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This Month in German, Swiss and Austrian Startups — April 2022

Jörn Menninger
Mar 15
11 min read

Updated: Sep 20

Spring Flowers in Germany via Pixabay

What Is This About?

The April 2022 DACH startup news roundup covers spring developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — including funding rounds, ecosystem updates, and the stories shaping the startup landscape as the market begins its mid-year transition.

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.

  • We recorded this new episode on Monday, April 25th, 2022.

  • As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode.

  • We also partner with the EU-Startups Summit and Artic 15 you get a discount at both events with our codes in the show notes www.

  • Despite slightly declining global VC investments GSA still generates Unicorns.


Spring Flowers in Germany via Pixabay

New Blog

This Month in German, Swiss and Austrian Startups — April 2022 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.


We recorded this new episode on Monday, April 25th, 2022. The next news will go live on the 26th of May, the day we celebrate fathers day in Germany. For this reason, we have at this date two publications: the news and an episode on men’s health.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode.

We also partner with the EU-Startups Summit and Artic 15 you get a discount at both events with our codes in the show notes www.medium.com/startuprad-io. You can meet Joe in person in Barcelona at the EU Startups Summit on May 12th and 13th.

The discount codes are:

  • EU Startups STARTUPRADIO20

  • Artic15 startupradio


Our highlights:


Despite slightly declining global VC investments GSA still generates Unicorns. This time we welcomed Grover and Choco officially into the league. Swiss Beqom is not confirmed, but also a massive investment. Apple and Porsche are rumored to work together on joint projects. Gorillas is looking for funding again, after raising a billion US$ (850 m Euros) in September 2021. Germany’s second most valuable fintech Mambu had to publish numbers. The corona patron registration app Luca first boomed during the lockdown, then their data protection was questioned, now they pivot to a fintech with the backing of investors including the Wefox founder.

Let’s talk startups:



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Top News


Despite the cloudy outlook on capital markets, the unicorn creation machine is not stuttering yet:


Not confirmed, but looks pretty much like a unicorn

Switzerland’s cloud-based compensation management platform Beqom gets €277M backing from Sumeru Equity Partners "Source Link dead 2026-09-14" (beqom provides a cloud-based compensation management solution that unifies all compensation and rewards processes on a single platform, from salary and bonus to deferred incentives and sales commissions.)


Will Apple and Porsche build a car together?

Porsche AG discussed possible joint projects with Apple Porsche AG discussed possible joint projects with Apple | Reuters


Gorillas not only became a unicorn fast, but it also appears to be a cash-burning machine…

Berlin-based delivery unicorn Gorillas is looking for new investors, after raising 850+ m Euros (1 bn US$ at the time) last September Gorillas: Lieferdienst sucht schon wieder Investoren


Mambu — Germany’s 2nd most valuable fintech

Mambu — Germany’s 2nd most valuable fintech published 2020 results: 32 m € revenue with 46% margin. Note that 32 mn revenue only put them at 6th place for German fintechs, but the growth prospects seem to be great Mambu – das zweitgrößte deutsche Fintech veröffentlicht seine Geschäftszahlen | FinanceFWD


Luca pivots and gets some well-known investors who believe in them

Wefox founder joins 30 m € funding round for the Luca app, which pivots from a patron registration app in times of corona to a fintech Wefox-Chef Julian Teicke steigt bei Millionenrunde in Luca-App ein - Business Insider


Housekeeping & Time to Brag

Nothing to see here, mostly for the reason that we don’t have a lot of time to track our chart or news appearances.


Ecosystem

Global Venture Funding Fell Last Quarter For The First Time In A Year. How Significant Is That? Global Venture Funding Fell Last Quarter For The First Time In A Year. How Significant Is That?


To ban Bitcoin or not to ban. The EU institutions and Germany seem to be unsure…


Leaving Germany

The main reasons for German startups leaving Germany? Funding options and exit options according to a recent survey Finanzierungs- und Exitoptionen treiben Start-ups ins Ausland


- Forto (Berlin) 250 m €

- Hy2gen (Wiesbaden) 200 m US$ (World’s largest private investment in green hydrogen)

- volocopter (Karlsruhe) 170 m US$

- Staffbase (Chemnitz) 115 m US$

- Vivid Money (Berlin) 100 m US$


Also, Zombie Clones Die

Clones die as well: The German Facebook clones MeinVZ and StudiVZ will be shut down for good at the end of March StudiVZ und MeinVZ schmeißen ihre letzten Nutzer raus - DER SPIEGEL

It started out as a Facebook clone — I personally remember it looked exactly like Facebook back in 2006, so I was just copying my Facebook account there during my time in college. Then Facebook came to Germany and the hype stopped. MeinVZ became something of a virtual ghost town. For years the only message I have gotten was when a moderator posted a happy birthday message, but even this stopped. This is the point I personally considered MeinVZ to be Zombie. There have been several times since, that the company was rumored to be shut down, but now it is for good.


Corona changed a lot and some habits will stick…

The Germans are Europe’s No 1 online shopper with an average of 6,7 packages a month Studie: Deutsche sind fleißigste Online-Shopper Europas - E-Commerce | News | LOGISTIK HEUTE - Das deutsche Logistikmagazin


Not in Germany, but still concerning:

VC ‘threatened media war against startup after faking investment deal’ by Freya Pratty via Sifted.eu VC 'threatened media war against startup after faking investment deal' | Sifted


Hubs

There are many deserving startups, cities, and entrepreneurs who will never get any English coverage, would it not be for us. This is why this section exists. This time Chris is channeling his inner geography teacher and has his own order :-)


Frankfurt


Darmstadt


Hamburg

  • Fintech ExpressGroup raises 25 m € Series A funding to expand with their tax software into Europe "Source Link dead 2026-09-14"

  • Nestlé buys food startup Ankerkraut specializing in spices. It seems to be inspired by Kraft Food’s purchase of Düsseldorf-based Just Spices. Ankerkraut could be valued at a range of 250–400 m Euros. The tweet that made this public has 1.500 comments, few are happy Nestlé übernimmt Gewürz-Startup Ankerkraut – Fans stinksauer It seems that Nestle will for the first time not really enjoy the deal.


Mittweida, Saxony


Ludwigshafen


Karlsruhe


Munich


Switzerland


Austria


General News / Tech News / Companies News Section

Fintechs


A very very few Venture Capital investment/fundraising rounds


Other News

Roadsurfer is a German startup renting out RVs, they are now entering the US market Verleih von Campervans: Roadsurfer wagt den Schritt in die USA


Stay ahead of the curve


Some Takeouts for the Reader Who Read Until the End

What Happened in GSA Startups in April 2022?

April 2022 saw Germany's unicorn machine still running despite declining global VC: Grover became a unicorn, Swiss Beqom got €277M from Sumeru Equity Partners, Porsche and Apple discussed joint car projects, Gorillas continued burning cash after €850M+ raised, and Mambu was revealed as Germany's 2nd most valuable fintech with €32M revenue at 46% margin. The Luca app also announced a pivot.

Introduction

Recorded on April 25th, 2022, this monthly wrap-up shows that the DACH unicorn creation machine was still running despite a cloudy outlook on global capital markets. Berlin-based Grover reached unicorn status, Swiss cloud compensation platform Beqom secured €277M from Sumeru Equity Partners, and reports emerged of Porsche AG discussing possible joint projects with Apple. Gorillas continued as a major story, burning through cash after raising over €850M while seeking new investors. Mambu was highlighted as Germany's second most valuable fintech with impressive €32M revenue at 46% margin. The episode featured partnerships with EU-Startups Summit and Arctic15.

April 2022 demonstrated the resilience of the DACH startup ecosystem even as global VC markets began cooling. Grover's unicorn milestone, Beqom's €277M raise, and Mambu's strong financial metrics showed continued strength. However, warning signs were emerging: Gorillas' cash burn rate raised concerns, and the Luca app's pivot signaled that pandemic-era business models were shifting. Porsche's Apple discussions added an automotive-tech dimension. The episode was enabled by partnerships with EU-Startups Summit and Arctic15.

  • Berlin-based Grover became a unicorn despite the declining global VC environment.

  • Swiss compensation platform Beqom secured €277M from Sumeru Equity Partners, approaching unicorn territory.

  • Porsche AG discussed possible joint projects with Apple, signaling automotive-tech convergence.

  • Gorillas continued burning cash after raising over €850M, seeking new investors despite questions about sustainability.

  • Mambu was revealed as Germany's 2nd most valuable fintech with €32M revenue and an impressive 46% margin.

Entities Referenced in This Episode

Startups & Companies

  • Grover — Berlin-based electronics subscription, became unicorn

  • Beqom — Swiss cloud compensation platform, €277M from Sumeru Equity Partners

  • Gorillas — Berlin delivery unicorn, cash-burning after €850M+

  • Mambu — Germany's 2nd most valuable fintech, €32M revenue, 46% margin

  • Luca — Contact tracing app, announced pivot

  • Porsche AG / Apple — Discussed possible joint car projects

Organizations

  • Sumeru Equity Partners — Backed Beqom with €277M

  • EU-Startups Summit — Event partnership

  • Arctic15 — Event partnership

Topics

  • Unicorn creation, declining VC, compensation management, delivery startups, fintech margins, automotive-tech

Relationship Map

  • Grover → became → unicorn (April 2022)

  • Beqom (Swiss) → raised → €277M from Sumeru Equity Partners

  • Gorillas → burning cash → after €850M+ raised

  • Mambu → Germany's 2nd fintech → €32M revenue, 46% margin

  • Porsche → discussed → joint projects with Apple

Quote Highlights

  • Despite the cloudy outlook on capital markets, the unicorn creation machine is not stuttering yet — new billion-dollar startups continue to emerge across Germany.

  • Gorillas not only became a unicorn fast but also appears to be a cash-burning machine, raising questions about sustainability in the quick commerce space.

  • Mambu rises to become Germany's second most valuable fintech, highlighting the strength of B2B banking infrastructure in the DACH region.

  • The EU institutions and Germany grapple with whether to ban Bitcoin, reflecting the broader regulatory uncertainty facing the European crypto ecosystem.

Related Episodes on Startuprad.io

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How many unicorns did Germany create in April 2022?

Grover became Germany's latest unicorn in April 2022, despite declining global VC investment. The unicorn creation machine in the DACH region continued to operate even as the broader market was cooling.

What is Mambu?

Mambu is Germany's second most valuable fintech, a cloud banking platform that reported €32 million in revenue with an impressive 46% margin. The company provides banking infrastructure for financial institutions.

What is Beqom?

Beqom is a Swiss cloud-based compensation management platform that secured €277 million from Sumeru Equity Partners in April 2022, making it one of the largest DACH-region raises of the period.

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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If your company wants to reach founders, investors, and operators across the DACH startup ecosystem, Startuprad.io works with a select number of partners on high-trust visibility and thought-leadership formats. Explore partnership options here: Partner with Startuprad.io

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