DACH Startup News March 2021: Founders, Funding and Ecosystem Updates
Updated: Oct 17
What Is This About?
March 2021's comprehensive overview of the startup scene in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This monthly roundup covers key funding rounds, notable founder stories, ecosystem developments, and the accelerating pace of innovation across the DACH startup landscape.
Introduction
March 2021's DACH startup roundup covers key funding rounds, founder stories, and ecosystem developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland during a spring of accelerating momentum.
March 2021 DACH startup roundup covers key funding rounds, founder stories, and ecosystem developments during an accelerating spring across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Everything you need to know about the startup scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in March 2021
This article is part of our coverage of DACH Startup News January 2022: Founders, Funding and Ecosystem Updates.
Welcome!
Everything you need to know about the startup scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in March 2021 Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Welcome to This Month in German Startups by Startuprad.io — in a transatlantic news recording with Chris in New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main.
Today we are wrapping up March 2021 for you. We talk about Austria’s first unicorn Bitpanda, a Samwer attempt at a German Tesla, SPACs, indoor farming, open positions at N26, and much more.
Follow us
Find all our social media channels, our podcasts and our internet radio station here:
Housekeeping — Time to brag
Stay safe everyone!
Startuprad.io was placed by Listen Notes in the global Top 0.5% of podcasts (out of more than 2 million they are tracking).
These are the Top Venture Capital Companies in Germany (2021) by Welp Magazine London), with an honorary mention of Startuprad_io These are the Top Venture Capital Companies in Germany (2021) - Welp Magazine
Startuprad.io now has an Alexa Skill for it’s internet radio station: https://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B08YP37X9K
Affiliate Links
Did you see the improvement in audio and video quality in the last few months? Part of it was the AI audio filter Krisp and the online recording tool Riverside.fm. You can get an account at both of them with an affiliate link from us here:
Top News
Griaß di Unicorn
Austria’s first unicorn: Neobroker for digital assets (Bitcoin and more) Bitpanda raises $170M at a valuation of $1.2B, located in Vienna, Austria Austria’s first unicorn: Neobroker Bitpanda raises $170M at a valuation of $1.2B - Silicon Canals
The youngest Samwer Brother working on a German Tesla
Alexander Samwer plans listing of solar company Enpal wanting to be “a German Tesla” Alexander Samwer und Solarfirma Enpal: „ein deutsches Tesla“ - manager magazin
Fit Analytics from Berlin gets snapped up
Snap buys Berlin-based startup Fit Analytics, whose AI-based Fit Finder recommends fitting clothes and shoes Passende Kleidergößen mit KI: Snap übernimmt Berliner Startup Fit Analytics
Bigger Indoor Farming with Infarm
Urban Farming Startup Infarm Raises Extra $100 Million to Expand, after raising 170 m US$ in September 2020 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-05/urban-farming-startup-infarm-raises-extra-100-million-to-expand?srnd=technology-vp
Asset Management: Gimme your money
After Vanguard and BlockRock: Fidelity enters German Robo Advisor / Digital Asset Management Market, buying a stake in Berlin-based Moonfare, which offers investments in Private Equity funds Vermögensverwalter Fidelity beteiligt sich an Berliner Fintech Moonfare | FinanceFWD
N26 has many open positions
N26 is losing employees. Their current headcount is around 1.150, down almost 500 from 2019 (~1.500). This coincides with the head of HR (formerly with Adidas) leaving her job after 6 months N26 verliert Hunderte Mitarbeiter | FinanceFWD
Wirecard
We keep you updated, just a small selection of news here.
Keep in mind there is still an investigative committee ongoing.
New head BaFin. The last one had to go after Wirecard. The new one is currently heading the swiss finance oversight and has a swiss and UK passport: https://www.capital.de/wirtschaft-politik/neuer-bafin-chef-analyse
The Double Life of Wirecard’s Fugitive Executive The Double Life of Wirecard's Fugitive Executive - YouTube
Ecosystem
German Venture Capital Barometer: VC business climate in Q4 2020 better than 2019 says KfW Research "Source Link dead 2026-09-14" they also see the depths of the corona depression overcome and increased satisfaction with government programs. Keep in mind this was published before the current increasingly sticky lockdown around easter.
TOP 50: Europe’s most influential women in the startup and venture capital space TOP 50: Europe's most influential women in the startup and venture capital space | EU-Startups
Including
Alisée de Tonnac CEO & Co-founder of Seedstars World from Switzerland
Julia Bösch is the founder and CEO of Outfittery
Madeleine Gummer v. Mohl is co-founder and CEO of Betahaus
Maria Pennanen is co-founder of Accelerator Frankfurt and the previous CEO of the crypto/blockchain startup Santiment (learn more about her here in our interview: https://www.startuprad.io/post/learn-from-maria-investor-in-several-of-germany-s-renowned-startups/)
Marie-Helene Ametsreiter is Lead Partner at SpeedInvest
Short Sellers Boost Bets Against SPACs — WSJ Short Sellers Boost Bets Against SPACs - WSJ (more on SPACs later)
“Investors who bet against stocks are targeting special-purpose acquisition companies, one of the hottest growth areas on Wall Street. The dollar value of bearish bets against shares of SPACs has more than tripled to about $2.7 billion from $724 million at the start of the year, according to data from S3 Partners.” WSJ March 14th
Female founders struggle for funding in Berlin startup scene | DW Female founders struggle for funding in Berlin startup scene
Hubs
Note: The order of news and cities is only due to the time when we discovered the news.
Frankfurt
Credit platform creditshelf has lent out more than 300 m Euros, CEO says Prime Standard | creditshelf Geschäft nimmt Fahrt auf. Die Richtung stimmt - FinTech mit Zukunft?
Online broker FlatexDegiro is now valued at 2 bn Euros (~2.37 bn US$) Mit Bundesliga-Sponsoring und neuer App auf den Massenmarkt – der Flatex-Chef Frank Niehage im FinanceFWD-Podcast | FinanceFWD
Bremen
Greensill insolvency puts deposits of half a billion Euros (597 m US$) from cities and municipalities at risk at German Greensill bank. The deposits are not fully covered for non-retail investors Verlust von halber Milliarde?: Kommunen bangen um Greensill-Einlagen - n-tv.de
Related: Our blog post: https://www.startuprad.io/post/how-the-greensill-capital-collapse-touched-the-german-fintech-scene-founder-interview/
Heidelberg
Heidelberg: Berlin-based Patient 21 buys hospital Sankt Elisabeth in the borough of Heidelberg Heidelberg: Software-Firma kauft Klinik Sankt Elisabeth von Ordensschwestern - Heidelberg - Nachrichten und Aktuelles - Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung
Karlsruhe
Air taxi startup Volocopter raises 200 mn Euros Flugtaxi-Startup Volocopter holt sich 200 Millionen Euro - Business Insider
Munich
Apple will invest 1 bn US$ over the next three years in Germany, including a new center for chip design in Munich, which has the capacity for 1.500 employees München: Apple investiert eine Milliarde Euro in Deutschland | FAZ
Kranus Health is focusing on men’s health and raises “seven-digit” — Munich Startup Kranus Health: Millionenfinanzierung in Seed-Runde | Munich Startup Platform
Starnberg-based AM Ventures starts 100 m Euro VC fund for investing in industrial 3d printing startups AM Ventures startet 100-Millionen-Euro-Investmentfonds für Start-up-Beteiligungen im industriellen 3D-Druck
Rostock
Insurtech Hepster raises 8,4 m Euro #VentureCapital Rostocker Insurtech Hepster bekommt 8,4 Millionen Euro
Hamburg
NEW WORK SE (a competitor of LinkedIn with Xing.com in the German-speaking area) slightly increases revenues 276,0 M € and EBITDA 92,3 M € in 2020, according to their published, but not yet audited results NEW WORK SE mit stabiler Entwicklung im Geschäftsjahr 2020 | Moneycab
Hamburg-based real estate crowdfunding platform Exporo loses the 2nd of its three founders. Only one of the three remains Exporo-Mitgründer verlässt das Unternehmen | FinanceFWD and the remaining one was the founder of an acquired startup
Chemnitz
Air quality monitoring company Corant GmbH, raises “six digits” venture capital funding from strategic corporate investor Neuer Investor steigt bei Chemnitzer Luftanalysefirma ein – Founderella Startup News
Austria
From above Austria’s first unicorn: Neobroker Bitpanda raises $170M at a valuation of $1.2B | Silicon Canals Austria’s first unicorn: Neobroker Bitpanda raises $170M at a valuation of $1.2B - Silicon Canals
Switzerland
“Planted Foods” closed 17 Mio CHF (15 m €, 18 m US$) venture capital round | Moneycab Planted Foods schliesst 17 Mio Franken-Finanzierungsrunde erfolgreich ab | Moneycab
Hashmasks — The story behind the Swiss-based NFT pioneer (in German) Hashmasks – wie Schweizer NFT-Pionieren der Durchbruch gelang | FinanceFWD
Porsche Digital, with their brand Forward31 expands start-up portfolio with The Embassies from Switzerland Forward31 expands start-up portfolio with The Embassies - EIN Presswire The Swiss company is developing a digital platform and a habitat that provides tailored, premium living in retirement
Companies Section
On-Demand Groceries, Delivery Fight is heating Up in Germany
Flink, the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup that operates its own ‘dark stores’, raises $52M — following their competitor Gorillas, which raised 44 m US$ Flink, the Berlin-based grocery delivery startup that operates its own 'dark stores', raises $52M | TechCrunch all focusing on the delivery of groceries
More on SPACs
Here is the next SPAC made in Germany to go public. Tio Tech A by Lesara founder Kirsch and HelloFresh CEO Richter wants to raise 300 m US$ at NASDAQ IPO. Bookrunner is Deutsche Bank https://sec.report/Document/0001193125-21-050909/ here is the link to the SEC filing S1
Frontier Acquisition Corp, a SPAC backed by German investor Christian Angermayer and Falcon Edge from New York started trading at NASDAQ, looking for biotech companies Spac-Börsendebüt von Christian Angermayer steht bevor - Business Insider
Gamestop Not Over By A Long Run
In the aftermath of GameStop is the German finance oversight body Bafin starting to investigate neobroker Trade Republic Trade Republic: Bafin leitet Untersuchung zum Gamestop-Fall ein. We will keep you updated.
Company News
According to a German press report New York-based, Tiger Global is in the process of investing in Berlin-based Pitch “the alternative to PowerPoint for generation Slack” by one of the founders of Wunderlist #EXKLUSIV Project A und GFC investieren in amazd - Tiger Global vor Investment in Pitch - Cavalry Ventures investiert in Blok - deutsche-startups.de
Teamviewer buys Augmented Reality specialist Upskill https://www.ict-channel.com/software-services/teamviewer-schlaegt-bei-upskill-zu.124460.html?utm_term=0_6a5d9fa724-80c29492bf-138501835&mc_cid=80c29492bf&mc_eid=1f745aced1&utm_content=bufferb82b7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Swarm wanted to turn insects into snacks like food bars. Now they throw in the towel. Flightright übernimmt dänischen Wettbewerber | GS Startup-Ticker - Business Insider
Former fintech builder FinLeap had to publish numbers and it turns out Deutsche-Börse invested in Spring 2020 at a valuation of 330 m €. The value of their portfolio holdings is around 1 bn € Der „Deep Dive“ zu Finleap: 330 Mio. Euro Bewertung - aber auch 3 Flops
Rocket Internet changes tactics and is now actively looking for an investment professional to make cryptocurrency investments Rocket Internet interessiert sich für Krypto-Startups | FinanceFWD
Deutsche Bank wants to offer payment services for eCommerce Deutsche Bank fordert die großen Payment-Anbieter heraus
Curevac and Tesla Grohmann work on mRNA micro-factory Impfstoff-Drucker: Curevac und Tesla stellen mobiles Pharmalabor vor
Flixbus, Germany’s No1 coach operator officially ends corona break and starts limited operations again Flixbus fährt wieder durch Deutschland: Corona-Pause offiziell beendet
International VC firm Presight Capital raises $350M second fund — TechCrunch International VC firm Presight Capital raises $350M second fund | TechCrunch
All Other News
Germany outpaces the US in new e-car registrations in 2020, after a 264% subsidy-induced surge. Both countries remain behind China as the No1 market globally Elektroautos: Deutschland überholt USA bei E-Auto-Neuzulassungen - DER SPIEGEL
Delivery-Hero CEO sells company stock worth more than 22 m Euro Der Delivery-Hero-Chef verkauft Aktien für 22 Millionen Euro
Stay ahead of the curve
Pitching Angels 12: The Fictional 5-Year Revenue Projection (And Why It’s the Most Important Slide… Pitching Angels 12: The Fictional 5-Year Revenue Projection (And Why It's the Most Important Slide in Your Deck) | by DC Palter | Medium
You’ve got the power? Legacy banks aim high with new crypto offerings You’ve got the power? Legacy banks aim high with new crypto offerings
How Blockchain is going to disrupt the Neobroker market https://benpeterjones.medium.com/how-blockchain-is-going-to-disrupt-the-neobroker-market-f4d048b649e4?utm_content=buffer718fb&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
How covid-19 is boosting innovation | The Economist How covid-19 is boosting innovation - YouTube
Amazon Quietly Began Building a Grocery Chain During Pandemic — Bloomberg Amazon (AMZN) Grocery Store Chain Being Quietly Built During Covid, Pandemic - Bloomberg
Former SolarWinds CEO blames intern for ‘solarwinds123’ password leak Former SolarWinds CEO blames intern for ‘solarwinds123’ password leak | CNN Politics
Austria’s first unicorn: Neobroker for digital assets (Bitcoin and more) Bitpanda raises $170M at a valuation of $1.2B, located in Vienna, Austria https://siliconcanals.com/bitpanda-raises-170m/
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 March 2021: Founders, Funding and Ecosyste
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 March 2021:?
Everything you need to know about the startup scene in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in March 2021
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 delivers independent, data-driven analysis of the DACH startup ecosystem. From funding rounds to valuations and policy shifts, we track the trends that matter. Bookmark startuprad.io for ongoing coverage, subscribe to our newsletter for weekly updates, or contact us about partnership opportunities to reach our engaged investor and founder audience.
This article is part of Startuprad.io’s ongoing coverage of monthly DACH startup news.
Comments