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This Month in German Startups — November 2021

Updated: 1 day ago

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on November 25th, 2021.

What Is This About?

The November 2021 DACH startup news roundup covers the month's key developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — a period of peak funding activity before the 2022 correction, with notable rounds, IPO preparations, and ecosystem milestones.

This article is part of our coverage of Monthly Startup News from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Executive Summary

  • This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on November 25th, 2021.

  • This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.

  • Welcome to This Month in German Startups in November 2021 by Startuprad.

  • We recorded this new episode on Friday, November 19th.

  • Today we have escooter Tier’s newest funding and acquisition, N26 pulling the plug on their US operations already in January 2022, and the amazing IPO of Sono Motors on NASDAQ.


This Month in German Startups — November 2021 Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

This story was migrated from our old blog, originally published on November 25th, 2021.



New Blog

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.


Welcome to This Month in German Startups in November 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 Friday, November 19th. All news not included here will be published in our December News (to be published on December 23rd). 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. We are not there yet, so let’s get started:

Today we have escooter Tier’s newest funding and acquisition, N26 pulling the plug on their US operations already in January 2022, and the amazing IPO of Sono Motors on NASDAQ. There are also new unicorns, we proudly present Frankfurt’s first unicorn, the insurtech Clark.de. Also, Razor Group (an Amazon shop buyer) becomes a unicorn with a 125 mn US$ fundraising. In November, there is no unicorn tracker. We will keep our eyes open and maybe the next news will have a unicorn tracker companion.


Happy Thanksgiving to our US audience!


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Top News


Tier raises capital and buys a bicycle rental company


N26 pull the plug on their US operations

  • They will stop on January 11th, 2022 already. So there is not much time to shift your main bank account if you ever had it there. N26 started in the US in 2019 and now, 2 ½ years later, already leaves again. https://n26.com/en-us/blog/n26-us-operations


Three more unicorns (Sono Motors is publicly traded and strictly not a unicorn, but Clark and Razor Group make the cut)


Sono Motors IPO on NASDAQ


Clark.de — Now a unicorn


Razor Group

Amazon-shop-buyer Razor Group raises 125 mn US$ and cracks unicorn valuation https://buff.ly/3wCdmaM


Ecosystem


Hubs


Frankfurt


Mainz

  • BioNTech, the company behind the Pfizer corona vaccine is building a factory in Africa to produce their vaccine https://buff.ly/3vOj6xw

  • BioNTech is not only successful as a startup, but the tax revenues fill the coffers of Mainz, where they are located. Mainz wants to use the money to pay back debt and help to get more biotech startups to the city https://lnkd.in/e4EsrE2b


Tübingen

  • Curevac one of Germany’s great biotech hopes had to trash its first approach for a corona vaccine, now they are back with their 2nd attempt and promising data on it https://buff.ly/3Dtpuxj


Heidelberg

  • Insurtech startup Getsafe obtains property insurance license, turning itself from an insurtech into an insurance company https://buff.ly/3CmnYMT


Hamburg


Munich


Stuttgart


Austria


General News / Companies News Section


The Zooplus story is nearing an end. The story in short: One PE company wanted to take them private and made an offer. Then two others were interested in joining the fight. One dropped out and H&F and EQT decided to work together.

  • Zooplus buyout to be decided Wednesday, November 3rd, the offer for the company was raised, now reaching 3.4 bn Euros (~4 bn US$) https://buff.ly/3w4pJft

  • Hellman & Friedman (H&F) and EQT now own more than 50% of the Zooplus shares. They paid 480 €/share, valuing the company at 3.7 bn € https://buff.ly/3FvDIhP

  • Here is a short overview of the bidding war compiled by the Exciting Commerce Blog

  • 2,8 bn Euro (390 Euro/share) Hellman & Friedman August 13th.

  • 3,3 bn Euro (460 Euro/share) Hellman & Friedman September 12th

  • 3,4 bn Euro (470 Euro/share) EQT September 25th

  • 3,4 bn Euro (470 Euro/share) Hellman & Friedman October 7th

  • 3,4 Euro (480 Euro/share) Hellman & Friedman and EQT joint offer on October 25th

  • November 3rd they purchased more than 50% of the shares


Fintech

  • A German blog looked through the published P&L and balance sheet of Berlin-based fintech unicorn Trade Republic (Sep 30th, ‘20)

  • Their revenue grew by 3.600%

  • CAC 40 €

  • RPC 100 €

  • ==> They make ~60 € out of each new client the first year https://buff.ly/3EYjBZ9?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-

  • Moonfare — a Berlin-based fintech that allows its clients to invest in PE funds — raises $125M in Series C led by Insight Partners to accelerate global growth https://buff.ly/3jYSBB2 at an assumed valuation of 500 mn Euros. They can be seen as a competitor of NYC based startups iCapital Network or Artivest, but iCapital has already raised 3x the funding of Moonfare. We will see how far Moonfare gets, since the money is for their international expansion.

  • A new move in the neobroker competition between Trade Republic, Bitpanda and Scalable:

  • Munich-based neobroker Scalable Capital buys JustETF, an ETF-focused website https://buff.ly/3o5o9Gk

  • German finance oversight Bafin surprised by Insurtech Hype, the seven insurtechs in Germany only make up 0,02% of all property premiums in the German market https://buff.ly/3D0TIrg

  • Solarisbank (the banking backend of many fintech startups) is reorganizing due to their first international acquisition https://buff.ly/3pY7QxB


SPACS are not dead yet

Former German McKinsey CEO Cornelius Baur keeps pushing his SPAC plans. It will be listed in Amsterdam, looking for targets in health care https://buff.ly/3qOMnaY Now Handelsblatt reports the ex CEOs from Merck and Qiagen are also part of the SPAC team: https://buff.ly/3kUg4DT


Noteworthy New VC Funds

  • World Fund just launched Europe’s biggest climate tech venture capital fund with €350 million https://buff.ly/2ZvbdAU

  • Balderton Capital announces €529 million early-stage fund to back Europe’s next wave of breakout tech https://buff.ly/3ctKybb


All Other News


Stay ahead of the curve




What Happened in German Startups in November 2021?

November 2021 featured Tier e-scooter's latest funding and acquisition activity, plus the significant news that N26 was pulling the plug on its US operations. Recorded November 19th, 2021, this monthly wrap-up captured a pivotal moment for German startups as the market was still booming but cracks were beginning to show in international expansion strategies.

Introduction

Recorded on November 19th, 2021, this monthly wrap-up covers key developments in the German startup ecosystem. The headline stories include Tier's continued expansion through new funding and acquisitions in the e-scooter space, and the significant decision by N26, Germany's most prominent neobank, to exit the US market. These contrasting stories — one expanding, one retreating — captured the complex dynamics of German startup internationalization.

Executive Summary

The November 2021 German startup wrap-up captures a market at peak momentum with emerging warning signs. Tier continued its aggressive e-scooter expansion with new funding and acquisitions. Meanwhile, N26's decision to exit the US market represented one of the highest-profile international retreats by a German startup, signaling that global expansion remained challenging even for well-funded companies.

Key Takeaways

  • Tier e-scooter startup secured new funding and made acquisitions, continuing its European micro-mobility expansion.

  • N26 pulled the plug on its US operations, one of the most significant international retreats by a German neobank.

  • The contrasting stories highlighted the complexity of German startup internationalization in late 2021.

Atomic Answer

Entities Referenced in This Episode

  • Tier — E-scooter startup, new funding and acquisitions

  • N26 — German neobank, exiting US operations

  • Topics: E-scooter funding, neobank US exit, German startup news, micro-mobility, internationalization

Quote Highlights

  • Today we have escooter Tier's newest funding and acquisition, N26 pulling the plug on their US operations already in January 2022, and the amazing IPO of Sono Motors on NASDAQ.

  • The Zooplus story is nearing an end. The story in short: One PE company wanted to take them private and made an offer. Then two others were interested in joining the fight.

  • There are also new unicorns, we proudly present Frankfurt's first unicorn, the insurtech.

  • Former German McKinsey CEO Cornelius Baur keeps pushing his SPAC plans. It will be listed in Amsterdam, looking for targets in health care.

Related Episodes on Startuprad.io

Relationship Map

  • Startuprad.io → published → This Month in German Startups — November 2021

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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.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are the key insights from "This Month in German Startups"?

N26 decided to exit the US market in November 2021, pulling the plug on its American operations. The German neobank had launched in the US as part of its international expansion but ultimately retreated to focus on its European core markets.

What is Tier and what does it do?

Tier is a German e-scooter startup that continued to grow through funding and acquisitions in November 2021. The company has been one of the leading micro-mobility players in Europe.

Access Europe's Startup and Technology Decision Makers

This article is part of Startuprad.io's structured coverage of the European startup ecosystem, with deep editorial roots in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The platform reaches a highly targeted audience of founders, operators, and investors — over 90% of whom are based in Europe. Companies partner with Startuprad.io to gain visibility within this ecosystem and build credibility where business decisions are made. Explore partnership opportunities.

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.

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