This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — November 2022 Wrap-Up
Updated: Sep 20
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 November 2022 DACH startup news roundup covers the month's key developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — including late-year funding activity, ecosystem updates, and the stories shaping the startup landscape as the region heads into year-end.
This article is part of our coverage of Monthly Startup News from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
This blog post first appeared first on old medium publication (https://medium.
Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups, our startup news wrap-up for November 2022 by Startuprad.
To all American listeners: Happy Thanksgiving!
As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode, which will be published in our last news this year on December 22nd, 2022.
FTX may be history, BUT a German Blog reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX.
New Blog
This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — November 2022 Wrap-Up Startuprad.io brings you independent coverage of the key developments shaping the startup and venture capital landscape across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
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, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups, our startup news wrap-up for November 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on Wednesday, November 16th, 2022. The recording date is due to our schedule.
To all American listeners: Happy Thanksgiving!
As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode, which will be published in our last news this year on December 22nd, 2022.
Our Highlights:
FTX may be history, BUT a German Blog reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX. FTX also triggered Bitpanda to order a special audit from KPMG. We have some more job cuts, this time the 2nd round. Gorillas may sell itself at 1 bn USD even though they have raised 1.3 bn USD in venture capital already. Air taxis are still hot, Volocopter raises more than 180 m US$ to get closer to certification and Lilium sells 100 Airtaxis to Saudi Arabia. The German VC market is stabilizing, according to KfW Research. Our former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and pockets 100 m Euros. Gitpod, a startup from Kiel convinces the founders of GitHub and Shopify to invest.
Let’s talk startups:
The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, November 24th, 2022 at 15.00 CET
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Top News
FTX may soon be History, BUT
A German blog Finance Forward reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX, which is headquartered in Switzerland Krypto-Skandal um Börse FTX: Kaufinteressenten für Europageschäft | FinanceFWD Their information has been spot on in other cases in the past.
Job Cuts Keep Coming — 2nd Round Now
Proptechs Homeday and McMakler enter the second round of job cuts. Homeday cuts 20 jobs (60 before) and McMakler again 100 employees +++ Homeday +++ McMakler +++ Gorillas +++ Frichti +++ Investments +++ Wolt - deutsche-startups.de
Gorillas May Sell Itself at a Huge Discount
Sequoia-backed grocery startup Getir is close to buying its troubled rival Gorillas in a heavily discounted deal said to be worth less than $1 billion Getir Set to Acquire Gorillas in Deal Worth Less Than $1 Billion - Business Insider they have been valued at their series C investment at 2.1 bn US$ and to date they raised more than 1.3 bn US$.
Related: Deutsche-Startups uncovered that Gorillas (which is in the process of selling itself) paid 300 m € this year for french competitor Frichti Gorillas zahlte 300 Millionen für Frichti - Vara sammelt 4,5 Millionen ein - Fund F geht an den Start - deutsche-startups.de
Lilium Sells 100 Airtaxis
Saudi Arabia buys 100 air taxis from Munich -based startup Lilium Saudi-Arabien ordert Flugtaxis von Lilium | FAZ the delivery is expected 2025. Before the deal they also hired former Airbus executive Klaus Roewe. Fingers crossed for them, they did not generate revenue yet, but 841 m Euros losses so far.
Volocopter Raises 182 M US$
Volocopter raises $182M to bring air taxi closer to certification, as part of their Series E funding Volocopter raises $182M to bring air taxi closer to certification | TechCrunch
The company is currently testing its two-seater VoloCity air taxi for the requirements set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Volocopter is looking to certify its aircraft in H2 2023 and generate revenue with rides in 2024.
Creditshelf Partners with Goldman Sachs
Our former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and hits profitability — Goldman Sachs is providing the German alternative lender for SMEs with up to €100m of secured funding (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source)
Learn more in our interview with Creditshelf here https://open.spotify.com/episode/2teVC3Czmi4jrWrHA2DedO
Creditshelf is Germany’s only listed pure-play fintech, offering a credit platform, where investors can grant credit to German small and medium enterprises.
Housekeeping & Time to Brag
Our hosting service for the audio podcasts decided to sunset its hosting function. Since the last news publication, we have already changed hosters on the weekend of November 12th and 13th. That may have led to interruptions, for which we are very sorry. If you are hearing this episode, that means all is worked out and you are listening via the new feed from the new hoster.
Our next news will be published on December 22nd and every year, there will be a fintech review published on December 25, 2022.
We will be back in the new year 2023 with the first new episode on January 19th, 2022.
Ecosystem
Not related to Germany specifically as a headline, but still of importance: WSJ reports that “Investors Pour Into Venture Capital Funds Even as Markets Cool“ Investors Pour Into Venture Capital Funds Even as Markets Cool - WSJ that can only be good for startups on the other side of the tunnel.
Europe’s venture capital scene is brighter than the US’s writes AXIOS In Europe at least, the VC outlook is still pretty rosy
Now to GSA’s ecosystem
The expectations in the German VC market are stabilizing according to the Q3 VC Business Climate Index of KfW Research, despite interest rate increases on the horizon. The current situation is even better than expected. Learn more here (link opens PDF): German Venture Capital Barometer Q3 2022
Christian Lindner German Minister of Finance agrees to review taxation of startup employee equity programs Lindner sagt Reform von Start-up-Beteiligung zu
German government stops sale of Elmos semiconductor manufacturing to China (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source)
News from Austria: Austrian VC investments grow in H1 2022, despite the environment by more than 100% (admittedly from a small base) VC-Investments: Österreich mit größtem Wachstum in Europa | brutkasten
Hubs
Here we want to highlight some hidden gems and cities of general startup interest.
Also Sifted now understands the startup activity outside of Berlin and Munich is important with their article “The fastest-growing German startups outside Berlin and Munich The fastest-growing German startups outside Berlin and Munich | Sifted”
Munich
Munich now shows so much startup activity, that we decided to drop their highlights here in hubs and will include them in the respective news sections.
Frankfurt/Fulda
Keep in mind the news from Creditshelf
Proemion, a Fulda, Germany-based technology company creating hardware-enabled software, raised €33.5M in growth funding Proemion Raises €33.5M in Growth Funding
Siegen
Siegen, Germany-based Quantum computer maker eleQtron raises +€50 million in funding Quantum computer maker eleQtron raises +€50 million in funding - Tech.eu
Düsseldorf
Retraced is a Düsseldorf, Germany-based green startup that makes supply chains more transparent. They raise 6,5 m € venture capital. The round is led by German billionaire Carsten Maschmeyer’s Alstin Capital „In 12 Monaten verzehnfacht“: Retraced sammelt 6,5 Millionen Euro ein
Moove files for insolvency Moove files for insolvency | Startbase The start-up wanted to score with fully electric vans. However, the application is not expected to be the end of the company, which was founded in 2018.
Kiel
Kiel, Germany-based startup Gitpod makes coding easier. This convinced founders of Github and Shopify to invest with other investors 25 m Euros Investoren stecken 25 Millionen Euro in das Kieler Startup Gitpod - Business Insider
Freiburg
Satellite startup Constellr wins 10 m US$ backing to build out its water-monitoring platform in seed funding Satellite startup Constellr wins backing to build out its water-monitoring platform | TechCrunch
Switzerland
Anokion, a Lausanne, Switzerland-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised $35M in equity funding Anokion Raises $35M in Equity Funding from Pfizer
Decentriq, a Swiss enterprise SaaS platform providing secure and compliant data clean rooms, closed a $5 million venture debt funding from Silicon Valley Bank UK Decentriq secures USD 5 million from Silicon Valley Bank
Jua, a Zurich, Switzerland-based artificial intelligence (AI) climate startup, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding Jua Raises $2.5M in Pre-Seed Funding
Swiss Digital Health Startup Akina raises 1.6 m CHF in pre-seed funding 1.6 Millionen Franken für das Digital Health Startup Akina
Swiss-based health coach startup KINASTIC buys competitor VIABZ which offers corporate health promotion KINASTIC & VIABZ: Mitarbeitenden-Gesundheitsförderer fusionieren
Austria
Bitpanda ordered a special precautionary audit by KPMG after the collapse of FTX Nach FTX-Pleite: Konkurrent Bitpanda beauftragt KPMG mit Sonderprüfung
Vienna-based security startup Tapkey offers to unlock doors with their software and a smartphone instead of a key. They now sell the majority stake to France-based DOM Security Tapkey: Wiener Startup verkauft Mehrheit an strategischen Investor aus Frankreich
Alfred Gusenbauer is a former Austrian chancellor. He now joins gloves producer ElephantSkin as an investor for a round, valuing the company at 25 m € Alfred Gusenbauer steigt bei ElephantSkin ein
General News / Tech News / Companies News Section
New VC Funds, If You’re Looking for Money
Redstone and EnjoyVenture raise with the Human Impact Capital Fund I, Germany’s first early-stage social impact fund with 50 m € Redstone und EnjoyVenture: Neuer Human Impact Capital-Fonds am Start
Privilège Ventures launches 20 m CHF fund for female-led startups Privilège Ventures launches fund for female led startups
Prediction Capital just closed the first tranche of its $30 million fund to back early-stage fintech and consumer startups in the DACH region Prediction Capital Launches $30 Million Fund for Early-Stage Startups - Business Insider
Fintech News
We shared the news that Bankhaus von der Heydt (a small bank in Munich) is looking for a new buyer. Now German Bitcoin Group seems to be looking at a potential acquisition Bitcoin Group sondiert Kauf von Bankhaus von der Heydt | FinanceFWD
Coinbase Hires Fintech Executive Daniel Seifert, formerly with Solarisbank to Lead European Expansion Coinbase Hires Fintech Solarisbank Executive to Lead European Crypto Expansion - Bloomberg
Berlin-based fintech Solarisbank announces its CEO Roland Folz will leave after 6 years at the end of April 2023. The new CEO is a former Barclaycard Germany executive, who has been with auxmoney and Commerzbank: Carsten Höltkemeyer Solaris-CEO Roland Folz tritt ab – Ex-Barclays-Manager kommt
Taxfix is a Berlin-based app for simplified personal tax filing. They became a unicorn in the spring of 2022. Now they had to publish 2021 numbers and they revealed they missed their own 2021 revenue targets by almost 40% Taxfix verfehlte seine Umsatzziele 2021 enorm - Business Insider
Germany-Based Coinbase Is Having Issues With BaFin "Source Link dead 2026-09-14" BAFin thinks they are not adhering to the current regulations.
General News
Berlin-based RV portal Paulcamper enables owners to rent out their RVs. Now they are sold for 31m Euro to Australian-listed Camplify Paulcamper für 30 Millionen Euro nach Australien verkauft - Business Insider
VW Offloads German Car-Sharing Business for EV Sales Boost Volkswagen Sells WeShare Car Business to German Startup Miles - Bloomberg
US-based Onetrust closes Berlin-based startup Planetly only one year after their acquisition. All 200 employees are let go Nur ein Jahr nach Exit: Neuer Planetly-Eigentümer wirft 200 Leute raus - Business Insider
Enerkite is a German startup that uses kites to generate wind energy in higher altitudes than windmills. One kite can generate double the energy of a windmill. Now they leave the test stage Doppelt so viel Strom wie Windräder: Deutsches Startup bringt Flugdrachen auf den Markt
A Very Few And Selected Fundraisings
Jucr raises 31,2 m Euro seed funding to build a pan-European charging infrastructure for e-mobility Jucr sammelt 31,2 Millionen Euro ein | Startbase
Software Defined Automation Fuels Growth Through $10M Seed Round Led by Insight Partners Software Defined Automation Fuels Growth Through $10M Seed Round Led by Insight Partners
Berlin-based Apheris raises €8.7 million to create a positive impact through better data collaboration Berlin-based Apheris raises €8.7 million to create a positive impact through better data collaboration - EU-Startups
Carbon intelligence platform Climatiq raises €6 million to fuel net zero future Carbon intelligence platform Climatiq raises €6 million to fuel net zero future | EU-Startups
Vara scores €4.5M to make AI breast cancer screening accessible to everyone Vara scores €4.5M to make AI breast cancer screening accessible to everyone — TFN
Greentech startup Heatle raises 3 m Euros in seed funding to replace electric water boiler with a sustainable alternative Heatle sammelt rund 3 Millionen Euro ein
We will be back on December 22nd December Wrap-Up! Enjoy your Turkey :-)
Stay ahead of the curve
State of European Fintech 2022 — Report (link opens document) https://docsend.com/view/jjkyhpvqzc8zmv59
The Fantasy of Instant Delivery Is Imploding Gopuff Layoffs Signal Instant Delivery’s Demise - Bloomberg
The German Startup Association published the Female Entrepreneurship Monitor (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source)
Tech Valuations Q3'22 Report — CB Insights Research Tech Valuations Q3'22 Report - CB Insights Research
The Roland Berger Battery Monitor 2022 The Roland Berger Battery Monitor 2022 | Roland Berger
What Happened in GSA Startups in November 2022?
The November 2022 monthly wrap-up covers key developments across the German, Swiss, and Austrian startup ecosystem including interest from multiple parties in acquiring FTX's European entity, stabilizing VC expectations per KfW's Q3 Business Climate Index, growing recognition of startup activity beyond Berlin and Munich, and a Thanksgiving greeting to American listeners as the podcast rounds out 2022.
Introduction
This monthly news episode wraps up November 2022 for the DACH startup ecosystem. The episode opens with a Thanksgiving greeting to American listeners and notes that any remaining news will roll into the next episode. The hosts discuss the surprising interest in FTX's European operations despite the exchange's collapse, the KfW Research VC Business Climate Index showing stabilizing expectations for Q3, and Sifted's recognition of startup hubs emerging outside Berlin and Munich. The episode also notes that Startuprad.io's podcast hosting service was sunsetting, requiring a migration.
November 2022 brought significant developments for the DACH startup scene. Despite the FTX collapse, reports indicated multiple parties were interested in acquiring FTX's European entity. The KfW Research Q3 VC Business Climate Index showed stabilizing investor expectations in Germany. Sifted published coverage highlighting the fastest-growing startup cities beyond Berlin and Munich, validating regional hub development. Munich's startup activity had grown so much that Startuprad.io decided to give it dedicated hub coverage. The episode also announced upcoming scheduling changes for the year-end period.
Despite the FTX collapse, a German blog reported that several parties were interested in buying FTX's European entity, showing continued appetite for regulated crypto infrastructure.
The KfW Research Q3 VC Business Climate Index indicated stabilizing expectations in the German venture capital market after a turbulent period.
Sifted recognized that startup activity outside Berlin and Munich is increasingly important, publishing an article on the fastest-growing startup cities in the DACH region.
Munich's startup ecosystem had grown so significantly that Startuprad.io moved it from general mentions to dedicated hub coverage in the monthly wrap-ups.
Startuprad.io announced a podcast hosting migration and year-end scheduling, with the annual fintech review set for December 25th.
Entities Referenced in This Episode
Organizations & Reports
KfW Research — Published Q3 VC Business Climate Index showing stabilizing German VC expectations
FTX (European Entity) — Multiple parties reportedly interested in acquiring after FTX collapse
Sifted — Published article on fastest-growing startup cities beyond Berlin/Munich
Cities & Hubs
Munich — Elevated to dedicated hub coverage due to growing startup activity
Frankfurt — Mentioned as notable startup hub
Berlin — Germany's primary startup hub
People
Jörn "Joe" Menninger — Startuprad.io host
Topics
VC market stabilization, FTX collapse aftermath, regional startup hubs, podcast hosting migration, monthly startup news DACH
Relationship Map
KfW Research → published → Q3 VC Business Climate Index (stabilizing expectations)
FTX European Entity → attracted interest from → multiple potential buyers
Sifted → covered → fastest-growing startup cities outside Berlin/Munich
Munich → elevated to → dedicated hub coverage on Startuprad.io
Related Episodes on Startuprad.io
This Month in GSA Startups — December 2022 Wrap-Up — Next monthly wrap-up covering year-end developments
What We Know About the FTX Collapse — Deep dive into the FTX collapse and its impact
Browse all Startuprad.io episodes — Topic hub: Monthly DACH startup news
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What happened with FTX in Europe in November 2022?
Despite the global FTX collapse, reports from German media indicated that several parties were interested in acquiring FTX's European entity. This suggested that the regulated European crypto infrastructure still had value even after the parent company's implosion.
What did the KfW VC Business Climate Index show in Q3 2022?
The KfW Research Q3 VC Business Climate Index indicated that expectations in the German venture capital market were stabilizing after a period of significant turbulence, offering some cautious optimism for the startup funding environment.
Which German startup hubs were growing beyond Berlin?
Sifted highlighted several startup cities growing rapidly outside of Berlin and Munich. Munich itself had become so active that Startuprad.io gave it dedicated hub coverage. Frankfurt was also mentioned as a notable emerging hub in the DACH region.
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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