Latest / Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™ / German Startups 2025: When AI Becomes Infrastructure
Transcript
- WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:00.400 Foreign. 2 00:00:09.280 --> 00:00:12.800 Your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German 3 00:00:12.800 --> 00:00:16.480 startup scene with news interviews and 4 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:20.360 live events. Hello 5 00:00:20.360 --> 00:00:24.000 and welcome everybody to our regular startup news. From the 6 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:27.760 startup and tech entrepreneurship scenes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, 7 00:00:28.080 --> 00:00:31.640 you have tuned in to the deep deep dive of our 8 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.440 startup news, the second part of our monthly news coverage 9 00:00:35.440 --> 00:00:39.240 here at Startup Rate IO. You have listened 10 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:42.600 in the first part we were talking about the 11 00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:47.400 general top news of this month and now we will 12 00:00:47.400 --> 00:00:50.920 have take a closer look at some of the most interesting companies here. 13 00:00:51.160 --> 00:00:54.760 First of all though, we 14 00:00:55.160 --> 00:00:58.600 have a little look at the mood of the market, which we always do. 15 00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:02.620 November felt like a bit like a market switching from sugar highest to 16 00:01:02.620 --> 00:01:06.460 protein, we could say so a bit like fewer 17 00:01:06.460 --> 00:01:09.940 flashy apps, more industrial AI, robotics, defense 18 00:01:09.940 --> 00:01:13.500 systems, sovereign cloud capacity. It all 19 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:17.220 felt felt a bit more substantiated than we were probably used to. 20 00:01:17.300 --> 00:01:20.660 And we see that across the D region, Deutschland, 21 00:01:21.460 --> 00:01:25.100 Schweitz, Austria and Switzerland and Europe, 22 00:01:25.100 --> 00:01:28.060 the story wasn't growth at any cost, but building 23 00:01:28.060 --> 00:01:31.460 infrastructure that to make the next decade possible. 24 00:01:32.020 --> 00:01:35.680 We see that AI is shifting and more from being a marketing 25 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.520 gimmick to a bit of an industrial backbone, capital flowing 26 00:01:39.520 --> 00:01:43.280 accordingly accordingly. Even though word of caution obviously there's still 27 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:46.720 a lot of hopes in the market, I guess. And 28 00:01:46.960 --> 00:01:50.640 we see that despite tighter conditions, the region is delivering 29 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.160 a surprising might with 1.8 billion 30 00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:57.800 euros in fresh VC funds and more than 400 31 00:01:57.800 --> 00:02:01.200 million euros in startup raises even after we cut everything 32 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.210 below 2020 million euros. So there's a whole 33 00:02:05.090 --> 00:02:07.490 additional layer to this that we're not even counting. 34 00:02:09.490 --> 00:02:13.210 Theme 1 AI becomes industrial infrastructure I already said 35 00:02:13.210 --> 00:02:17.050 it. AI trans AI's transformation from a hype to a 36 00:02:17.050 --> 00:02:20.850 hardware level infrastructure is accelerating. This month we are seeing that 37 00:02:20.850 --> 00:02:23.810 Entropic is opening hubs in Munich and Paris. 38 00:02:24.130 --> 00:02:27.610 Flexion raised big to power Humanoid 39 00:02:27.610 --> 00:02:31.170 Autonomy and enterprises rushed for vertical AI 40 00:02:31.170 --> 00:02:34.320 stacks in healthcare, robotics, logistics and fraud 41 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:38.160 prevention. Schwarz's group 11 billion euro 42 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:41.680 sovereign compute blitz that we talked about 43 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:45.560 in our first in the 44 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:48.160 first part of this overview. And 45 00:02:49.760 --> 00:02:53.200 yeah, then we see that the message becomes clear. Compute 46 00:02:53.200 --> 00:02:56.920 scarcity is now a strategic market. Not anymore a 47 00:02:56.920 --> 00:02:58.880 technolog technical inconvenience. 48 00:03:00.720 --> 00:03:04.400 Theme number two Deep tech and defense are 49 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:08.120 going mainstream. Europe is leaning 50 00:03:08.120 --> 00:03:11.880 hard into 70 tech this month and the funding 51 00:03:11.880 --> 00:03:15.120 flows are becoming more and more geopolitical. 52 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:19.400 We are seeing that Quantum Systems is marching toward a 3 billion 53 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:22.560 euro valuation. We already talked about this in the first part of this. 54 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.760 Reflex Aerospace is scoring a record 55 00:03:26.420 --> 00:03:30.020 raise and Vienna is positioning itself more and more as a crypto 70 56 00:03:30.340 --> 00:03:34.180 hub Multiple defense tech funds are launched 57 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.060 to fill the continent's strategic gap. 58 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:41.540 So yeah, this is just as a little 59 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:45.380 wrap up roundup in the beginning, but 60 00:03:45.460 --> 00:03:49.100 you got two more themes right now that we are witnessing and 61 00:03:49.100 --> 00:03:52.750 seeing right now for us too. Yes. 62 00:03:53.470 --> 00:03:57.310 Fintech, Climate Tech and Industrial Tech tighten up. 63 00:03:57.790 --> 00:04:01.390 Fintech continued its great normalization 64 00:04:01.630 --> 00:04:05.390 arc. Berlin pushed for European leadership. Complaints 65 00:04:05.390 --> 00:04:09.070 at trade Republica spiking at 133%. 66 00:04:09.550 --> 00:04:13.070 Crypto platforms maturing into compliance first machines 67 00:04:13.230 --> 00:04:16.590 and Swiss players raising institutional great treasury 68 00:04:16.590 --> 00:04:20.430 rounds. Climate and industrial tech meanwhile delivers 69 00:04:20.430 --> 00:04:23.770 some of the month strongest momentum. Ecommerce, energy 70 00:04:24.010 --> 00:04:27.570 optimization, industrial inspection and manufacturing 71 00:04:27.570 --> 00:04:31.330 automation all pulled in capital that once flowed into 72 00:04:31.330 --> 00:04:34.650 consumer apps. Across our deep dive we track 73 00:04:34.730 --> 00:04:38.250 400 plus million euros in fundraising even 74 00:04:38.409 --> 00:04:41.850 with a hard cutoff. We did this the first time for this news 75 00:04:42.010 --> 00:04:45.530 at 20 million. Otherwise we could talk for 76 00:04:45.610 --> 00:04:49.410 hours. A polite way of saying the pipeline was 77 00:04:49.410 --> 00:04:53.050 overflowing. For why the funding backdrop? Revisit our 78 00:04:53.050 --> 00:04:56.870 regional breakdown Corrections, 79 00:04:57.030 --> 00:05:00.390 layoffs and record founder wave. 80 00:05:00.790 --> 00:05:03.910 Not every storyline was upbeat. Unfortunately 81 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:07.990 Insolvency hit, insolvencies hit Robotics, 82 00:05:07.990 --> 00:05:11.750 Fintech and biotech, Personio and Job Rat 83 00:05:11.750 --> 00:05:15.030 announced layoffs and regulatory pressure kept 84 00:05:15.030 --> 00:05:18.310 rising across subscription models, mobility, 85 00:05:18.550 --> 00:05:22.230 health, tech and financial services. But in true European 86 00:05:22.990 --> 00:05:26.670 fashion, destruction came bundled with creation. 87 00:05:26.990 --> 00:05:30.710 Entrepreneurship hit a multi decade high with 88 00:05:30.710 --> 00:05:34.230 27000 plus new founders entering the 89 00:05:34.230 --> 00:05:37.590 arena. The ecosystem is tightening, but it's also 90 00:05:37.590 --> 00:05:41.390 maturing deeper, faster, more industrial. 91 00:05:41.710 --> 00:05:45.070 Now buckle up. Our top stories ahead Got straight into 92 00:05:45.150 --> 00:05:48.670 AI, Defense tech, Fintech Robotics and 93 00:05:48.670 --> 00:05:52.090 sovereign clout Biotech. And a 94 00:05:52.090 --> 00:05:55.930 surprisingly bullish capital cycle. Our sponsor A 95 00:05:55.930 --> 00:05:59.690 quick break for something every founder should hear. One leak on the 96 00:05:59.690 --> 00:06:03.410 dark web can mean account takeovers, impersonalization 97 00:06:03.570 --> 00:06:07.290 or board level crisis. That's why we partnered 98 00:06:07.290 --> 00:06:10.970 with Nordstella, a business grade threat exposure platform 99 00:06:10.970 --> 00:06:14.210 from the team behind NordVPN. It gives you early 100 00:06:14.290 --> 00:06:18.000 signals before attackers escalate with data breach 101 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:21.120 and dark web monitoring, attack surface 102 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.680 discovery and cyber squatting detection. You'll spot 103 00:06:24.680 --> 00:06:28.040 exposed credentials, shadow it and fake domains 104 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:31.800 fast. Startup radio listeners get a 20% 105 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:35.592 Black Friday discount. Go to northsteller.com 106 00:06:35.848 --> 00:06:39.560 startupradio and when talking with sales use 107 00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:43.148 the code PLEGFRIDAY20good until December 108 00:06:43.278 --> 00:06:46.460 10, 2025. Two good news about 109 00:06:46.860 --> 00:06:50.580 two of our former guests. Scavenger AI, a former guest has 110 00:06:50.580 --> 00:06:54.300 secured 2.5 million in seed funding to bring AI 111 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.580 power business intelligence to Europe's mid market. 112 00:06:58.140 --> 00:07:01.540 And our former guest Munich based Edu 113 00:07:01.540 --> 00:07:05.300 Rino has won the finale Da Huam at Seven 114 00:07:05.300 --> 00:07:08.900 Ventures Pitch Day 2025. Also we are now 115 00:07:08.900 --> 00:07:12.594 officially scoring at number 78 in F6? S top 116 00:07:12.686 --> 00:07:16.380 100 startups. This is amazing. Thank you for everybody who's taking the journey 117 00:07:16.380 --> 00:07:20.040 with Keep in mind that there are millions of startups out there 118 00:07:20.600 --> 00:07:24.440 and now let's go a little bit into the ad break and then Chris takes 119 00:07:24.440 --> 00:07:25.800 over with the ecosystem. 120 00:07:31.240 --> 00:07:34.880 Welcome back from the ads. And now let's have a look at 121 00:07:34.880 --> 00:07:38.440 the ecosystem of the startup 122 00:07:38.440 --> 00:07:42.200 scene influencing the startup scene worldwide in Europe and in the 123 00:07:42.200 --> 00:07:45.480 Dach region. First off the worldwide news 124 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:49.720 we are seeing that authorities are have dismantled a major 125 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:53.160 international cybercrime network involved in large scale 126 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:56.840 Internet fraud and credit card theft. Suspects were arrested 127 00:07:56.840 --> 00:08:00.360 across multiple European countries as well. The group is accused of running 128 00:08:00.360 --> 00:08:03.280 sophisticated phishing malware payment card schemes 129 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.280 causing extensive financial damage to consumer and 130 00:08:07.520 --> 00:08:10.800 businesses. We have a bit more about that in 131 00:08:10.880 --> 00:08:14.690 Manager magazine. In Europe we see that 132 00:08:14.690 --> 00:08:18.290 Politico is reporting that the European Commission is courting 133 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:21.850 top investors for a multi billion euro scale up 134 00:08:21.850 --> 00:08:25.610 fund designed to bridge the growth stage financing gap and keep 135 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:29.290 more European tech champions at home instead of losing them to the 136 00:08:29.290 --> 00:08:33.010 United States or to Asian buyers. This is something 137 00:08:33.010 --> 00:08:36.610 that's a bit more crucial for later stage founders in Germany and 138 00:08:36.610 --> 00:08:40.280 Austria and Switzerland. So we're because it's a region where Series 139 00:08:40.760 --> 00:08:44.280 C + capital is often a bottleneck between 140 00:08:44.280 --> 00:08:46.760 strong product market fit and global leadership. 141 00:08:47.880 --> 00:08:51.360 This is something you can also explore in Venture capital Germany a global and 142 00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.080 regional comparison in 2024 which is a post 143 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:58.760 on our website. EU startups is reporting 144 00:08:58.760 --> 00:09:02.360 that European startups are rapidly building anti deepfake and 145 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:05.600 fraud detection solutions since we are seeing that AI 146 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.920 enabled fraud losses are surpassing 1.3 billion 147 00:09:09.000 --> 00:09:12.400 euros with new companies are now 148 00:09:12.880 --> 00:09:16.400 focusing on voice, video, ID verification and transaction 149 00:09:16.400 --> 00:09:20.160 monitoring. This is especially important for the Dark 150 00:09:20.160 --> 00:09:23.600 fintech and rectech founders since regulators are now 151 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:27.320 tightening their expectations and banks are looking for more 152 00:09:27.320 --> 00:09:29.920 robust AI native fraud stacks 153 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:35.200 trending Topics highlights a powerful new founder wave across 154 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.040 Europe with almost 60% more people starting companies in 2025 155 00:09:39.040 --> 00:09:42.860 than in 2023. 97,000 founders 156 00:09:42.860 --> 00:09:46.700 launching ventures and that is all an all time high. 157 00:09:47.180 --> 00:09:50.860 Reasons for that are lower entry barriers, from no code tools 158 00:09:50.860 --> 00:09:54.420 to stronger founder networks and yeah 159 00:09:54.420 --> 00:09:57.980 generally in all enabling entrepreneurship across age groups and 160 00:09:58.300 --> 00:10:02.020 regions. More about that can also be found not only on trending 161 00:10:02.020 --> 00:10:05.100 topics but also on our website. VC 162 00:10:05.100 --> 00:10:08.660 Magazine analyzes how medtech startups in Europe are being 163 00:10:08.660 --> 00:10:12.220 stress tested by tighter funding conditions and evolving regulation, 164 00:10:12.700 --> 00:10:16.320 but they are also noting that resilient companies are still raising and bringing 165 00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:20.040 products to the market. I found this approach 166 00:10:20.120 --> 00:10:23.880 actually Pretty funny because they are stress tested by 167 00:10:23.880 --> 00:10:27.600 tight funding conditions. You don't say tighter funding condition, you say the good 168 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:31.280 ones get stress tested. I like that approach. Yeah, I'm also being 169 00:10:31.280 --> 00:10:35.000 stress tested constantly in this show. So the EU has 170 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.680 abandoned plans for blanket suspicionless 171 00:10:38.680 --> 00:10:42.080 scanning of private messenger traffic 172 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.880 for child abuse material, dropping one of the most controversial 173 00:10:45.880 --> 00:10:49.360 chat control proposals in the ongoing legislative package. So 174 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.040 yeah, to, to take a step back here. The discussion is always 175 00:10:54.040 --> 00:10:57.599 okay, how much is how much can the 176 00:10:57.599 --> 00:11:01.120 European Union can countries in the European Union and the authorities 177 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:03.680 scan without having a specific 178 00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.400 suspicion against someone or and so yeah, we 179 00:11:09.400 --> 00:11:12.880 are seeing now that there's a political discussion about this. 180 00:11:14.460 --> 00:11:17.740 In an interview with Antifa German news channel we 181 00:11:18.300 --> 00:11:21.900 heard that the automotive expert 182 00:11:21.900 --> 00:11:25.700 Ferdinand Dudenhofer, having a reputation for decades 183 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:29.460 now as being one of the most knowledgeable experts of the 184 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:33.220 automotive industry in Germany, calls the dispute around 185 00:11:33.220 --> 00:11:36.980 Dutch control chip maker Nix Peria, a conflict provoked by 186 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:40.740 the US linking export controls and ownership battles to 187 00:11:40.740 --> 00:11:43.340 broader geopolitical power plays in semiconductors 188 00:11:44.060 --> 00:11:47.840 disorient Important because we see here the vulnerability of a German 189 00:11:47.840 --> 00:11:51.240 industry to foreign policy decisions in Washington and 190 00:11:51.240 --> 00:11:54.800 Beijing and we are seeing that this is kind of the 191 00:11:54.800 --> 00:11:58.120 backdrop for the Dach regions chip and hardware 192 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:00.280 startups trying to position themselves 193 00:12:01.640 --> 00:12:05.320 as important players in de risked 194 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:08.880 supply chains. Moving on 195 00:12:08.880 --> 00:12:12.710 from the European perspectives to specific perspectives 196 00:12:12.710 --> 00:12:16.030 in Germany, Handel's Blood has an analysis 197 00:12:16.110 --> 00:12:19.950 warning that the ongoing chip crisis could push Germany into a third 198 00:12:19.950 --> 00:12:23.630 consecutive year of recession because we are 199 00:12:23.630 --> 00:12:27.190 seeing supply bottlenecks and geopolitical frictions around players like Nick's 200 00:12:27.190 --> 00:12:30.870 Peria and dark startups, especially in 201 00:12:30.870 --> 00:12:33.550 mobility, robotics and industrial Internet of things 202 00:12:34.430 --> 00:12:38.190 are now suffering from this macro pressure because it's 203 00:12:38.190 --> 00:12:41.990 hurting customers but it also accelerates demand for efficiency 204 00:12:41.990 --> 00:12:45.770 and reshoring. And as always a 205 00:12:46.010 --> 00:12:49.850 brief look at the IFO Business Climate Index, the 206 00:12:50.010 --> 00:12:53.370 Gescher Klima Index, Germany's premier business sentiment 207 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:57.330 barometer dipping to 88.1 points 208 00:12:57.330 --> 00:13:00.810 in November from 88.4 points in October 209 00:13:01.210 --> 00:13:04.570 and missing analyst expectations, all of it 210 00:13:04.570 --> 00:13:08.250 confirming that German companies are losing optimism about 211 00:13:08.250 --> 00:13:12.060 near term recovery. I'm not losing that optimism 212 00:13:12.060 --> 00:13:15.620 because I will recover by handing it over to you. 213 00:13:17.940 --> 00:13:21.780 I really, really had to laugh when you when you talked 214 00:13:21.780 --> 00:13:25.300 about that. You were stress tested here in the Program 215 00:13:27.300 --> 00:13:30.820 Manager magazine profiles Austrian pet 216 00:13:30.980 --> 00:13:34.420 tech startup Tractive which now exceeds 217 00:13:35.140 --> 00:13:38.830 1 billion euro valuation with its GPS 218 00:13:39.390 --> 00:13:43.070 enabled smart colors that let owners track pets in 219 00:13:43.070 --> 00:13:46.790 real time and monitor their activity. A 220 00:13:46.790 --> 00:13:50.470 new analyzers reported by the broadcast and finds that European 221 00:13:50.470 --> 00:13:54.030 deep tech startups could create up to 1 million 222 00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:58.030 new jobs and add around 1 trillion in value to 223 00:13:58.030 --> 00:14:01.560 the EU economy by 2030 if 224 00:14:01.560 --> 00:14:05.320 funding volumes roughly tripled to 28 billion 225 00:14:05.880 --> 00:14:09.240 annually. Tech funding News reports that 226 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.840 Vienna is emerging as a contender for Europe's next major 227 00:14:12.920 --> 00:14:16.440 crypto hub, driven by regulatory 228 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:20.040 clarity, strong academic talent and a growing 229 00:14:20.040 --> 00:14:23.240 concentration of blockchain startups. 230 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.400 Switzerland Startup Ticker reports that 231 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:32.250 172 million Swiss francs in fresh capital 232 00:14:32.650 --> 00:14:36.250 has been deployed into swift growth stage startups across 233 00:14:36.410 --> 00:14:40.090 multiple sectors including of course biotech, fintech 234 00:14:40.090 --> 00:14:43.929 and industrial deep tech. The funding wave reflects sustained 235 00:14:44.090 --> 00:14:47.530 investor confidence in Switzerland's ability to 236 00:14:47.530 --> 00:14:51.130 translate strong research foundations into scale ready 237 00:14:51.130 --> 00:14:54.630 companies. The General News 238 00:14:54.630 --> 00:14:58.230 Tech News and Company News we are talking a little bit 239 00:14:58.310 --> 00:15:01.950 about VC news and new funds. I'll just hit the highlights 240 00:15:01.950 --> 00:15:05.190 here. As we said, more than 1.6 241 00:15:05.430 --> 00:15:08.710 billion in new funding raised. Asperity 242 00:15:08.710 --> 00:15:12.310 Partners has closed its debut debut 243 00:15:12.630 --> 00:15:15.830 875 million euro fund 244 00:15:15.910 --> 00:15:18.790 targeting Europe's next B2B tech 245 00:15:18.790 --> 00:15:22.160 championship. Figun Ventures 246 00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:25.120 has launched a US$250 million 247 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:30.000 fund dedicated to quantum technologies with backing from 248 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:33.680 Quarta Investment Authority. Start 249 00:15:33.680 --> 00:15:36.240 Base reports that X Ange 250 00:15:37.440 --> 00:15:40.720 X A N G E has reached a 200 251 00:15:41.040 --> 00:15:44.520 million euros first close for its new new early 252 00:15:44.520 --> 00:15:48.150 stage fund X Ange 5 focused on deep 253 00:15:48.150 --> 00:15:51.670 tech, climate, fintech and software across Europe. 254 00:15:53.110 --> 00:15:56.630 Also Start Base reports that Keen Venture Partners 255 00:15:56.630 --> 00:15:59.910 has launched a 150 million euro fund 256 00:15:59.990 --> 00:16:03.830 dedicated to European defense tech targeting startups 257 00:16:03.830 --> 00:16:07.510 across the Buswell dual use, AI 258 00:16:07.510 --> 00:16:10.390 drones, cyber and secure communications. 259 00:16:12.110 --> 00:16:15.870 Armilla Fund 4 has reached its its first 260 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:19.550 close at 120 million euros to back early 261 00:16:19.550 --> 00:16:23.230 stage tech companies across Iberia and Europe with focus on 262 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:27.070 deep tech, software and digital information. Oyster Bay 263 00:16:27.070 --> 00:16:30.510 raises 100 million US dollar food fund 264 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:33.990 reported by Tech Funding News early 265 00:16:33.990 --> 00:16:37.550 backer of Oatly they have closed a 100 266 00:16:37.630 --> 00:16:41.390 million US dollar fund dedicated to sustainable food tech and 267 00:16:41.390 --> 00:16:44.250 next generation Consum and 268 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:48.330 Rubio Impact ventures has raised 70 269 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:52.130 million euros towards a third fund targeting European 270 00:16:52.130 --> 00:16:55.930 early stage startups in climate circularity and social impact 271 00:16:56.810 --> 00:16:59.850 tech. EU also reports a new 1 million 272 00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:03.850 euros ticket fund created by a coalition of European 273 00:17:03.850 --> 00:17:07.570 founders to back early stage startups and more symbolically to work 274 00:17:07.570 --> 00:17:11.300 towards Europe's first trillion dollar tech 275 00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:15.060 company. A hundred spot feature of 276 00:17:15.060 --> 00:17:18.260 former Formula one driver Nico Rosberg Stock fund 277 00:17:18.740 --> 00:17:22.540 so umbrella font shows how the Formula one champion 278 00:17:22.540 --> 00:17:26.300 is evolving from direct angel bets into startups 279 00:17:26.300 --> 00:17:29.820 like Stark and N8N into fund of funds and co 280 00:17:29.820 --> 00:17:33.380 investment strategies backing top tier VC firms. 281 00:17:33.700 --> 00:17:37.460 Early Bird Health has promoted Dr. Rabab 282 00:17:37.460 --> 00:17:40.740 Nasala and Dr. Christopher Masna to partners 283 00:17:41.460 --> 00:17:45.260 deepening its specialty bench in biotech and data driven 284 00:17:45.260 --> 00:17:48.820 health as it doubles down on scientific evidence. 285 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:52.660 Heavy thesis. Sequoia has launched 286 00:17:52.660 --> 00:17:56.340 two new early stage funds for Europe and described the European 287 00:17:56.500 --> 00:18:00.100 founders pool as stronger than ever. That's actually a good sign. 288 00:18:00.260 --> 00:18:04.060 They're signaling that the firm sees structural depth in 289 00:18:04.060 --> 00:18:07.100 seed and series 8D flow across the continent 290 00:18:07.660 --> 00:18:11.260 VC markets in reports that Alex von Frankenberg, longtime 291 00:18:11.260 --> 00:18:14.900 managing director of high tech Kronafor, also somebody that I 292 00:18:14.900 --> 00:18:18.500 interviewed in Germany before in English a few years ago and 293 00:18:18.500 --> 00:18:22.260 just recently on Startup Land where he actually talked about his new 294 00:18:22.260 --> 00:18:25.580 book I have it here, Das Eligelt Bitcoin and 295 00:18:25.980 --> 00:18:29.020 he has even signed it for me. That's awesome, isn't it? 296 00:18:30.290 --> 00:18:33.930 He will become a venture partner at May Ventures. His move 297 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:37.170 brings one of Germany's most influential early stage investor, 298 00:18:37.250 --> 00:18:40.770 responsible for backing hundreds of deep tech SaaS and industrial tech 299 00:18:40.770 --> 00:18:44.530 startups in a new strategic role within Europe's 300 00:18:44.530 --> 00:18:48.210 landscape. And unfortunately a little bit sad news. 301 00:18:48.210 --> 00:18:51.690 Munich Re is shutting down its corporate venture capital arm, suspending new 302 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:55.490 investments and shifting innovation efforts towards internal 303 00:18:55.490 --> 00:18:59.210 product development and strategic partnerships. And I hand over to 304 00:18:59.210 --> 00:19:02.970 Chris with the deep tech news. He wrote a whole book into 305 00:19:03.370 --> 00:19:06.890 into the book. So much nice. 306 00:19:07.930 --> 00:19:11.170 Yeah. Looking at Deep Tech News Manager 307 00:19:11.170 --> 00:19:14.930 magazine reports that Celonis is fighting to 308 00:19:14.930 --> 00:19:18.770 regain momentum after tensions with SAP over product overlap and 309 00:19:18.770 --> 00:19:22.370 market positioning with the unicorn Salonis 310 00:19:22.370 --> 00:19:26.130 doubling down on its AI driven execution platform. Despite that 311 00:19:26.130 --> 00:19:29.350 little in fighting, Celonis is now leaning into enterprise 312 00:19:29.350 --> 00:19:33.150 expansions, sharpening its product roadmap and courting global customers 313 00:19:33.150 --> 00:19:36.950 to reaffirm the category leadership. So we see here 314 00:19:36.950 --> 00:19:40.430 that in the dark tech ecosystem, even top 315 00:19:40.430 --> 00:19:44.230 tier software as a service scale ups must navigate competitive pressure 316 00:19:44.230 --> 00:19:47.550 now. Handel's Blood interviews the CEO of 317 00:19:47.550 --> 00:19:51.110 robotics giant Kuka who's arguing that 318 00:19:51.190 --> 00:19:54.770 the company should actually be particularly strong in the 319 00:19:54.770 --> 00:19:58.290 dark region and who is reflecting on competitive 320 00:19:58.290 --> 00:20:01.210 pressures, reshoring and the need for more automation. 321 00:20:02.410 --> 00:20:06.210 Stern German Weekly magazine is reporting that Munich 322 00:20:06.210 --> 00:20:10.050 based Agile Robots will begin serial production of humanoid robots 323 00:20:10.050 --> 00:20:13.730 called AG1 from early 2026 in 324 00:20:13.730 --> 00:20:17.290 first and Feldbrook. The robot is designed with arms, 325 00:20:17.290 --> 00:20:21.090 legs and a head and supposed to work alongside humans and other machines in 326 00:20:21.090 --> 00:20:24.330 industrial environments and powered of course by 327 00:20:24.710 --> 00:20:27.990 AI model trained on industrial data and a highly 328 00:20:27.990 --> 00:20:30.950 precise robotic hands hand. 329 00:20:32.870 --> 00:20:36.470 Business Insider and Grunda Sine covers peak AI 330 00:20:36.470 --> 00:20:40.190 PE AI which has closed its third 331 00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:44.030 multi million euro round within just a year, detailing both the funding and 332 00:20:44.030 --> 00:20:46.950 the founders unusual high salaries 333 00:20:48.550 --> 00:20:52.310 and the report also is illustrating both the continued appetite for AI 334 00:20:52.310 --> 00:20:55.790 native startups in the German market and the emerging debate around 335 00:20:55.790 --> 00:20:59.450 compensation expectations in companies that are still 336 00:20:59.450 --> 00:21:01.330 very early on in their history. 337 00:21:02.930 --> 00:21:06.610 Oberlanders so the like 338 00:21:06.610 --> 00:21:10.170 Superior Court in the city of Dusseldorf has ruled that Amazon's 339 00:21:10.170 --> 00:21:13.690 2022 price hike for prime memberships in 340 00:21:13.690 --> 00:21:16.690 Germany was unlawful, finding that the price 341 00:21:16.930 --> 00:21:20.730 adjustment clause in the contract was invalid because 342 00:21:20.730 --> 00:21:24.570 Amazon could not unilaterally change fees without clear criteria 343 00:21:24.570 --> 00:21:28.360 or explicit customer consent. So right now it look 344 00:21:28.510 --> 00:21:31.710 as if millions of German prime users may be entitled to 345 00:21:31.790 --> 00:21:35.550 refunds and Centrale nrw, which is kind of 346 00:21:35.550 --> 00:21:39.350 the customer protection office of the state 347 00:21:39.350 --> 00:21:42.830 government in North R Westphalia, is preparing a collective 348 00:21:42.910 --> 00:21:46.470 action lawsuit, sending a signal to subscription based 349 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:50.030 platforms about being having to be more transparent about 350 00:21:50.030 --> 00:21:53.830 pricing and their contracts. Antopic is 351 00:21:53.830 --> 00:21:57.510 expanding its global footprint with new hubs in Paris and Munich. We 352 00:21:57.510 --> 00:22:01.090 already hinted at this a bit. Aiming to serve fast growing 353 00:22:01.090 --> 00:22:04.410 European enterprise demand for cloud powered 354 00:22:04.810 --> 00:22:08.650 AI systems, the company is now planning to hire engineers, policy 355 00:22:08.650 --> 00:22:11.850 specialists and go to market teams across the region. 356 00:22:13.210 --> 00:22:16.930 Also here putting an emphasis on Europe, signaling that Europe is an 357 00:22:16.930 --> 00:22:20.410 important additional market to the US and 358 00:22:20.410 --> 00:22:24.170 maybe Asia. Moving on from deep Tech 359 00:22:24.170 --> 00:22:27.770 to Defense Tech Handel's Blood published a Europe wide 360 00:22:27.770 --> 00:22:31.370 map of leading defense startups spotlighting venture backed companies 361 00:22:31.450 --> 00:22:34.150 in areas such as drones, space, 362 00:22:34.390 --> 00:22:38.230 cybersecurity and AI across the continent, including 363 00:22:38.470 --> 00:22:42.110 obviously several from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. And we are 364 00:22:42.110 --> 00:22:45.590 seeing more about that also in Defense 365 00:22:45.590 --> 00:22:49.190 Tech Germany. An article on our website 366 00:22:49.190 --> 00:22:52.870 where 30% of VC said that they are already investing, 45% 367 00:22:52.950 --> 00:22:56.070 said that they are planning to invest more 368 00:22:56.550 --> 00:23:00.350 Biotech News we don't have anything specific right now, but there will be plenty 369 00:23:00.350 --> 00:23:03.810 of news in the funding and MMA section. M and A 370 00:23:03.810 --> 00:23:07.050 section, not the MMA section that is for 371 00:23:07.050 --> 00:23:10.890 fighting, but I'm not going to fight 372 00:23:11.370 --> 00:23:15.050 handing over to. You for FinTech FinTech news thanks 373 00:23:15.050 --> 00:23:17.930 Chris Fa said. One of Germany's 374 00:23:18.730 --> 00:23:22.370 largest newspapers looks at how Berlin wants to 375 00:23:22.370 --> 00:23:26.210 become Europe's fintech capital, focusing on the city's dense cluster 376 00:23:26.210 --> 00:23:29.840 of new banks, infrastructure startups and crypto players, plus 377 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:33.360 support from local politics and regulators. This 378 00:23:33.360 --> 00:23:36.960 ambition builds on the narrative of Berlin as Germany's startup 379 00:23:36.960 --> 00:23:40.520 powerhouse that you cover in the Rise of Berlin 380 00:23:40.520 --> 00:23:43.520 startups. Germany's Startup powerhouse 381 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:47.760 Complaints against Trade Republic search by 133% 382 00:23:48.080 --> 00:23:51.840 reports Business Insider Driven by issues around app stability, 383 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:55.120 order execution and customer support 384 00:23:55.280 --> 00:23:59.020 response Times Business Panda Co founder Eric 385 00:23:59.020 --> 00:24:02.060 Demut becomes Executive Chairman, Silicon 386 00:24:02.380 --> 00:24:06.140 Canals reports he has stepped down into 387 00:24:06.140 --> 00:24:09.660 his new role as Executive chairman, shifting from 388 00:24:09.660 --> 00:24:13.100 operational leadership to more strategic oversight position 389 00:24:13.180 --> 00:24:17.020 as company continues scaling its digital asset investment 390 00:24:17.100 --> 00:24:20.860 platform across Europe. McMarkler points Steve 391 00:24:20.940 --> 00:24:24.380 Simmons as new CEO, reports Manager magazine 392 00:24:25.250 --> 00:24:29.090 the Real Estate platform has appointed Steve Simmons 393 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:33.330 in as its new CEO, bringing experienced leadership 394 00:24:33.650 --> 00:24:37.130 as the company navigates a sluggish property market and rising 395 00:24:37.130 --> 00:24:39.970 pressure on brokerage margins. 396 00:24:41.970 --> 00:24:45.730 Baobab Insurance is expanding its operation and has appointment 397 00:24:45.730 --> 00:24:49.570 Tim Fundlia to strengthen its leadership team 398 00:24:49.570 --> 00:24:52.770 as company accelerates its digital insurance strategy. 399 00:24:53.350 --> 00:24:56.870 The move supports Baobab's push into scalable technology driven 400 00:24:56.870 --> 00:25:00.470 underwriting and customer service models. 401 00:25:01.190 --> 00:25:04.150 Chris, you want to talk a little bit general news? 402 00:25:05.270 --> 00:25:09.109 Yes, I do. T Online notes that the German 403 00:25:09.109 --> 00:25:12.950 retail association HDE is expecting Black Friday sales in 404 00:25:12.950 --> 00:25:16.550 Germany to decline for the first time, especially since 405 00:25:16.870 --> 00:25:19.990 inflation and consumer caution are dampening the 406 00:25:20.510 --> 00:25:23.710 spending Handels blood profiles 407 00:25:23.710 --> 00:25:27.470 Celonis as it pivots from pure process mining into a broader AI 408 00:25:27.470 --> 00:25:31.230 driven execution platform. We already talked about the competition with 409 00:25:31.230 --> 00:25:34.990 SAP. More about that can be found on our website and on in the 410 00:25:34.990 --> 00:25:37.870 Handel's blood story. The Byron 411 00:25:37.870 --> 00:25:41.590 Fungarian the Bavarian broadcaster BR is 412 00:25:41.590 --> 00:25:45.150 reporting that Bavaria is betting heavily on AI data centers, 413 00:25:45.790 --> 00:25:49.510 debating whether a gigafactory scale campus could emerge as a 414 00:25:49.510 --> 00:25:53.330 regional anchor for compute and cloud infrastructure that would have 415 00:25:53.330 --> 00:25:56.890 major implications for Munich and Nuremberg area startups in 416 00:25:56.890 --> 00:26:00.010 AI and high performance computing. And 417 00:26:01.210 --> 00:26:04.970 that already makes me give it back to you 418 00:26:05.290 --> 00:26:08.329 talking about creative destruction. 419 00:26:09.210 --> 00:26:13.010 Creative destruction Totally very sad news from our former guest 420 00:26:13.010 --> 00:26:16.730 Monkey trending topic report that Austrian savings app 421 00:26:16.730 --> 00:26:20.450 startup Monkey has filed for insolvency 422 00:26:20.450 --> 00:26:24.230 after failing to do financing ending a multi 423 00:26:24.230 --> 00:26:27.750 year push to help customers build automated savings habits 424 00:26:27.830 --> 00:26:31.190 and healthier financial behavior. Actually I remember 425 00:26:31.430 --> 00:26:35.070 that the vast majority of the users of marquees have 426 00:26:35.070 --> 00:26:38.390 been women which was totally uncommon 427 00:26:39.909 --> 00:26:42.710 but nonetheless they could not make it work. 428 00:26:43.830 --> 00:26:47.470 This is actually quite uncommon here at Startup. We have according 429 00:26:47.470 --> 00:26:50.870 to podchaser More than 725 430 00:26:50.870 --> 00:26:54.630 episodes live, not including our founders vault and we are 431 00:26:54.630 --> 00:26:58.290 aware of only dozen or so companies that we have 432 00:26:58.290 --> 00:27:01.370 interviewed as guests and that fight for 433 00:27:01.370 --> 00:27:04.970 insolvency. Sexishte Profiles 434 00:27:04.970 --> 00:27:08.610 Biotech founder Nadine Schmida Galfer, once celebrated 435 00:27:08.610 --> 00:27:12.290 as Saxony's best female founder who is now taking her high 436 00:27:12.290 --> 00:27:15.890 tech startup through insolvency and openly framing the 437 00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:19.410 process as part of entrepreneurial reality. 438 00:27:20.050 --> 00:27:23.340 VC Market Scene reports that German Bionic, the 439 00:27:24.210 --> 00:27:27.730 Augsburg based robotic scale up known for its smart 440 00:27:27.730 --> 00:27:31.090 exoskeleton has filed for insolvency after major 441 00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:35.010 financing round collapsed. Business Insider reports 442 00:27:35.250 --> 00:27:38.850 HR unicorn Personio is cutting staff with the piece, 443 00:27:38.850 --> 00:27:42.610 focusing on what affected employees can do now in terms of 444 00:27:42.610 --> 00:27:46.330 legal rights, severance and next steps in job 445 00:27:46.330 --> 00:27:49.810 search for the Dach ecosystem. Layoffs at a 446 00:27:49.810 --> 00:27:53.450 flagship like this SaaS player shows that even top tier 447 00:27:53.450 --> 00:27:56.730 scale ups are tightening belts as the funding environment 448 00:27:56.890 --> 00:28:00.530 normalizes despite Pacific still being profiled as a national 449 00:28:00.530 --> 00:28:04.330 champion in pieces like German startups. Handelsblatt 450 00:28:04.330 --> 00:28:07.970 reports that Freiburg based Jobrad, German's leading bicycle 451 00:28:07.970 --> 00:28:11.690 leasing platform, is cutting 20% of its workforce 452 00:28:11.690 --> 00:28:15.210 as demand normalizes after pandemic era heights. 453 00:28:15.450 --> 00:28:17.290 Chris, you want to do some 454 00:28:18.730 --> 00:28:21.780 fundraising and access the the fun news? 455 00:28:22.740 --> 00:28:25.780 Yes, let's end on a high Note here. 456 00:28:26.340 --> 00:28:30.140 So FMC has raised 100 million euros to 457 00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:32.900 expand its advanced fiber manufacturing technology 458 00:28:33.540 --> 00:28:37.140 targeting high performance applications across automotive, industrial and 459 00:28:37.140 --> 00:28:40.900 sustainability driven sectors. The company wants to use 460 00:28:40.900 --> 00:28:44.420 the money for in order to build more capacity for European supply 461 00:28:44.420 --> 00:28:48.060 chains seeking lightweight, durable and low 462 00:28:48.060 --> 00:28:51.850 emission materials. Berlin based biopharma company 463 00:28:52.330 --> 00:28:55.770 144 so there's the number four, 464 00:28:56.250 --> 00:28:59.810 then teen as in teenager and then the number the 465 00:28:59.810 --> 00:29:03.290 digit 4 again has extended its Series 466 00:29:03.370 --> 00:29:06.890 C round to 55 million euro to advance development 467 00:29:07.610 --> 00:29:11.450 of Pro T Zoom up. 468 00:29:12.090 --> 00:29:15.490 Proky Zoom up. That is a complicated word for the 469 00:29:15.490 --> 00:29:19.210 antibody therapy for to prevent organ failure in acute and 470 00:29:19.210 --> 00:29:23.030 critical care settings. The capital now is supposed to support late 471 00:29:23.030 --> 00:29:26.230 stage clinical work and preparations for regulatory approval. 472 00:29:27.030 --> 00:29:30.390 Target Spiegel reports that Berlin based software and care startup 473 00:29:30.630 --> 00:29:34.070 Voice V O I Z e 474 00:29:34.630 --> 00:29:38.310 has raised 50 million euros scaling its voice documentation tools to help 475 00:29:38.310 --> 00:29:42.070 nurses and carers record information more efficiently. 476 00:29:42.710 --> 00:29:46.550 Vienna based Recommerce marketplace refurbed closed the 477 00:29:46.550 --> 00:29:50.250 50 million euro round to accelerate their European 478 00:29:50.250 --> 00:29:53.810 expansion with a particular push into the uk strengthening 479 00:29:54.210 --> 00:29:58.050 its AI driven platform for refurbished electronics and other 480 00:29:58.050 --> 00:30:01.690 goods. Reflex aerospace raised also 50 481 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:05.090 million euros as policymakers are increasingly 482 00:30:05.090 --> 00:30:08.930 viewing satellites at Europe's Achilles heel with the Berlin 483 00:30:08.930 --> 00:30:12.570 based startup now aiming to deliver more agile, responsive spacecraft for 484 00:30:12.570 --> 00:30:16.250 defense and secure communication. Del Vtech based in 485 00:30:16.250 --> 00:30:19.890 Switzerland, raised $40 million to scale its AI 486 00:30:19.890 --> 00:30:23.430 powered opt inspection platform for the electronics manufacturing 487 00:30:23.430 --> 00:30:26.990 industry. The company uses computer vision and machine learning 488 00:30:27.070 --> 00:30:30.270 to detect defects in highly complex 489 00:30:30.430 --> 00:30:33.990 boards, providing faster and more accurate quality control than traditional 490 00:30:33.990 --> 00:30:36.750 systems. Swiss fintech future 491 00:30:37.150 --> 00:30:40.670 secured 28 million Swiss francs to build a 492 00:30:40.670 --> 00:30:44.030 Bitcoin treasury platform that combines multi sig 493 00:30:44.030 --> 00:30:47.630 custody, treasury tooling and advisory services 494 00:30:47.630 --> 00:30:51.140 for institutional clients. Clone Based 495 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:54.980 Autonomy has raised $20 million in a seed round 496 00:30:54.980 --> 00:30:58.380 to build AI digital workforces that automate complex 497 00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:02.060 enterprise support and service workflows, with Macquarie 498 00:31:02.060 --> 00:31:05.660 Capital Venture Capital leading the round 499 00:31:05.660 --> 00:31:08.020 alongside Capnamic, NRW 500 00:31:09.540 --> 00:31:13.300 bank and Tech Vision Fund. The 501 00:31:13.300 --> 00:31:16.780 startup's agentic AI platform is designed to process dense 502 00:31:16.780 --> 00:31:19.940 technological documentation with 503 00:31:20.180 --> 00:31:23.540 claimed 95% answer accuracy 504 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:27.620 transcript reports that Berlin based Captain T Cell 505 00:31:27.860 --> 00:31:31.060 Max Delbruck center spin out developing next generation 506 00:31:31.060 --> 00:31:34.100 TCR T cell therapies for solid tumors 507 00:31:34.580 --> 00:31:38.420 has secured a 20 million euro financing round. 508 00:31:38.660 --> 00:31:42.340 The capital here is supposed to push its pipeline toward clinical development 509 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:45.680 in a segment considered particularly challenging even within cell 510 00:31:45.830 --> 00:31:49.270 therapy that those are the funding rounds now 511 00:31:49.590 --> 00:31:52.710 Talking about companies that go together M and A News 512 00:31:53.510 --> 00:31:56.950 Yes, M and. A News Manager magazine reports that 513 00:31:56.950 --> 00:32:00.710 Northern Data, already under public attention due to leadership ties 514 00:32:00.710 --> 00:32:04.470 to individuals close to Donald Trump, has acquired a germ 515 00:32:04.470 --> 00:32:08.070 cloud company as part of its infrastructure 516 00:32:08.390 --> 00:32:12.110 expansion. The acquisition intensifies debate around 517 00:32:12.110 --> 00:32:15.790 governance, transparency and geopolitical influence in Europe's 518 00:32:15.790 --> 00:32:19.400 high performance computing landscape, especially given 519 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:23.120 Northern Data's growing role in AI and crypto infrastructure. 520 00:32:23.600 --> 00:32:26.960 Astra Cica a, a large pharma company has 521 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:30.440 acquired Swiss biotech startup Six Peaks in a deal 522 00:32:30.440 --> 00:32:34.120 worth US$300 million, adding 523 00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:37.760 companies precision medicine and immunology technology 524 00:32:38.160 --> 00:32:42.000 to its global pipeline. FA Set reports that 525 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:45.790 Walter Clovers has acquired burden based based legal AI 526 00:32:45.790 --> 00:32:49.270 startup Libra, strengthening the Dutch information giants product 527 00:32:49.270 --> 00:32:52.430 suite for automated legal research and 528 00:32:52.510 --> 00:32:56.270 document analyzers. Chris, I would say we 529 00:32:56.270 --> 00:32:59.950 call it a day. We have now recorded more than I think 530 00:32:59.950 --> 00:33:03.150 almost an hour together here, right? It's a lot. 531 00:33:03.710 --> 00:33:06.910 Yeah. So I want to get ready for my fake tofu 532 00:33:07.710 --> 00:33:10.790 turkey. Fake fake turkey for 533 00:33:10.790 --> 00:33:13.510 tofurkey, whatever. Enjoy that thing. 534 00:33:14.310 --> 00:33:17.950 Don't know how you can do that, but nonetheless very, very 535 00:33:17.950 --> 00:33:21.350 happy to have you on board. And we will be back with 536 00:33:21.430 --> 00:33:24.550 the December news published 537 00:33:24.790 --> 00:33:28.230 December 18th and later. Thanks guys. It was a pleasure. 538 00:33:28.390 --> 00:33:30.310 Thanks to you all for listening. Bye. 539 00:33:35.590 --> 00:33:39.070 That's all folks. Find more news streams, 540 00:33:39.310 --> 00:33:40.350 events and 541 00:33:40.430 --> 00:33:44.750 interviews@www.startuprad.IO. 542 00:33:45.150 --> 00:33:47.390 remember, sharing is caring.