26-Chef steigt bei Fintech Beatvest ein - Business Insider
Do you know the insurtech Hakuna? They offer warranty extensions. They raised 1,5 mn € from investors, including founders of Sum-up and Klana Hakuna sammelt 1,5 Millionen Euro ein | Startbase
The German Thrift organization prepares to offer bitcoin trading in 2022, adding 50 mn potential new investors Sparkassen bereiten Bitcoin-Handel vor | FinanceFWD
You Have Heard That SPACs Are Not Dead Yet …
Berlin-based SIGNA Sports United Went Public on New York Stock Exchange on December 15th in Largest German SPAC Deal With Gross Proceeds of $484 million From YAC Trust, valuing the company at 3.2 bn US$ SIGNA Sports United, Leading Global Sports E-Commerce and Technology Platform, Goes Public on New York Stock Exchange – IPO Edge
Quick Delivery Startups
Gorillas want to sue again against the formation of a work council Gorillas Betriebsrat: Das Unternehmen will erneut vor Gericht ziehen - Business Insider
Khora is a bike courier collective, they want to be the better Gorillas. Founded was the company by a driver, left without a job with the retreat of UK-based Deliveroo from Germany Fairness zahlt sich aus: Khora will es besser machen als Gorillas - n-tv.de
Berlin-based TIER, announced its acquisition of Wind Mobility Italy, with e-scooters now available in Bari and Palermo European micro-mobility leader TIER glides into Italy, acquires Wind Mobility Italy | EU-Startups
Benedict Rodenstock is known to insiders in Germany as an investor in Mr. Spex and Amorelie (both shooting stars of the German startup scene). Now he raises a new fund for early-stage startups with Arviq Capital Partners Ehemaliger Amorelie- und Mister-Spex-Investor legt Venture-Capital-Fonds auf
Adidas’ first NFT drop earns $23 million Adidas' first NFT drop earns $23 million
Stay ahead of the curve
Game Changers: Do you know who the innovators are in your organization? Game Changers
The big startup question on my mind for 2022 — TechCrunch The big startup question on my mind for 2022 | TechCrunch
Sequoia Capital Finally Gets ‘Red-Pilled’ on Crypto Investing Sequoia Capital Finally Gets 'Red-Pilled' on Crypto Investing - Bloomberg
Find the original post here: https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-startups-december-2021/
Berlin-based Mambu nabs $266M at a $5.5B valuation to double down on embedded financial service and banking APIs https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/09/mambu-nabs-266m-at-a-5-5b-valuation-to-double-down-on-embedded-financial-service-and-banking-apis/
This article covers a significant development in the DACH startup and venture capital ecosystem.
The DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) continues to be one of Europe's most dynamic startup markets.
Relationship Map
Startuprad.io → published → DACH Startup News December 2021: Founders, Funding and Ecosy
Partner with Startuprad.io
Startuprad.io is the leading independent media platform covering startups, venture capital, and innovation across the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and Europe. We offer B2B partnership opportunities for companies looking to reach startup decision-makers, founders, and investors.
Become a Partner — Learn about sponsorship and partnership opportunities
Contact us: partnerships@startuprad.io
Editor-in-Chief: Jörn "Joe" Menninger on LinkedIn
Subscribe to the Podcast
All podcast links: https://linktr.ee/startupradio
What are the key facts about DACH Startup News December 2021:?
Discover the latest updates from German startups: new unicorns, mega funding rounds, and insights into the venture capital landscape.
How does this affect the German startup ecosystem?
This article is part of our coverage of DACH Startup News January 2022: Founders, Funding and Ecosystem Updates.
What are the latest startup funding trends in the DACH region?
Startuprad.io tracks venture capital and startup funding across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Explore our pillar coverage pages for the latest data.
About the Host
Joern "Joe" Menninger is the host of the Startuprad.io podcast and covers founders, investors, and policy developments across the DACH startup ecosystem. Through more than 1,300 interviews and nearly a decade of reporting, he documents the evolution of the European startup landscape. Follow Joern on LinkedIn.
Want to reach the DACH startup ecosystem? Become a partner and connect with founders, investors, and operators across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Support Startuprad.io
Startuprad.io is the leading independent media platform covering startups and innovation across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We bring founders’ stories to a global audience through in-depth interviews and expert analysis. Support our mission by subscribing to our podcast on your favorite platform, sharing this episode with fellow startup enthusiasts, or exploring sponsorship opportunities at startuprad.io.
This article is part of Startuprad.io’s ongoing coverage of monthly DACH startup news.
Comments