Welcome to StartupRad.io, your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German
startup scene with news, interviews, and live events.
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Hello and welcome everybody. This is Joe from StartupRad.io,
your startup podcast and YouTube blog from Germany as well as the Czech Entrepreneurship
Talk radio station number one called Startup.Radio.
It is time for the news again. And of course, welcome my awesome co-founder,
Chris, in New York. Hey, man. How are you doing?
Hey, I'm good. Everyone's talking about the election. Can't wait for it to be over.
Who cares about elections? Let's talk startups in GSA.
Yeah, let's do it. But we have to tell our audience that you're deeply involved
in the German coverage of the U.S.
Election and there may be a book coming out from you in the future.
Let's see if this works out. Yes. Yep.
Welcome to our October 2024 wrap up with vital news from the startup and tech
entrepreneurship scenes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Our startup news is recorded with Chris in New York City.
Hello. I'm Frankfurt. And today's news cut is October 28th. As always,
all news not included will be part of our next news wrap up.
This time we even had a harder criteria to make it into our news.
We had collected more than 20 pages of raw news. That's quite a lot.
Usually we stick to seven to eight pages for news wrap up.
So we need to cut it seriously and to give you like a really brief overview.
Also, that means the startup scene is thriving again, which makes us very, very happy.
And to everybody out there, happy leaf picking season.
Plus, this is Halloween. This means exactly 10 years ago on October 31st,
2014, I published the first episode of StartupRate.io ever.
That's awesome, isn't it?
Yeah, close to puberty. Close to puberty.
Our highlights. October 2024 has been a great month for startups across GSA
with notable funding rounds, valuations, and strategy shifts.
We had this time a 10 million investment cut, but still almost half a billion
euros in fundraising announcement.
Where there is light, there is shadow. German eVotel, meaning air taxi company,
Lilium announced plans for self-administrated bankruptcy, highlighting the tough
financial environment in aerospace innovation.
In contrast, fintech leader EGIM and Swiss AI developer Order Fox both achieved
unicorn status, marking major successes in health and AI industry.
Austria's Gropius also raised 100 million euros, pushing forward its vision
of sustainable housing through modular construction.
The month also saw broader tech growth initiatives.
The European Union, partnering with venture capital firms, unveiled a startup
support network aimed at strengthening the deep tech sector.
However, challenges emerge as Solaris Bank reported 178 million loss and job
cuts, underscoring profitability struggles within European fintechs.
This October update reflects a thriving, resilient startup scene despite financial
headwinds for some major players. Let's talk startups.
First, our schedule. Enjoy your Halloween, which is also increasingly celebrated
here in Germany. Hope your trick or treat works well.
Keep in mind that in some of Germany's states, the 31st of October,
Reformation Day, more in the northern and middle states,
or November 1st, Ossain's Day, more holiday in the southern states,
are public holidays where banks, shops, and offices are closed.
Actually, where I'm based in Hessen, we have neither.
Expect the next news to drop last Thursday a month with our regular episodes
every Thursday until December 19th.
Next news episode will drop on Thanksgiving in the US, which is November 28th.
Let's talk a little bit about our enablers. As always, Hessen,
Trade & Invest and Enterprise Europe Network and Modern IQs,
where we do have a video how this actually works.
Chris, we also cut the top news to only five pieces. You want to break them down for us?
Yes, I'm the top five guy this week or this month. Let's start with Lilium.
You were already talking about it.
Lilium is facing really severe financial constraints and because they failed
to secure a government-backed loan in Germany, even though they are NASDAQ listed,
and now they are pursuing a self-administered bankruptcy for its subsidiaries,
the electrical vertical takeoff and lending, which you already said,
E-VTOL, E-VTOL, firm's stock plummeted as it aims to now restructure,
and they're hoping for a fresh start while reinforcing its commitment to sustainable aviation.
Everybody who doesn't have this in mind, Volocopter, competitor of theirs,
also in a vertical takeoff business, they got state backing,
so not really sure what happened there. Sorry for interrupting, Chris.
No, no, it's fine. I mean, we've been talking about this whole industry for
so often now, and it's a super stupid pun, but it's really not taking off for now.
So we will still, I guess there will still be tumultuous news in the upcoming
months and years ahead for this industry.
Then eGym joins the Unicorn Club in Germany and OrderFox in Switzerland.
The German fitness tech company, Egym, I think you might have said in the beginning
it's a fintech, but it's a fitness tech company, has achieved unicorn status
with a valuation of exceeding 1 billion euros.
Initially they were not in need of funds, but now they attracted fresh investments
to drive growth, work towards an IPO and bolstering their presence in the fitness technology market.
Yeah they are on
a good trajectory same as order Fox a
swiss AI driven technology company they've reached
unicorn starters no being known
for innovative platforms including part Fox and
genie g-i-e-n-e-i and order Fox is working on industrial procurement with AI
best matching networks and market insights this new valuation now is backed
by Troun partners and it emphasizes the company's role in really the AI field for B2B.
And they also hope to grow in a huge field of diverse industries.
Gropius, as you said, in Austria raises 100 million euros for sustainable housing.
They want to use the money in order to expand their smart factory and production
capabilities for modular timber hybrid buildings.
The investment is led by Semapar and practical venture capital,
and it will accelerate the housing shortage here in Europe,
coming up with sustainable high-tech solutions in residential construction.
Then the European Union has then launched a new partnership with venture capital
firms in order to strengthen Europe's tech sector, particularly in deep tech,
with over 70 investors in the trusted investors network.
It's an initiative that aims to bridge the tech gap between Europe and global
leaders like the US and China.
Solaris Fintech faces 178 million euros in losses and therefore significant
challenges, leading to job cuts as part of a broader restructuring strategy.
It's a financial setback, highlighting ongoing profitability struggles within the fintech industry.
And Solaris is now focused on cost reduction and improving operational efficiency.
For further details on that company's path forward,
you can have a look at a hundreds blood article, which as all the articles we
are usually mentioning or all the stories we are usually mentioning has a more
in-depth link in our show notes.
That's it for the top news now to you,
Housekeeping and time to brag. We have been nominated for the HubHopper 2024 Podcast Awards.
Also, at StartupRate.au, we were thrilled to have been invited to this year's
Digital Heilgipfel, where the German Federal Government unveils its comprehensive digital strategy.
The event provided exclusive insights into Germany's vision for digital transformation
with pivotal speeches from Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck,
and Minister Volker Wissing.
Each leader shared key strategies to propel Germany forward in technology,
innovation, and digital sovereignty.
Our coverage offers in-depth perspectives on their speeches,
detailing how these initiatives will impact the German and European tech ecosystems.
For more, check the links in our show notes section. Stay ahead of the curve
to explore our full blog posts on each speech. In total, we have 15 of our most
recent blog posts linked there.
Let me know if you'd like further information or details of the cover speeches.
If you are interested in working with us, there is a startup.org link.
Subscribe and follow with our link tree.
And I hand over again to the ecosystem with Chris.
Ecosystem news being news that our general startup.
Ecosystem news, not specific to companies, where we zoom in from worldwide news
to European to German news. So let's start with the worldwide news.
We see that Series A startups need more time to get to Series B than they used to.
Quantum's journey sheds light on the funding game. More about that on Crunchbase.
In Europe, we see that Europe's IPO list in fintech is buzzing.
If you're curious which fintechs are set to go public, we have a list for you
from financeforward.com.
And the startup job market in Europe is thriving.
There are several trends in 2024 and job roles for this.
We have own analysis on our own website.
In Germany, we see that quantum tech puts Germany on the global map.
It's pretty interesting why quantum all of a sudden matters in Germany,
but also in tomorrow's world. Bitcoin has a bit more about this.
And Germany's business mood dips again. We're looking at it every month.
The so-called IFO Geschäftsklima Index, which is basically an ongoing survey
of what managers think about the overall environment in the German economy.
It shows a declining sentiment for the fourth time now and I mean even the German
government again recalibrated its expectations for.
This year's GDP again believing that Germany might actually German's economy
might actually shrink this year again.
So if you wanted to read more about this you can read it on the EFOR website itself.
Moving on from the ecosystem to hubs.
And again, a little peek into politics here in Germany.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck wants to actually set up a program, an investment program.
But finance minister from the Liberals, Christian Lindner, doesn't want it because
he wants to have household discipline, as he calls it. Let's see where this is going.
With those numbers on the horizon, I do believe they'll find an agreement.
Let's talk about the hubs here. We highlight some hidden gems.
As we said, this time we really, really, really cut this a lot.
For example, in Darmstadt, we only have here. Rain secures a potential mega million deal.
Big steps in German biotech as they push innovation boundaries.
The deal with a specialized provider selling their revenues up front could be
worth 128 million euros for the company.
And I already hand over to Chris again. Yeah, so hubs this month are only Darmstadt,
the well-known startup hub in Germany.
Moving on to Austria, where we see that Linz AI, the startup files for restructuring.
Question now is, can they pivot in time or do they have to face the end?
More about that on Brutkasten.com.
Oddvice makes its exit to Hype 1000. It's a star startup from Salzburg joining
the big leagues, I'm sorry, very interesting to see their developments there.
And in Switzerland, we can only say you have to wait a bit more until further
down or further along in the show because fundraisings from Switzerland are
part of our overall fundraising.
So we'll talk about Switzerland a bit later. For now, though,
we will move on to the general news section, starting off with VC news and new
funds, in case you are looking for money. It's only also a selection.
First off, the VC spotlight, revealing the best performing companies of 2024.
Early Bird Digital East Fund has become the first European VC firm ever to lend
the number one position in the HEC Dow Jones Venture Capital Performance Ranking.
The fund made an early investment into Romanian software, for example.
Then we see that Cavalry Ventures loses another partner.
Maybe they also had issues pronouncing it like I do.
It's a major shift for the DC landscape. What's next? And we have great news
about General Catalyst.
They raised $8 billion for global startups. It's a massive boost for innovation worldwide.
And they also have a $1 billion continuation fund.
And it's an end of an era for Speed Invest Pirates. The VC fund closes its doors,
leaving a mark on European startups.
More about that in the show notes. Back to you.
Yeah, our green tech section is also pretty slight this month.
Phantasma Labs tackles green solution for the planet.
Sustain tech innovation on the rise. Read more at Deutsche Startups.
Fintech News. Trade Republic opens an Austrian branch. Europe's banking landscape keeps evolving.
And Konto targets profitability by 2025. Keep in mind, Konto bought is from
France, bought here in Germany, Penta, which we covered pretty closely until their exit.
So they do have a big presence in Germany.
Europe's fintech revolution is gaining momentum. Big goals for this startup.
General news. InstaFraid, former founders, snapped up the software of the insolvent
startup at auction, offering the white label service as Cargomotion now.
Tear, the e-scooter provider, disappears after dot acquisition,
end of an era for the e-scooter brand.
And Schumpeter's Schöpferische Zerstörung, Wiesmann, so Wiesmann is a pretty
famous company in terms of heating installations.
Wiesmann's climate-friendly push with one climate falters.
Money from heating producer Wiesmann and advertising with football star Thomas Müller was not enough.
Marco Burry's startup N4 faces insolvency. The tech pioneer hits a rough patch. What's next?
And on a high note, and there we do have a lot because we would love high notes,
is the fundraising and exits for Chris.
Yes, and as always, this is also only a small selection.
For this month's episode, we included selected fundraisings above 10 million
euros, Swiss francs or US dollars. A couple of highlights here.
In total, we found in October almost half a billion euros in funds raised.
So congratulations to all of the lucky startups.
Let's go. Eighty three point seven million euros for Terra Layer.
It's a huge funding leap to scale up its sustainable projects.
Go green or go home, as we say.
Distribution raises 80 million dollars in a Series C. It's a transport tech startup.
Novastia raises 56 million Swiss francs and names a new CEO.
It's a Swiss med tech company.
BWTR raises 39 million francs for eco-friendly premium water solutions.
Xfarm Technologies raises 36 million euros to digitalize farming.
DeepDrive accelerates with 30 million euros in a Series B.
It's an electrical vehicle motor innovation company to transform the future of e-mobility.
Backtrace launches a 30 million euros AI infrastructure fund with resources
for developers this time around. Aurora Tech lends 25 million euros.
It's a fire detecting satellite startup from Germany itself being on fire with
a fresh series B funding.
Lymphatica raises 17.9 million euros to transform medical tech.
They bring solutions to health care. Munich-based FLAIR, P-H-L-A-I-R,
raises 14.5 million euros.
Their DAC tech is a company that wants to scale green hydrogen production.
Atlas Metrics secures 12.2 million euros for ESG compliance.
It's big funding news for a greener and more responsible future.
Voliro secures 12 million euros for drone-powered industrial inspections.
10 million Swiss francs go to Zomagen TX for gene therapy company.
They are stepping up clinical trials there. Validation Cloud raises 10 million
dollars to transform cloud security.
True Global Ventures invests 10 million US dollars in validation cloud.
Develco lends also 10 million, but euros, not dollars, in growth capital.
They are going to take the money to boost industrial automation.
And Porsche ups the stakes in drone tech with quantum systems.
UAV Innovation just got a turbo boost here.
And that's a wrap with all the news. We have so much more in the show notes
for you to stay ahead of the curve, right?
We got serious started on blogging and we will have one blog post coming up
almost every day until Christmas.
And there is a lot in here dissecting the most extensive German startup survey,
Deutsche Startup Monitor, in more than 10 different blog posts.
We do have stuff on Global AI.
We do have stuff on DC D11Z Ventures, which is the investment arm of Germany's
richest man, Dieter Schwartz, the founder of Lidl, and so on and so forth.
Go down here in the show notes and have a look. Guys, it was a pleasure as always.
Go down here in the show notes, give us feedback, and you can reach out to Chris and me on Twitter.
And linkedin chris see you again on thanksgiving for your tofu turkey again yes why not,
that sounded loaded loaded get it a turkey okay bye bye bye have fun,
that's all folks find more news streams events and interviews at www.startuprad.com
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