This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — September 2023
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 September 2023 DACH startup news roundup covers the latest funding rounds, founder moves, and ecosystem developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. This monthly digest highlights the key stories shaping the region's innovation landscape during Q3 2023.
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 our summer 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.
This time we wrap up September 2023.
Our startup news is recorded with Chris live in New York City and Joe in Frankfurt.
We track close to 500 mn Euros in newly announced investments in GSA.
New Blog
This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups — September 2023 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 our summer 2023 wrap-up with vital news from the startup scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes or less 🙂.
This time we wrap up September 2023. There have been a lot of news sad (insolvencies, final closures, …), but also good ones (expansions, fundings, …) that we just had to make a selection in order not to bore you to death.
Our startup news is recorded with Chris live in New York City and Joe in Frankfurt. The recording date is September 26th and all news not included will be in our next news to be released on October 26th.
Our Highlights:
We track close to 500 mn Euros in newly announced investments in GSA. We have the first defense tech unicorn in Berlin and a lot of great news from Greentech startups in Germany. Some proptechs are not doing well, but not all startups associated with construction are performing poorly, as shown by the fundraising from Schüttfix. Long-distance trucking gets more autonomous with FERNRIDE and some bank news: Deutsche Bank uses Swiss DLT startup Taurus’ technology and we learn more about JP Morgan’s retail offering in Germany. Unicorn Flix already hired banks for their IPO in H1 next year. We also keep you updated on the bank holidays in Germany in the next weeks.
Let’s talk startups:
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This recording is supported by HTAI and the Enterprise Europe Network Hessen
Top News
Helsing (Berlin-based) Defence Tech Startup Becomes Europe’s first Unicorn in Defense
Helsing raises €209M in Series B funding for AI Defencetech Helsing raises €209M in Series B funding for AI Defencetech - Tech.eu becoming, in turn, Europe’s first defense unicorn Tech.eu writes:
FERNRIDE Extends Series A to 50 M USD
Autonomous driving startup FERNRIDE from Munich extends its Series A funding to 50 M USD. Investors include DTCF (Germany’s Deep Tech and Climate Fund), Munich Re Ventures, Bayern Kapital, and Klaus Kleinfeld FERNRIDE erweitert Serie-A-Finanzierung auf 50 Mio. USD - VC Magazin The company wants to become an end-to-end solution provider for autonomous, electric trucking, keeping humans as teleoperators in the loop. Meaning the trucks will maneuver autonomously, but if the AI recognizes a problem a human driver from FERNRIDE will take over.
Schüttfix Gets a Pour of Money
Despite a souring mood in Germany’s construction industry, the construction startup Schüttflix raised 45 m € to break even Trotz Baukrise: Schüttflix will mit 45 Mio. Euro profitabel werden - Business Insider to put this in perspective new housing construction was down 30% in H1 2023. Schüttflix is an online portal enabling construction companies to order materials like sand, or gravel online.
Lots Of Good News For GreenTech Startups. Just One Example
Berlin-based climate tech startup Plan A raises 25 M € from investors including Silicon Valley-based Lightspeed Plan A sammelt 25 Millionen Euro ein – Lightspeed führt Runde an - Business Insider Plan A is a GreenTech company that develops a carbon quantification platform to measures, monitors, and reduces environmental footprint. Investors in this round include clients, Visa, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas. New investors are the founders of Wolt and Zalando.
Deutsche Bank Offers Crypto Services with a Startup
Deutsche Bank now offers crypto services together with Swiss startup Taurus (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source) The startup will help Deutsche with the introduction of digital asset and DLT-based products and services in some of their accounting centers. In February of 2023, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank invested in the startup (Taurus: Deutsche Bank und Credit Suisse investieren Millionen) in a 65 mn US$ venture capital funding round. Deutsche Bank does not recommend cryptocurrencies, but tokenized or digital assets. At the time of the investment Deutsche already announced their intention to use Taurus’ IT for their services. Neither bank disclosed what kind of digital assets they wanted to offer their clients.
JP Morgan Is Getting Ready for a Challenge
JP Morgan has already 50 employees in Berlin for their online bank “Chase,” working on the launch JPMorgan holt über 50 Mitarbeiter für Online-Bank in Berlin - Bloomberg according to FAZ (Deutsche Onlinebank von JP Morgan startet 2024 oder 2025 | FAZ) the online offer for retail clients will start 2024 or 2025, as second country in Europe, behind the UK. Interestingly they are still investing, despite competitors like Goldman and Citi closing or downsizing their retail client business. You can learn more in these articles (Handelsblatt JP-Morgan-Chef Jamie Dimon: „Deutschland hat die Kurve gekriegt“ or Capital Wie JP Morgan den deutschen Privatkundenmarkt erobern will - Capital.de)
Unicorn Flix (Known as Owner of Greyhound) is Looking for an IPO
Munich-based mobility unicorn Flix (known as owner of Greyhound) is looking to IPO. They have reportedly hired J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sach, and BNP Flixbus & Flixtrain: So will Flix noch weiter wachsen Of course you can learn more about the company in our interview last year with one of the founders of the unicorn: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/meet-the-german-entrepreneur-of-the-year-co-founder-of-flix-which-now-owns-greyhound-gsa22-1c3681ebafac According to Handelsblatt they want to get listed in H1 2024 with a potential valuation of 4 bn Euros (4,25 bn US$). 2022 Flix could show a positive EBITDA and increased revenue by 185% to around 1,5 bn Euros. They are looking for +20% topline growth for this year (Handelsblatt Flixbus und Flixtrain: Flix treibt Vorbereitungen für Börsengang voran).
Housekeeping & Time to Brag
We have been recommended as one of the 10 podcasts entrepreneurs should listen to by EU Startups in September: 10 Podcasts every entrepreneur should listen to in 2023 | EU-Startups 10 Podcasts every entrepreneur should listen to in 2023 | EU-Startups Thank you!
Business Culture in Germany:
For our little business and culture diversion: Keep in mind that Germany has a long weekend ahead, we celebrate Unity Day on October 3rd. Since it is a Tuesday, many will take off Monday, October 2nd. If you do business with or travel to Germany keep that in mind. The holiday is observed in all states (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Unity_Day).
Some states have bank holidays on either October 31st or November 1st.
Radio YouTube Live Stream:
You can not also listen to our internet radio station 24/7 on YouTube as a live stream. Note that we have to change the live stream every few days due to the way YouTube was set up. Just have a look at our YouTube page and catch the most recent stream: YouTube.com/startupradio
Keeping Up with Our Guests:
Our former guest HR Tech startup Kenjo raises 8,8 mn € Venture Capital Burnhard sammelt 20 Millionen ein - Kenjo bekommt 8,8 Millionen - Belden übernimmt CloudRail - deutsche-startups.de
Learn more about the company here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/meet-germanys-effortless-all-in-one-hr-software-startup-kenjo-aaa68161aba3
Events for our audience for free
Crypto Assets Conference: Organized by our former guest Prof. Philipp Sandner www.eventbrite.com/e/crypto-assets-conference-2023-cac23b-tickets-686212850107
100% Discount online use the code: CAC23Online
25% Discount for onsite tickets in Frankfurt use code: CACNetwork25
Ecosystem
Relevant News from the World
Global Startup Funding Remains Subdued But IPO Market Sparks Hope Of Rebound Global Startup Funding Remains Subdued But IPO Market Sparks Hope Of Rebound
Focus on GSA
Germany implemented 45% of its startup strategy measures, ministhttps://medium.com/startuprad-io/exploring-germanys-startup-strategy-with-digital-commissioner-anna-christmann-365c677be259/3PTzLf1 Learn more here in our interview with the digital commissioner: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/exploring-germanys-startup-strategy-with-digital-commissioner-anna-christmann-365c677be259
German startup founders are increasingly bootstrapping, due to the currently not favorable funding environment for startups Start-ups: Gründer gehen ins Risiko und greifen auf eigene Gelder zurück
Germany will subsidize solar charging stations for electric cars with up to 500 M € starting September 26th Bis zu 500 Millionen Euro - Neue Förderung von Solarstrom für Elektroautos
Why and How Germany Bans (B2B) Paper Invoices Why and How and When Germany Bans (B2B) Paper Invoices | by Jochen Stärk | Medium
Hubs
Here we want to highlight some hidden gems and cities of general startup interest.
Frankfurt / Rhein-Main-Area
Congratulations to the Seed Funding for adtech startup Admetrics: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markus-repetschnig_admetrics-seed-funding-secured-thomas-activity-7109793272801189888-FNkO/ This brings total investments tracked by RhineMain.vc to 31 deals totalling more than 180 m Euros for 2023 already: https://rhinemainvc.medium.com/
Cologne
KYP ai secures €17.5M to boost GenAI feature and global expansion KYP ai secures €17.5M to boost GenAI feature and global expansion - Tech.eu
Ilmenau (Thüringen)
Betterspace, an Ilmenau, Germany-based provider of software and hardware solutions, raised a 7-Figure investment from Round2 Capital Round2 Capital Invests 7-Figure Amount in Betterspace “Betterspace is a provider of a smart software solutions for the hotel industry in the areas of digital guest communication (better.guest) and intelligent energy management (better.energy).”
Jena (Thüringen)
Jena, Germany-based rooom AG closes 17 M Euro Venture Capital funding for their 3d software rooom AG schließt Finanzierungsrunde über 17 Millionen Euro ab - Gründermetropole Berlin their customers already include companies like Deutsche Telekom, BMW, Zeiss, porta and Bosch.
Mittweida (Saxony)
Mittweida (Saxony)-based startup Corpus takes on first-time investors for their software enabling tokenized investments in companies Investoren stecken zwei Millionen Euro in Mittweidaer Startup – Founderella Startup News
Essen
»Staige One« plans to raise 8 M € from offering their shares in October, after listing with SPAC deal Start-up »Staige One« sammelt Kapital an der Börse ein
Austria
Tripmakery, a Vienna, Austria-based group travel booking platform provider, raised a seven-figure funding round. Tripmakery.com Raises Seven-Figure Funding Round
Salzburg-based legal tech sproof raises 3 m € venture capital sproof: Salzburger LegalTech sichert sich über drei Millionen | brutkasten
Vienna-based startup LimeWire buys Midjourney competitor BlueWillow to add to their “AI Content Creator Studio” LimeWire kauft Midjourney-Konkurrenten BlueWillow | brutkasten
Storebox: Vienna-based logistics scale-up raises 15,5 M € Storebox: Wiener Logistik-Scaleup nimmt 15,5 Mio. Euro auf
Switzerland
ETH greentech startup viboo raises 1,5 M CHF venture capital Frisches Geld für GreenTech-Startup viboo
Zurich-based Instimatch Global AG raised 11.5 M CHF for their offer of a web-based cash management trading platform for institutions across industries and geographies Instimatch Global raises CHF 11.5 million to fuel expansion plans
Blockchain Startup Swisstronik Secures $5M and Launches Private Token Sale Blockchain Startup Swisstronik Secures $5M and Launches Private Token Sale - Coinspeaker
General News / Tech News / Companies News Section
A little note here. Since we aim to inform you about the startup world in GSA, SMEs and large enterprises are also active in the markets. Therefore we include some news of them here as well:
Fintech News
Proptechs are currently not doing well: Proptech startup Homeday is in crisis and bought by Axel Springer, which axes 20% of the headcount McMakler-Rivale Homeday an Axel Springer verkauft - Business Insider
Berlin-based cypto startup Bitwala is trying a comeback after insolvency Bitwala: Deutsches Krypto-Startup versucht nach Pleite das Comeback
Solaris bank generates first profit for H1 2023 Solaris fährt erstmals Gewinn ein | FinanceFWD
Chief Product Officer is leaving N26 — marking the fifth high ranking departure in recent months N26 verliert Produktchef – fünfter Abgang in wenigen Monaten - Business Insider
Green Tech News
Greentech unicorn Enpal invests in startup theion, which produces batteries based on sulfur Greentech-Unicorn Enpal investiert in Schwefelbatterien-Startup theion
Greentech unicorn 1Komma5 Grad is looking for an IPO in 2025 Start-up: 1Komma5 Grad peilt Börsengang im Jahr 2025 an
Shell is putting solar and energy storage startup Sonnen up for sale, after just 4 years Shell: Deutscher Solarenergie-Pionier steht überraschend zum Verkauf - WELT and we have talked about Sonnen quite a lot in the past, right Chris?
General News
Device-as-a-Service Startup “Fleet” Expands into Germany PYMNTS | Device-as-a-Service Startup Fleet Expands into Germany
Kleinanzeigen (formerly part of eBay) and Mobile.de (one of Germany’s leading vehicle platforms) are up for sale again Kleinanzeigen.de und Mobile.de stehen schon wieder vor dem Verkauf - manager magazin investors are lining up
Berlin-based Babbel acquires US-based Toucan to further expand its learning ecosystem with browser extension | EU-Startups Berlin-based Babbel acquires US-based Toucan to further expand its learning ecosystem with browser extension | EU-Startups
Fast delivery startup Jokr, founded by tech veteran Ralf Wenzel, is only active in Brazil and lost with the most recent investment it’s unicorn status Schnelllieferdienst Jokr verliert Einhornstatus
Schumpeters Schöpferische Zerstörung ⇒ Creative Destruction Still Ongoing:
Schumpeter was one of the most influential economists of the 20th century and coined the term creative destruction in German Schöpferische Zerstörung as well as Entrepreneur. Learn more about him here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schumpeter. We introduced this section towards the end of covid and it is still going strong.
Bielefeld-based crypto startup Coindex ceases operations after filing for insolvency and negotiations with Binance fell through Coindex stellt Geschäft ein – Binance verhandelte zwischenzeitlich einen Kauf | FinanceFWD
Vienna-based workflow startup Ataleo starts restructuring Ataleo: Wiener Workflow-Startup muss ins Sanierungsverfahren
Graz, Austria-based hr tech startup Talto has to file for insolvency Talto: Grazer HR-Startup landet in der Insolvenz
Austria-based agtech startup Pixofarm has to file for insolvency since their strategic investor UPL from India changed strategy. They are under pressure from competition and started a 100 mn cost-cutting program Pixofarm: Startup nach Strategieschwenk des Großinvestors in der Pleite
The Berlin-based startup behind carsharing service „Clevershuttle“ will disappear. The company can not be rescued from insolvency Nach Insolvenz der Berliner Taxi-Alternative: Das Start-up hinter „Clevershuttle“ verschwindet
End on a High Note: Successful Fundraisings and Exits:
Keep in mind this is a small selection. The news here and their total value show how resilient the startup scene is. We included only selected fundraisings above 5 million Euros or USD
CHF 45 million Investment takes H55 next level CHF 45 million Investment takes H55 next level “. The Valais based startup has raised substantial financing from a group of distinguished strategic and financial investors, further consolidating its leading position as a major provider of certified electric propulsion aviation technologies. The financing will support H55 path to Type Certification (TC) by 2024 and accelerate growth.”
PowerUs gets 24 M € investment for their platform that enables users to find craftsmen VCs investieren 24 Millionen Euro in Handwerksjobbörse PowerUs - Business Insider
Wise, N26 investor backs Germany’s Ivy in €18M round for its API for instant bank payments "Source Link dead 2026-09-14"
GentTwo, a Zurich, Switzerland-based provider of a B2B Fintech platform specialized in securitization of bankable and non-bankable assets, raised USD15M in Series A funding. GenTwo Raises USD15M in Series A Funding
Stay Ahead of the Curve
Compensation Decoded: Tech leader salaries at early-stage startups https://blog.creandum.com/compensation-decoded-tech-leader-salaries-at-early-stage-startups-7faf5465d5b4
What the Finance Industry Tells Us About the Future of AI What the Finance Industry Tells Us About the Future of AI HBR writes “What will artificial intelligence do to industries and jobs? For a preview, look to the finance industry, which has been incorporating data and algorithms for a long time, and which is always a canary in the coal mine for new technology. The experience of finance suggests that AI will transform some industries (sometimes very quickly) and that it will especially benefit larger players. But it may not leave the overall system better off.”
We will be back shortly before Halloween on the 26th of October.
Helsing, a Berlin-based defense tech startup, closed a €209 million Series B round in September 2023, becoming Europe's first defense technology unicorn — signaling growing investor appetite for defense innovation in the DACH region.
FERNRIDE extended its Series A to $50 million USD for autonomous trucking technology, highlighting continued momentum in German mobility and logistics startups despite a tighter funding environment.
Deutsche Bank partnered with crypto infrastructure startup Taurus to offer digital asset custody and tokenization services, marking a significant step toward institutional crypto adoption in Germany.
Munich-based mobility unicorn Flix (owner of Greyhound) moved toward an IPO, hiring J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and BNP — one of the biggest potential DACH startup exits in 2023.
Regional startup ecosystems across Frankfurt, Cologne, Jena, Ilmenau, Essen, and Mittweida all saw notable funding rounds, demonstrating that German startup activity extends well beyond Berlin and Munich.
Featured Entities
Startups & Companies
Helsing — Berlin-based defense tech startup, €209M Series B, first European defense unicorn
FERNRIDE — Munich-based autonomous trucking, $50M Series A extension
Schüttfix — Construction logistics startup, raised funding despite industry headwinds
Flix (FlixBus/Greyhound) — Munich-based mobility unicorn pursuing IPO
Taurus — Crypto infrastructure startup partnering with Deutsche Bank
rooom AG — Jena-based 3D software, €17M VC funding
Betterspace — Ilmenau-based hotel tech, 7-figure investment from Round2 Capital
KYP.ai — €17.5M for GenAI features and global expansion
PowerUs — €24M for craftsmen recruitment platform
H55 — Swiss electric aviation startup, CHF 45M financing
Corporates & Investors
Deutsche Bank — Partnering with Taurus for crypto custody services
JP Morgan — Building retail banking team of 50+ in Berlin for "Chase" launch
Round2 Capital — Invested in Betterspace (Ilmenau)
HTAI / Enterprise Europe Network Hessen — Enablers supporting this recording
Cities & Regions Covered
Berlin (Helsing), Munich (FERNRIDE, Flix), Frankfurt (various), Cologne (KYP.ai)
Ilmenau (Betterspace), Jena (rooom AG), Mittweida (Corpus), Essen (Staige One)
Austria (various startups), Switzerland (H55 electric aviation, GentTwo fintech)
Relationship Map
Helsing → Defense sector → European unicorn status → Series B investors
Deutsche Bank → Taurus (crypto infrastructure) → Digital asset custody partnership
JP Morgan → Berlin expansion → Chase retail banking → Competition with N26/traditional banks
Flix (FlixBus/Greyhound) → J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, BNP → IPO preparation
HTAI / Enterprise Europe Network Hessen → Startuprad.io → Recording enabler
Related Articles
Previous episode: This Month in GSA Startups — Summer 2023 (July/August)
Next in series: This Month in GSA Startups — June 2023
Topic hub: Monthly Startup News from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
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What are the biggest German startups to watch in late 2023?
In September 2023, several major German startups made headlines. Helsing became Europe's first defense technology unicorn after closing a €209 million Series B. Flix (FlixBus/Greyhound owner) moved toward an IPO, and FERNRIDE raised $50 million for autonomous trucking. Deutsche Bank also entered the crypto space by partnering with startup Taurus for digital asset services.
How much startup funding was announced in the DACH region in September 2023?
This September 2023 roundup tracked close to €500 million in newly announced investments across German, Austrian, and Swiss startups. Major rounds included Helsing's €209M Series B, FERNRIDE's $50M Series A extension, rooom AG's €17M, KYP.ai's €17.5M, PowerUs's €24M, and H55's CHF 45M — spanning defense tech, mobility, SaaS, greentech, and electric aviation.
Is the German startup ecosystem active outside Berlin and Munich?
Yes. This roundup highlights startup activity across many German cities including Frankfurt, Cologne (KYP.ai, €17.5M), Ilmenau (Betterspace), Jena (rooom AG, €17M), Mittweida (Corpus), and Essen (Staige One). Austrian and Swiss startups are also covered, including H55 (electric aviation, Switzerland) and GentTwo (fintech, Zurich). The DACH startup ecosystem is geographically diverse.
What is Helsing and why did it become a defense unicorn?
Helsing is a Berlin-based defense technology startup that uses artificial intelligence for military applications. In September 2023, it raised €209 million in a Series B round, giving it a valuation above €1 billion and making it Europe's first defense tech unicorn. The round reflected growing government and investor interest in European defense innovation.
Where can I find a Deutsche Startups podcast covering monthly DACH news?
Startuprad.io publishes a monthly podcast episode covering startup news from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (the GSA/DACH region). Each episode is available as both an audio and video podcast, and the show notes are published as blog posts. This September 2023 edition is part of that ongoing monthly series.
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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