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.
This Month in German Startups — Summer Wrap-Up (July, August, September) 2021
Welcome to This Month in German Startups in September 2021 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Chris (Back Home in New York) and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main.
We recorded this new episode on September 28th. Not that there is also another episode of our unicorn tracker, getting published along with this episode. Have a look.
This will be a bit longer recording. Best get a snack and a drink right now.
The summer was hot here in Germany in terms of startups, but not so much in terms of temperature. Since we have the weather out of the way. Let’s talk startups:
Tune in to our Internet Radio Station here:
Note: We will have a new program with new partners, starting October 1st!
Subscribe Here
Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, or listen to our internet radio station here:
The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here:
Housekeeping — Time to brag
Puh, we put the numbers together and so far, we scored in 58 countries in the podcast charts, for more than 3.900 days and counting. Thank you to our audience. We would have already quit without you!
Klint Marketing included Startupradio in the “Best Startup Podcast List — Discover Podcasts For Entrepreneurs [2021]” for thought leadership https://buff.ly/3jwx9SM
https://twitter.com/startuprad_io/status/1424738964045508611
Radio Station Growth New schedule, starting October 1st 2021. This is a test run, we will add more content on an ongoing basis.
Video Podcast
Top News
Again, there is a special episode of our unicorn tracker coming out with this episode of our news. Have a look there for everything related to unicorns. We cover there the story of Gorillas, the investment of Doordash, Spac Deals and Liliums SPAC IPO, as well as the troubles of N26.
July 29th was a monster funding day for the German startup scene:
#Berlin-based Contentful “headless CMS” raises 175 mn US$ at 3 bn valuations, becoming a unicorn https://buff.ly/3zKggdO
munich-based space startup Isar Aerospace increases funding round from December to 140 m € https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/automotive-mobility/isar-aerospace-gewinnt-porsche-als-neuen-investor/
Berlin-based Grover — a company to rent tech gadets raises 1 bn US$ http://press.grover.com/149859-grover-secures-1bn-to-democratize-access-to-consumer-tech
German biotech shooting star BioNTech crossed a magic threshold on August 4th. BioNTech surpasses 100 bn US$ market capitalization in NASDAQ trading. This is approx. 3 times the market cap of delivery hero
Related: The recent stellar performance of BioNTech’s shares changes the ranking of Germany’s billionaires. The main investors now rank as 2nd most wealthy Germans https://buff.ly/2VL18yi, Learn more about them here: https://buff.ly/3AudQQR
Related: BioNTech vaccine to give German economy extraordinary boost: The German drugmaker could see revenue contributing about half a percentage point to growth in German gross domestic product https://buff.ly/3CHQWaq
Wirecard
German prosecutor investigate suspicious share dealings of former Wirecard supervisory board member https://buff.ly/3i305lc
German media reports on the involvement of EY Law in acquisitions valued at 264 mn €, some of them now appear questionable. The question being asked: Was there a conflict of interest within EY between audit and law? https://buff.ly/3jrEgMq
Three of the transactions are especially questionable: GFG Group, PT Prima Vista Solusi and PT Aprisma. All three companies acquired client portfolios from letterbox companies, shortly before being bought by Wirecard. The majority of the acquisition was made up by these client portfolios.
This is our last coverage of Wirecard as a stand alone topic. In summer the German Parliament Bundestag published its final report on Wirecard, spanning more than 2.000 pages. If you’re curious and can read German, here it is: https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2021/kw25-de-3ua-bericht-847030
Fight over listed online shop for pet supplies Zooplus
Hellman & Friedman announce to buy 50%+ of #Munich-based SDAX company Zooplus, which offers in their online shop pet supplies for 390 €/Share https://buff.ly/3g8rZvr
Bidding war over German pet supplier Zooplus. KKR throws in the towel, Hellman & Friedman increase the offer. EQT still in the race https://buff.ly/3AgOEgV
Now EQT increases their offer https://buff.ly/3ofWX9S
We will keep you updated
Ecosystem
CBDC Tracker shows that over 80 countries, representing 90% of the global GDP, are exploring a central bank digital currency, via Atlantic Council https://buff.ly/37blVNX
Dax 30 becomes Dax 40
Germany’s leading stock market index has new candidates for the upcoming extension to 40 stocks in September 2021, including Zalando, HelloFresh, and Symrise https://buff.ly/3zmLjwd
Germany is the first country in the world, with a law regulating self-driving vehicles. It came into force on July 28th, 2021. Mark your history books tech geeks :-) https://logistik-heute.de/news/mobilitaet-gesetz-zum-autonomen-fahren-tritt-kraft-34370.html
Note: There will be a special publication on this topic as an interview with a lawyer, talking about what the law does and does not do.
50 most influential women in the German Tech Scene https://buff.ly/2VDlN7A
On the VC Market. Is it normal, what is going on here, with the creation of unicorns within 10 months after they were founded? Here are some articles about the market in General
Trend indicator for the German VC scene is on record level, never seen before says KFW Capital https://buff.ly/3swZ1KL
Investments in German fintechs jump 150% from 1 bn € in H1 2020 to 2,5 bn € in H1 2021. Investments include Trade Republic, Scalable and Mambu https://buff.ly/3AxlvxT
learn more here: https://buff.ly/3xbVd2P old unicorn episode
Why VC valuations increase and why this might be a trap https://buff.ly/3s8Q1uR
Related: Europe’s quick-commerce startups are overhyped: Lessons from China https://buff.ly/3gC54IW
Survey: GERMAN STARTUP BRAND RANKING https://buff.ly/2Xpid1b
#1 air up
#2 Vivid
#3 Gorillas
#4 Trade Republic
#5 Flaschenpost
Hubs
Note: The order of news and cities is only due to the time when we discovered the news. We took the time to allocate almost all startups to hubs.
Frankfurt
Wingcopter partners with Air Methods for nationwide drone delivery service https://buff.ly/2WLjIqd
learn more about the startup here: https://buff.ly/3om0e3H
Also one of Uber’s co-founders invested recently in Wingcopter, but an undisclosed amount: https://buff.ly/3ujhPhk
Melitta (a household name for coffee in Germany) buys #Frankfurt-based Roastmarket, an online store for high end-coffee https://buff.ly/3inXoeZ?utm_source=twitter
Chinese tech giant Tencent reportedly has #Frankfurt-based #gaming software company Crytek on their wishlist. Interestingly, the US Army, German Bundeswehr and other armies using the software for simulations https://buff.ly/37JltXg
Frankfurt-based Northern Data acquires Dutch crypto mining company Decentric Europe for €365M; here’s why https://buff.ly/3yaMeyH
Deutsche Börse, operator of Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Xetra, and owner of Stoxx and DAX buys 2/3 of swiss based Crypto Finance AG, a crypto exchange https://buff.ly/3hhUkPE
Startup IPOs in Frankfurt had their best year since 2000, raising 8,8 bn € in the first half of 2021 https://buff.ly/36ictrr
Jack Wolfskin founder Ulrich Dausien invests in startup ivicos. We found in another article, that the total investment of the round was 1.2 mn Euros https://buff.ly/3rLYjZx
Bruchsal (between Heidelberg and Stuttgart)
Volocopter starts a joint venture with China-based Geely subsidiary. Geely started with ordering 150 air taxis https://buff.ly/3EXiuK8
Wessling (outskirts of Munich)
Air-Taxi Startup Lilium Generates 29-Fold Return on Atomico Bet — Bloomberg https://buff.ly/3u3np7o ⇒ More about Lilium’s IPO in our unicorn tracker
Munich
Second Closing for impact vc fund BonVenture IV at 35 mn Euro https://buff.ly/2Zlp6ln
Drinks startup air up raises 40 mn € venture capital. The round is lead by Pepsi, with other investors, including Ippen.Media and Oyster Bay https://buff.ly/3Ct8F4L
Insurtech Ottonova raises 40 mn Euros #VentureCaptial https://buff.ly/3Cl43yf?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-
Learn more about the company and the founder in our interview here: https://buff.ly/3fvXbEs?utm_source=-custom-by-source-1-
Proptech Capmo raises $30M Series B to expand in Europe and triple the team within 12 months https://buff.ly/2WdQe4I
Learn more about the company and the founder in our interview here: https://buff.ly/3zjnfKU
Augsburg
Xentral, an Augsburg, Bavaria-based startup raises 64 mn € venture capital, for their ERP solution for merchants. Investors include Sequoia and Tiger Global https://buff.ly/3sD9KmL
Hamburg
Green neobank Tomorrow raised 14 mn € venture capital. Now reports unveil that top model Toni Garrn amongst the investors https://buff.ly/3hWeFLt
Hamburg-based Sport Alliance lands €60 million to grow its gym and fitness SaaS solutions https://buff.ly/3sIOa0p
Düsseldorf
SPAC listing Tonibox producer Boxine gets listed at the stock exchange in Q4 2021, valuing the company at 860 mn Euros https://buff.ly/2Wh8OIY
The company is looking to expand to France as a next step https://buff.ly/39O73pG
10 promising Düsseldorf-based startups to watch in 2021 https://buff.ly/3rNId1o
Cologne
Cologne-based Sastrify nabs €5.9 million to help companies optimize their SaaS tools https://buff.ly/3DsQzRE
10 promising Cologne-based startups to follow in 2021 and beyond https://buff.ly/3j625Kx
German grocery giant REWE tests autonomous driving kiosks. Just wave at on like a cab and it will stop and allow you to shop snacks https://buff.ly/3hQrpC
Mannheim
Klarna pays 110 mn € to acquire Mannheim based shopping app Stocard https://buff.ly/3y0rURn?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-
Großröhrsdorf (35km outside of Dresden in Sachsen)
The startup Skeleton Technologies, a technology leader in energy storage, raises 29 mn € venture capital, amongst the investors is the founder of #Adyen, MM Grupp, Harju Elekter and leading industrial CVCs https://buff.ly/37QtJow
Halle (Saale)
40 mn € Series B funding for Twinner from Halle (Saale), Germany. They enable digital twins of existing cars https://buff.ly/372XHFb
Austria
Vienna-based Corticalio Raises $6M in Series A Funding https://buff.ly/2W1XUGV
Vienna-based VC Uniqa Ventures (part of Uniqa insurance) doubles assets under management to 150 mn €, to focus on Series A investments https://buff.ly/3zVNSFr
Vienna-based Coinpanion wants to bring crypto to the masses. Founders of German fintechs Clark and Scalable Capital invest, as well as the co-founder of Runtastic https://buff.ly/394DWhO
Founders of fintech heavyweights wefox and Bitpanda invest in #Vienna based #fintech Helu https://buff.ly/3i7DqDw
Linz-based 3d and AR room planning startup roomle is sold to the Germany corporate Homag Group AG, a world leader in heavy woodworking machines https://buff.ly/3ELjTDv
We covered Bitpanda in our Unicorn Tracker
Switzerland
Zurich based i-surance, a next-generation B2B2C digital insurance platform, has been acquired by insurtech unicorn bolttech https://buff.ly/3AvjemO
Anjarium Biosciences Raises $61M in Series A Financing https://buff.ly/3ksO9uK
Open Mineral Raises $33M in Series C Funding https://buff.ly/3u8K8Pp
SoftBank-backed storage developer Energy Vault raises $100 mln https://buff.ly/3jJfUyR
Are You Looking to Get a Task Quickly Done? — Affiliate Links
Try the account of our Affiliate Partner Fiverr: http://bit.ly/2S0f2YF We get there our video editing and graphic work done to free us up for more useful tasks
General News / Companies News Section
Crypto Custody Licenses are approved by German Finance oversight body BaFin
German Coinbase subsidiary secures first crypto licence in Germany https://buff.ly/3hgzeRL
BaFin approves 2nd crypto license, now for Berlin-based Kapilendo https://buff.ly/3nDT26d
12 deals in 4 months — Chinese Ant Group builds crypto portfolio from Berlin https://buff.ly/2XNhuau
Fintech News
Sino, the first investor in fintech unicorn Trade Republic has made its next bet: Sub Capitals, which helps with automated portfolios https://buff.ly/3hAKLw6
Ever heard of Flash Ventures, from Berlin? It is Rocket Internet’s 2nd shot at entering fintech, this time with a fintech incubator, already with 17 companies in its portfolio https://buff.ly/3ll9A1H
Deutsche Bank buys one of #Berlin’s first #fintechs, Better Payment, for an unknown sum. The startup was founded in 2013. This is part of Deutsche’s push bank in #payments https://buff.ly/2W0lVOI
German digital wealth manager for affluent private clients, investment by LGT, existing investors https://buff.ly/3hRXNWw Liquid was started by the Quant Family office (think BMW) and LGT is owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein
Crowdfunding platform Kapilendo merges with Finland-based competitor Invesdor. Invesdor already merged in 2019 with Finnest, active in Germany and Switzerland https://buff.ly/3itIkuT
Paysafe snaps up Berlin’s viafintech in all cash deal https://buff.ly/383DbVL
#Berlin-based Finleap Connect, the #openbanking provider of fintech company builder FinLeap buys startup in Spain https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/banken-versicherungen/banken/fintechs-finleap-connect-kauft-in-spanien-zu/
Danish payment provider Nets increases stake in Berlin-based fintech Orderbird to 40%, valuing the company at 100 mn € https://buff.ly/3lL2IJK
Plans have been published for Germany to get its own ocean-based space launch platform in the North Sea by 2023 https://buff.ly/2X0qRUd
Biotech: Curevac once hailed as a big German hope for a corona vaccine cancels some of the smaller production contracts https://buff.ly/2Xi4aur
learn more about the background here: https://buff.ly/3loRM4o
Rocket Internet generates record revenue in 2020 and record write-downs as well (Away, Eatfirst, Helpling, …). EBITA loss is 18 mn Euros in total the group turns a profit mainly from selling stakes and interest income https://buff.ly/3w5RJO9
Startup Vay has a new take on carsharing. If you need a car, it will arrive with a remote driver. No need for parking as well, after you are done with your ride https://buff.ly/3nF2kyP
A very few selected investments and exits
Quick-delivery retail startup Jokr raises $170 million from investors https://buff.ly/3iJSqbh The founders of the company are Delivery Hero and Softbank veterans describing their company as “Amazon on steroids.” It would not surprise us if the company will soon be a unicorn as well.
Exclusive news by Deutsche-Startups: 468 Capital invests in Mayd, which is delivering drugstore and pharmacy products similar to food delivery services https://buff.ly/3f2l1HD
Enpal a #Berlin-based company renting out solar panels raises 100 mn € venture capital, investors include the cousin of Elon Musk and Holtzbrink Ventures https://buff.ly/3razCFN
Vapiano founder sells Infarm copy for 130 m Euro https://buff.ly/3CLpV63
British PE investor Anacap buys majority stake in German startup WebID https://buff.ly/3ntKrTO
Digital coaching platform Coachhub takes over french competitor and raises additional funding to 130 mn US$ total https://buff.ly/3AIKDlK
Startup Enpal, which rents our solar arrays gets 275 mn loan from Blackrock, Pricoa Private Capital (Prudential Financial) and Italian bank Unicredit https://buff.ly/3EAElah
Autodoc is a #Berlin-based platform for auto parts. They are reported to prepare for an #IPO. The legal form changed to an AG, which can be listed, the founders moved on to the supervisory board and an experienced manager takes the CEO role https://buff.ly/3Cz42WX
German listed online furniture store Home24 wants to crack one bn Euro revenues in 2023 https://buff.ly/2XiWzvN
Discopeter is a robot, from now on delivering burgers in Berlin https://buff.ly/2TMllTo
Stay ahead of the curve
How a Digital Euro could revolutionize Europe’s payments ecosystem — Tech_eu https://buff.ly/3fmVRUm
Winning formula: How Europe’s top tech start-ups get it right https://buff.ly/3DTMNRs
Index Ventures launches web app to help founders calculate employee stock options — TechCrunch https://buff.ly/3tK3H0n
10 Things Your Corporate Culture Needs to Get Right https://buff.ly/3EF9Rnq
Embedded finance Europe’s $3.6tn opportunity | Sifted https://buff.ly/3hWhP1D
Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-summer-wrap-up-july-august-september-2021/
Comentarios