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This Month in GSA Startups — March 2022

Jörn Menninger
Mar 15
15 min read

Updated: 7 hours ago

Germany, the region of Sauerland via Pixabay

What Is This About?

The March 2022 DACH startup news roundup covers early spring developments across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — including the release of the 100 most influential women in startup and VC, notable funding rounds, and the ecosystem stories shaping Q1 2022.

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, March 21st, 2022.

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

  • We have the 100 most influential women in startup and venture capital in Europe.

  • This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen.


Germany, the region of Sauerland via Pixabay

New Blog

This Month in GSA Startups — March 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, March 21st, 2022. The recording is one week earlier than usual, due to the travel schedules of Chris and me.

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


Our highlights:


We have the 100 most influential women in startup and venture capital in Europe. There are two new unicorns to announce in GSA. Unicorn Personio set up a charity fund and Germany’s largest fintech exit (at approx 1 bn US$) is in the making. We have an exclusive interview with the CEO in charge for almost 40 minutes from July 2021. We try to touch on the Russian invasion in Ukraine as lightly as possible, only when it impacts the GSA startup scene since you get more than enough news about this tragedy on ANY OTHER outlet. Please note that this does not mean we don’t care, but it is not our area of coverage. We are also talking about delivery startups and again Wirecard. Not surprisingly, Wirecard will keep the German courts busy for years to come.


Let’s talk startups:


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Our Enablers


Invest-in-Hessen

This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://techstartups.sounder.fm/



Podcasts

Video Podcast



Audio Podcast


Top News


Top 100: Europe’s Most Influential Women in the Startup and Venture Capital Space

Including:

  • Alina Bassi from Kleiderly

  • Ida Tin co-founder and chairwoman of the board of Clue, the world’s fastest-growing female health app

  • Marie-Helene Armstreiter, lead partner at SpeedInvest

  • Maria Pennanen, co-founder of Accelerator Frankfurt

  • Miriam Wohlfarth, serial founder Ratepay and Banxware


Two New Unicorns


Volocopter (Bruchsal)


Staffbase (Chemnitz)


Unicorn Charity Fund

German Tech Unicorn Personio Creates $66 Million, Charity Fund. Personio does HR software for smaller companies. The initial money in the fund went to charities tackling climate change and education inequality. German Tech Unicorn Personio Creates $66 Million Charity Fund


Germany’s Largest Fintech Exit In The Making

ID Now is an online identification startup, looking at Germany’s Largest Fintech Exit at 1 bn US$. Startuprad.io published an exclusive interview of ID now in July 2021 with Andreas Bodczek. We talk to him one on one for almost 40 minutes. Have a look here https://medium.com/startuprad-io/id-now-is-looking-to-make-germanys-largest-fintech-exit-at-1-bn-us-49f5aca225b


Russia Ukraine Conflict

You get more than enough news of this tragedy, so we will only cover the news related to startups in GSA or Europe:


Delivery Unicorn Gorillas


Startup Gorillas Planning to Raise $700 Million of New Funding Grocery Startup Gorillas Plans to Raise $700 Million of New Funding - Bloomberg


Staying with Delivery


Delivery Hero left the German market (again), so Wolt and Lieferando split the market amongst them. Now Uber Eats plans a strong expansion. We see lower prices for consumers in the near future (Original Source Removed - Here would be a link to the source)


Wirecard


100 lawsuits have already been filed against German finance supervisor Bafin in the Wirecard case according to the district court Frankfurt, 500 additional are already announced Klagen am Landgericht Frankfurt: Wirecard-Anleger wollen Schadensersatz von Bafin | FAZ

Wirecard boss Braun is indicted for balance sheet manipulation by German finance oversight BaFin, looking at up to 10 years in prison. It is also fair to assume this will not be the last case brought against him by BaFin or other parties Wirecard-Skandal: Markus Braun jetzt wegen Betrug angeklagt


NeoBrokers GSA Update


Housekeeping & Time to Brag


Ecosystem


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. As always the order of cities and news is the order we found them.


Berlin and Munich Leading the Charge

EU startups made a list of the 10 fast-growing German startups to watch in 2022 10 fast-growing German startups to watch in 2022 | EU-Startups All of them are either from Berlin or Munich, which speaks well for both hubs. MedKitDoc (Berlin), Hiv (Berlin), Klima (Berlin), Marvel Fusion (Munich), QUIN (berlin), Gorillas (Berlin), Pliant (Berlin), Arive (Munich), DANCE (Berlin), and Gunzilla Games (Berlin).


Frankfurt


Mainz


Magdeburg


Landau in der Pfalz

  • This is a lovely little city within the region of the Pfalz on the so-called Southern Wine Route. Not even 50.000 people live there, but we are very happy to have some startup news for the first time on them here: Florian Bein discloses investment of unknown amount in Beedrop, a startup producing honey, supposed to strengthen the immune system https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6900476576157577216/


Stuttgart


Görlitz


Tübingen

We have covered CureVac quite a lot here. Most of the time it has been bad news for the company, so we feel obliged to also share good news from them here:


Cologne


Munich


Saarbrücken


Austria


Switzerland


General News / Tech News / Companies News Section


Fintechs


A very very few Venture Capital investment/fundraising rounds


Other News

In case you celebrate it: Happy Easter. We will be back with our April News Wrap-Up on April 28th.


Stay ahead of the curve


What Happened in GSA Startups in March 2022?

March 2022 brought two new German unicorns (Volocopter with $241M and Staffbase from Chemnitz with €106M from General Atlantic/Insight Partners), a Top 100 list of Europe's most influential women in startup and VC, Personio's $66M charity fund, IDnow eyeing Germany's largest fintech exit at $1B, and the first startup-related impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Introduction

Recorded March 21st, 2022, this monthly wrap-up captures a period of continued unicorn creation amid geopolitical upheaval. Volocopter raised another $241M bringing it to unicorn status, and Chemnitz-based Staffbase received €106M from General Atlantic and Insight Partners. The Top 100 most influential women in European startup and VC was published, featuring names like Alina Bassi from Kleiderly and Ida Tin from Clue. Personio created a $66M charity fund, while IDnow was pursuing Germany's largest fintech exit. The Russia-Ukraine conflict began affecting the startup ecosystem.

March 2022 showcased both the strength and vulnerability of the DACH startup ecosystem. Two new unicorns emerged — Volocopter (air mobility) and Staffbase (employee communications from Chemnitz, a non-traditional hub). Europe's Top 100 influential women in startup/VC highlighted growing diversity. Personio demonstrated corporate responsibility with a $66M charity fund. IDnow was in talks for what would have been Germany's largest fintech exit at $1B. The Russia-Ukraine conflict introduced new uncertainties. Hessen Trade and Invest enabled the coverage.

  • Volocopter raised $241M to reach unicorn status, declaring its flying taxi service was two years from launch.

  • Staffbase from Chemnitz became a unicorn with €106M from General Atlantic and Insight Partners — notably from a non-traditional startup hub.

  • The Top 100 most influential women in European startup and VC was published, including Alina Bassi (Kleiderly) and Ida Tin (Clue).

  • Personio created a $66M charity fund, demonstrating corporate social responsibility from a German tech unicorn.

  • IDnow was pursuing Germany's largest fintech exit at approximately $1B (later shelved — covered in Post #70).

Entities Referenced in This Episode

  • Volocopter (Bruchsal) — Air taxi unicorn, $241M raise

  • Staffbase (Chemnitz) — Employee comms unicorn, €106M from GA/Insight

  • Personio — HR unicorn, $66M charity fund

  • IDnow — Pursuing $1B fintech exit

  • Alina Bassi (Kleiderly), Ida Tin (Clue) — Top 100 women in VC

  • General Atlantic, Insight Partners — Staffbase investors

  • Topics: New unicorns, women in VC, charity fund, fintech exit, Russia-Ukraine impact

Quote Highlights

  • We have the 100 most influential women in startup and venture capital in Europe. There are two new unicorns to announce in GSA.

  • German Tech Unicorn Personio Creates $66 Million Charity Fund. The initial money went to charities tackling climate change and education inequality.

  • ID Now is an online identification startup, looking at Germany's largest fintech exit at 1 bn US$.

  • Unicorn Personio set up a charity fund and Germany's largest fintech exit was announced alongside two new GSA unicorns.

Related Episodes on Startuprad.io

Relationship Map

  • Chemnitz-based Staffbase → raised → €106M

  • Key Takeaways Volocopter → raised → $241M

  • Chemnitz → raised → €106M

Partner with Startuprad.io

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.

Subscribe to the Podcast

What funding details are covered in this episode?

In March 2022, Volocopter from Bruchsal raised another $241M to reach unicorn status, and Staffbase from Chemnitz received €106M from General Atlantic and Insight Partners. Both companies achieved $1B+ valuations.

What is Staffbase and what does it do?

Staffbase is an employee communications platform based in Chemnitz, Germany — notable for being a unicorn from a non-traditional startup hub outside of Berlin and Munich. It provides internal communications tools for enterprises.

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.

Support Startuprad.io

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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