Latest / Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™ / Europe's AI Supercluster: DeepL, Black Forest Labs & n8n
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 --> 00:00:17.760 live events. 5 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:23.840 Hello and welcome everyone to our regular startup news from the startup and tech 6 00:00:23.840 --> 00:00:26.880 entrepreneurship scenes in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 7 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:31.320 We will stick to our system of breaking up the news into two 8 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.900 pieces so you will find two episodes in your podcatches also 9 00:00:34.900 --> 00:00:38.580 this month. You're listening to the top news this month in German, Swiss and 10 00:00:38.580 --> 00:00:42.220 Austrian startups for October 2025. Second 11 00:00:42.220 --> 00:00:46.020 piece of news will be released the upcoming Monday with a deep dive 12 00:00:46.020 --> 00:00:49.500 into the GSA startup scene. Our startup news 13 00:00:49.900 --> 00:00:53.340 today are recorded with me in 14 00:00:53.340 --> 00:00:57.140 Hanover and as we say in German, the mule 15 00:00:57.140 --> 00:00:59.820 always mentions himself first. The donkey. 16 00:01:01.180 --> 00:01:05.030 And Joe is in Frankfurt though. Hey, how are you? 17 00:01:05.270 --> 00:01:08.790 Hey guys. Today's news cut has been 18 00:01:08.790 --> 00:01:12.390 October 27th. As always, all news not included will be in our 19 00:01:12.390 --> 00:01:16.150 next wrap up which will be published November 27th. 20 00:01:16.150 --> 00:01:18.710 Yes, it's already going to be Thanksgiving. 21 00:01:20.630 --> 00:01:23.830 Probably our favorite American holiday. Who knows? 22 00:01:24.550 --> 00:01:28.270 Are you going to eat one of those tofu turkeys again for 23 00:01:28.270 --> 00:01:31.300 Thanksgiving? I had them. They are not great. 24 00:01:31.940 --> 00:01:35.500 And in general, as a vegetarian, I'm not the biggest fan 25 00:01:35.500 --> 00:01:38.260 of these like as if products. 26 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:42.540 Give me, yeah, give me great vegetables or some 27 00:01:42.540 --> 00:01:46.380 spices, but not like fake burger. Anyway, 28 00:01:46.380 --> 00:01:50.220 story for another day because in Germany there also has been legislation that you can't 29 00:01:50.220 --> 00:01:53.980 call it veggie burger anymore. Anyway, we will be 30 00:01:53.980 --> 00:01:57.780 joining Deutsche Startups at their annual event Startup land on 31 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:00.980 site November 5th in Cologne. Meet us there. Get 32 00:02:01.360 --> 00:02:04.720 25% discount with Startup Lend 33 00:02:04.800 --> 00:02:08.560 Friends. 25. Startup Lens. Sorry, 34 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.640 I knew I was going to mess it up. Startup lend friends 35 00:02:13.040 --> 00:02:16.680 2 5. Since we published this piece on the day 36 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.920 before Halloween. Enjoy your dick. Trick or treat. 37 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:23.720 Boohoo. Are you 38 00:02:23.720 --> 00:02:27.130 going to do trick or treating with your kids? Do you have a 39 00:02:27.130 --> 00:02:30.930 costume? Yes, of course. I'm already, I'm 40 00:02:30.930 --> 00:02:34.650 already deep in preparations because first we do trick or treat, 41 00:02:34.890 --> 00:02:37.690 then we go home and we have some like little. 42 00:02:39.130 --> 00:02:42.850 How do you call those? Like, like those little 43 00:02:42.850 --> 00:02:46.570 wooden spikes with 44 00:02:46.570 --> 00:02:50.250 little pumpkins on top or little ghosts on top. 45 00:02:50.250 --> 00:02:53.650 And we make little burgers and put them in and call it Halloween 46 00:02:53.650 --> 00:02:57.130 burgers. How does trick or treat work in your 47 00:02:57.130 --> 00:03:00.910 neighborhood in New. So in my neighborhood in New York, actually in my 48 00:03:00.910 --> 00:03:04.710 building, you can put your name 49 00:03:04.710 --> 00:03:08.390 on a list and because the building has 34 floors and 50 00:03:08.390 --> 00:03:11.870 you can put your name on a list and then the kids, there's an official 51 00:03:12.030 --> 00:03:15.790 list for which apartments kids are allowed to knock on 52 00:03:16.510 --> 00:03:19.950 and so, so they don't like knock on all the 53 00:03:20.990 --> 00:03:24.750 700 apartments in the building. But I, I find it a 54 00:03:24.750 --> 00:03:27.750 bit weird anyway because I mean, if you are a kid who wants to go 55 00:03:27.750 --> 00:03:31.570 trick or treating, do you want to do like 30 floors or do 56 00:03:31.570 --> 00:03:34.090 you want, I mean, you want to walk in the streets and see other people? 57 00:03:34.330 --> 00:03:38.090 I guess that, that would be my question. So basically 58 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:41.810 the kids are just sticking to their own building. Well, you can 59 00:03:41.810 --> 00:03:45.290 in my building, but I think it's stupid because especially the Upper east side, 60 00:03:45.450 --> 00:03:49.290 a lot of people put a lot of money into the decorations and 61 00:03:49.290 --> 00:03:52.890 the buildings actually look really nice and they have like giant spider webs 62 00:03:52.890 --> 00:03:55.770 outside and witches and all these like inflatable. 63 00:03:57.310 --> 00:04:01.150 We. We actually have three inflatables in our front yard. 64 00:04:01.390 --> 00:04:05.070 One of them is, is a Dragon 22 meter and 70 65 00:04:05.230 --> 00:04:08.950 tall. Another one is a, is a little group of 66 00:04:08.950 --> 00:04:12.350 little pumpkins with a little ghost and a little 67 00:04:13.150 --> 00:04:16.790 cat. And the other one is a very friendly ghost getting 68 00:04:16.790 --> 00:04:20.270 out of a pumpkin and 69 00:04:20.270 --> 00:04:22.830 handcuffed pumpkins. Pumpkins on the stairs. 70 00:04:24.390 --> 00:04:27.830 Well, good. Good for you. Well, I already missed 71 00:04:27.830 --> 00:04:31.030 Eurovision Halloween. There's always Eurovision Halloween in New York 72 00:04:31.430 --> 00:04:34.390 where people dress up as old Eurovision artists. Anyway, 73 00:04:35.110 --> 00:04:38.790 so I think we are ready to talk startups for this month. 74 00:04:39.510 --> 00:04:43.110 Should we go for it? Yes, totally. A quick, quick 75 00:04:43.110 --> 00:04:46.870 break for our sponsor. Every founder should hear one 76 00:04:46.950 --> 00:04:50.230 leak on the dark web can mean account takeovers, 77 00:04:50.230 --> 00:04:54.030 impersonations or bot level crisis. 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Don't wait until your data shows up for sale. 89 00:05:34.020 --> 00:05:37.860 Visit northcellar.com startup radio code Black 90 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:41.340 Friday 20 now back to the show. Chris, 91 00:05:41.820 --> 00:05:45.580 you want to give me some highlights? Sure. Let's go. 92 00:05:47.180 --> 00:05:50.380 The mood this month is cautious 93 00:05:50.380 --> 00:05:53.580 optimism with a caffeine kick. 94 00:05:53.900 --> 00:05:57.680 AI keeps vacuuming capital with the markets. 95 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.320 Quietly rewards teams that can actually ship 96 00:06:01.320 --> 00:06:05.000 and sell funding volumes aren't 2021, 97 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.600 Chris. Remember those crazy days when we actually had an additional 98 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.320 unicorn tracker? Because unicorn got. 99 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:16.360 Almost every month we got a new unicorn. It was totally crazy. 100 00:06:16.680 --> 00:06:19.400 Yeah, I mean it was simpler times, but also, 101 00:06:20.760 --> 00:06:24.240 I mean the way I look at the market, I really wonder how much. I 102 00:06:24.240 --> 00:06:28.040 mean those numbers have always been had an element of fantasy 103 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:31.600 to it, but my impression is it's getting worse and worse and 104 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.200 like those numbers are inflated. So yeah, the only real 105 00:06:35.200 --> 00:06:37.280 unicorns are you and me. 106 00:06:38.960 --> 00:06:42.160 The winners are punching through especially in AI 107 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.080 infra biotech climate tech will track 108 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:49.560 it without the froth, just the numbers and the 109 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.960 signals so you can sound smart in your next board call. 110 00:06:53.610 --> 00:06:57.170 A dry smile, a raised eyebrow and we go on Theme 111 00:06:57.170 --> 00:07:00.970 one the funding bar moves higher 112 00:07:01.690 --> 00:07:05.050 and a few teams cleared it with room to spare. Berlin's 113 00:07:05.050 --> 00:07:08.490 workflow AI orchestration crowd showed that 114 00:07:08.650 --> 00:07:12.450 repeatable GTM plus real customer 115 00:07:12.450 --> 00:07:16.130 expansion still opens late stage doors even 116 00:07:16.130 --> 00:07:19.610 with stricter term sheets. Why It Matters 117 00:07:19.770 --> 00:07:23.610 Category leaders are getting global terms again provided 118 00:07:23.930 --> 00:07:27.290 their default alive and not just default 119 00:07:27.530 --> 00:07:31.290 loud. Ironically, the new growth hack is boring 120 00:07:31.690 --> 00:07:34.810 pricing, retention and procurement friendly security 121 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:38.650 docs theme 2 health and deep 122 00:07:38.650 --> 00:07:41.930 tech put Europe on the big ticket map. 123 00:07:42.490 --> 00:07:45.970 Record class rounds for next gen truck 124 00:07:45.970 --> 00:07:49.770 platforms and neuro robotics remind 125 00:07:49.770 --> 00:07:53.450 everyone that Europe's slab to market pipeline is back 126 00:07:53.850 --> 00:07:57.670 when the transitional pathway is clear and the IP actually 127 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:01.430 defends why it matters. Patient capital is 128 00:08:01.430 --> 00:08:04.470 returning, but it's allergic to vanity pr. 129 00:08:05.110 --> 00:08:08.790 Platform science with clinical lags is the new vibe. 130 00:08:08.790 --> 00:08:12.190 The twist Moats equal memes final 131 00:08:12.190 --> 00:08:15.510 trends in 2025. Yes, scientists are 132 00:08:15.590 --> 00:08:19.270 cool again and in the back of my of 133 00:08:19.270 --> 00:08:22.710 my mind the theme music for Big Bang Theory plays. 134 00:08:23.910 --> 00:08:27.500 Theme number three Exits and earnings are no 135 00:08:27.500 --> 00:08:31.060 longer taboo at the cool kids table. Translation 136 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:35.100 European IPO drums are audible again while 137 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:38.260 profitable category leaders in travel 138 00:08:38.500 --> 00:08:41.860 vertical SaaS are hinting at durable 139 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:45.420 margins rather than one off quarters. Why It 140 00:08:45.420 --> 00:08:49.060 Matters the story is shifting from potential to performance, 141 00:08:49.860 --> 00:08:53.690 tightening valuation spreads and forcing cleaner metrics 142 00:08:53.690 --> 00:08:56.770 in as once turns out profitability 143 00:08:57.250 --> 00:09:00.970 is fashionable again. Who knew. Chris, I think 144 00:09:00.970 --> 00:09:03.570 that was something you're just hinting handing over to you. 145 00:09:07.250 --> 00:09:11.090 Yeah, the fourth fourth theme we're 146 00:09:11.090 --> 00:09:14.850 seeing is you could give it 147 00:09:14.850 --> 00:09:18.650 the headline of risk being back on the agenda. We see that cyber and 148 00:09:18.650 --> 00:09:20.850 fraud attacks continue to escalate, 149 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:26.800 especially where operational technology meets information technology. 150 00:09:27.840 --> 00:09:30.480 And we see more and more boards writing checks for 151 00:09:31.040 --> 00:09:34.720 resilience, for identity theft and response drills. 152 00:09:35.520 --> 00:09:39.280 Security here seems to like move away from being just a cost 153 00:09:39.280 --> 00:09:43.120 center and actually also huge sales enabler in 154 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:46.800 the startup world if companies can prove time to value 155 00:09:47.360 --> 00:09:51.130 and pass enterprise procurement in a week, not 156 00:09:51.210 --> 00:09:54.970 longer. Yeah, so here fear seems to 157 00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:58.650 be a really good sales representative once the incident 158 00:09:58.650 --> 00:10:02.490 maps light up. Theme number five we are seeing 159 00:10:02.490 --> 00:10:06.130 is climate and energy storage is 160 00:10:06.130 --> 00:10:09.290 kind of like graduating into actual like 161 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:12.730 pipelines, battery analytics, grid orchestration, 162 00:10:12.970 --> 00:10:15.290 carbon heavy industry retrofits 163 00:10:16.810 --> 00:10:20.530 are driving the startup scene industrials 164 00:10:20.530 --> 00:10:24.170 one return on investment within 12 to 24 months which 165 00:10:24.410 --> 00:10:27.530 we see here and that favors software, LED controls, 166 00:10:27.850 --> 00:10:30.890 retrofit friendly sensors and Capex light 167 00:10:30.970 --> 00:10:34.810 deployments. So yeah, 168 00:10:37.130 --> 00:10:40.810 it's theme number six. We're also seeing capital 169 00:10:40.810 --> 00:10:44.370 formation quietly restructuring under the hood. We see 170 00:10:44.370 --> 00:10:48.010 European growth funds co leading with US crossover capital again 171 00:10:48.550 --> 00:10:52.230 but now with a bit more cleaner government's terms, less tolerance for 172 00:10:52.230 --> 00:10:53.590 creative accounting. 173 00:10:56.230 --> 00:10:59.630 And that matters because founders who embrace discipline like board 174 00:10:59.630 --> 00:11:03.350 cadence, data rooms, usage based finesse, price 175 00:11:03.430 --> 00:11:05.590 better and keep more control. 176 00:11:07.270 --> 00:11:10.710 And so here's now the Runway for the rest of today's top news. 177 00:11:10.950 --> 00:11:14.310 Late stage AI and workflow winners. Europe's deep tech 178 00:11:14.310 --> 00:11:18.160 comeback. Credible exit signals Germany's reality 179 00:11:18.160 --> 00:11:21.520 cyber check and real pipelines in climate and industrial tech. 180 00:11:21.760 --> 00:11:25.120 Plus some stealthy climbers in robotics and ag 181 00:11:25.120 --> 00:11:28.880 tech. Yeah, so 182 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:32.800 there will be receipts in our show notes as always. And 183 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:37.640 as we said in a few days we'll drop the deep dive, wrap 184 00:11:37.640 --> 00:11:40.080 up with even more startup and tech news. 185 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:45.160 We are providing the link in the show notes if you haven't subscribed 186 00:11:45.160 --> 00:11:48.780 to us already. Anyway, if you did 187 00:11:48.780 --> 00:11:52.580 subscribe, congratulations. We think you're 188 00:11:52.580 --> 00:11:56.300 correct. Thank you very much. And we also would like you to give us 189 00:11:56.300 --> 00:11:59.740 feedback. So let us know who you are, let us know what you do. 190 00:12:00.700 --> 00:12:04.540 We're always looking for interesting interview partners. Let us know what we can do better. 191 00:12:05.100 --> 00:12:08.740 Happy to hear from each and every one of you. There's a Google 192 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:12.420 forms also in the show notes. Our video podcast will go Live on 193 00:12:12.420 --> 00:12:16.060 Thursday, October 30 audio podcast same day. 194 00:12:16.060 --> 00:12:19.420 You can find it on all the platforms. We have an Internet radio station, 195 00:12:19.420 --> 00:12:23.180 Startup Radio. You 196 00:12:23.180 --> 00:12:26.780 can get your content to your inbox on Startup Radio. One 197 00:12:27.100 --> 00:12:30.540 word.substack.com and all other 198 00:12:30.540 --> 00:12:33.000 channels are at Linktree 199 00:12:33.280 --> 00:12:37.100 StartupRadio. That's it now. 200 00:12:37.660 --> 00:12:41.340 Now, before we hit our sponsor, here's your reason to stay 201 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:44.620 tuned. This month's top news is a cross section of Europe startup future. 202 00:12:45.540 --> 00:12:49.260 From Munich's record breaking biotech round and Berlin's newest AI 203 00:12:49.260 --> 00:12:52.740 unicorns to the rise of defense tech and industrial autonomy. 204 00:12:53.140 --> 00:12:56.860 So we will have a look into where smart money is going in Q4 205 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:00.700 right now. A 700 million euro bet that makes NPAL 206 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:04.260 Europe's climate king 308 million euros that just 207 00:13:04.260 --> 00:13:07.980 rewrote biotech history and why investors are suddenly calling Germany 208 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:11.820 the new AI core. Plus a 209 00:13:11.820 --> 00:13:15.500 few stealth moves in energy optimization, sovereign AI 210 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:19.220 that could define 2026. And this 211 00:13:19.220 --> 00:13:22.140 one's all signal, no noise for once. 212 00:13:23.260 --> 00:13:26.300 And before we get started. Here's a little ad break. 213 00:13:31.660 --> 00:13:35.340 Welcome back. Let's dive into our top news 214 00:13:35.340 --> 00:13:39.020 for this month. First off, Berlin based NPAL has 215 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:42.060 secured a massive 700 million euro mil 216 00:13:42.380 --> 00:13:45.860 financing package in October 2025 in order to 217 00:13:45.860 --> 00:13:49.100 accelerate residential solar expansion across 218 00:13:49.100 --> 00:13:52.780 Germany. Huge topic. Renewables are 219 00:13:52.780 --> 00:13:56.460 big in Germany. It's kind of like everyone is kind 220 00:13:56.460 --> 00:13:59.900 of like working on it. Even though my 221 00:13:59.900 --> 00:14:03.580 impression is that politics is not always supporting 222 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:07.420 people. And as 223 00:14:07.420 --> 00:14:10.420 we see that 224 00:14:10.660 --> 00:14:14.500 npal, which is Europe's largest solar leasing provider, 225 00:14:15.300 --> 00:14:18.500 plans to deploy funds towards battery storage integration, 226 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:22.420 EV charging infrastructure and smart meter rollouts. 227 00:14:23.220 --> 00:14:27.060 The round now is backed by institutional lenders including BlackRock and 228 00:14:27.700 --> 00:14:31.460 IN ING Diba. It used to be in Deba, now as Ink 229 00:14:31.460 --> 00:14:35.140 bank and it extends NPAL's cumulative funding 230 00:14:35.140 --> 00:14:38.520 beyond 3 billion euros, underscoring investor 231 00:14:38.520 --> 00:14:42.080 confidence obviously in the energy transition 232 00:14:42.800 --> 00:14:46.640 on the European continent. NPAL's 233 00:14:46.640 --> 00:14:50.400 model of subscription based green energy ownership positions it as a 234 00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:54.080 benchmark for climate tech scalability and we see that 235 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:57.362 competitors like Eins Commerad 1 236 00:14:57.638 --> 00:15:01.440 1.5° and Svea Solar are racing to replicate 237 00:15:01.760 --> 00:15:05.600 kind of what NPAL is doing, a vertically integrated 238 00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.420 home energy approach. More about that you can see 239 00:15:09.420 --> 00:15:13.180 on trending topics and we also have an internal link 240 00:15:13.180 --> 00:15:16.860 to the about the energy transition in 241 00:15:17.180 --> 00:15:20.420 Germany. Munich based 242 00:15:20.420 --> 00:15:23.900 Tubules has raised a record breaking 243 00:15:23.900 --> 00:15:27.460 308 million euro Series C also in October to 244 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:30.620 advance their pipeline of next generation antibody drug 245 00:15:30.860 --> 00:15:33.900 conjugates ADCs to 246 00:15:34.570 --> 00:15:38.370 provide targeted cancer therapy therapy. This round is 247 00:15:38.370 --> 00:15:41.930 led by Novo holdings and EQT Life Sciences with 248 00:15:41.930 --> 00:15:45.530 participation from Mubadala Investment company and Andera Partners. 249 00:15:45.850 --> 00:15:48.810 It marks Europe's largest biotech funding today 250 00:15:49.370 --> 00:15:52.890 date to Buddhist proprietary ADC platform 251 00:15:52.890 --> 00:15:56.010 enables highly selective less toxic cancer treatments 252 00:15:57.050 --> 00:16:00.650 an area that used to be dominated by American and 253 00:16:00.650 --> 00:16:04.220 Swiss companies and now yeah Munich, Germany is playing a bit 254 00:16:04.610 --> 00:16:08.130 of a bigger role also underscoring 255 00:16:08.130 --> 00:16:11.890 investor confidence in the life sciences in Germany as a 256 00:16:12.210 --> 00:16:16.050 whole and positioning Munich as one of 257 00:16:16.050 --> 00:16:19.170 the big cities in Europe alongside Cambridge and 258 00:16:19.570 --> 00:16:23.010 Basel. Former 259 00:16:23.090 --> 00:16:26.890 startup Rate IO guest Energy Robotics has 260 00:16:26.890 --> 00:16:30.730 secured 13.5 million euros in a Series 261 00:16:30.730 --> 00:16:34.250 A round. They want to expand autonomous robot and drone 262 00:16:34.250 --> 00:16:38.070 inspection platform for a autonomous 263 00:16:38.070 --> 00:16:41.630 robot and drone inspection platform across industrial and 264 00:16:41.950 --> 00:16:45.710 energy sites. It's based in Darmstadt so 265 00:16:45.710 --> 00:16:49.470 southern HESP pretty much in the center of Germany and it's PI. It 266 00:16:49.470 --> 00:16:52.950 is pioneering AI driven inspection software and that enables 267 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:56.030 robots from multiple manufacturers to autonomous to 268 00:16:56.430 --> 00:16:59.870 autonomously navigate, analyze and report 269 00:16:59.950 --> 00:17:03.570 critical data in hazard. Hazardous. 270 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:07.330 Is that how you pronounce it? Sorry? Hazardous? Yes. For example 271 00:17:08.130 --> 00:17:11.650 they have robots that can walk like dogs on 272 00:17:12.610 --> 00:17:16.330 automated oil or gas drilling platform somewhere in the North 273 00:17:16.330 --> 00:17:20.130 Sea where no human wants to go or needs to go. 274 00:17:20.370 --> 00:17:24.010 Okay. And now the new capital that Energy Robotics could 275 00:17:24.010 --> 00:17:27.770 secure. It's backed by future industry ventures born to grow high 276 00:17:27.770 --> 00:17:31.410 tech. Grunderfah is going to accelerate commercialization across 277 00:17:31.410 --> 00:17:34.910 refineries, power plants and offshore assets. Basically what you said. 278 00:17:35.950 --> 00:17:39.630 Yeah. And it's especially interesting because we see in Germany heavy 279 00:17:39.630 --> 00:17:43.070 industry is undergoing a digital transformation and so 280 00:17:43.390 --> 00:17:47.030 they are really at some interesting operating at some 281 00:17:47.030 --> 00:17:50.030 interesting crossroads Here then. 282 00:17:50.590 --> 00:17:53.790 Germany has officially added three AI unicorns, 283 00:17:53.950 --> 00:17:56.750 N8N, PAA and Deep L. 284 00:17:57.630 --> 00:18:01.230 With Black Forest Labs from Fryborg on track to follow at a 285 00:18:01.230 --> 00:18:05.080 projected 4 billion valuation. So you surely know their 286 00:18:05.080 --> 00:18:08.760 product, the Flux, an AI image 287 00:18:08.840 --> 00:18:12.680 generator. And all of this just underscores that the 288 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:16.480 Dachau region emerges as a European AI cluster. Super 289 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:20.280 cluster spanning automation, conversational AI and 290 00:18:20.280 --> 00:18:23.240 language models. Berlin based N8N, it's 291 00:18:24.040 --> 00:18:27.480 valued at $2.5 billion after 292 00:18:27.720 --> 00:18:31.450 180 million euros. Series C. 293 00:18:31.770 --> 00:18:35.570 They power workflow, automation. Paloa revolutionizes 294 00:18:35.570 --> 00:18:39.010 customer service AI and Deep L continues to 295 00:18:39.010 --> 00:18:41.530 dominate global translation markets. 296 00:18:42.810 --> 00:18:46.530 Black Forest Labs, dubbed the quietest unicorn in the 297 00:18:46.530 --> 00:18:48.650 world by Business Insider, is 298 00:18:49.770 --> 00:18:53.410 reportedly negotiating Megaround's high profile partnerships with Meta 299 00:18:53.410 --> 00:18:57.260 and Elon Musk's ventures. So they're 300 00:18:57.260 --> 00:19:00.700 combining privacy centric research with Gen 301 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:02.660 AI. So we will see. 302 00:19:04.900 --> 00:19:08.540 Do you know what's interesting Chris here? We already talked in 303 00:19:08.540 --> 00:19:11.900 September news about Black Forest 304 00:19:11.900 --> 00:19:15.700 Labs being in officially a unicorn. And 305 00:19:15.780 --> 00:19:19.140 now other media, other blogs, other 306 00:19:19.140 --> 00:19:22.980 posters, other podcast, other news 307 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:26.730 outlets are picking this up. Yeah, and yeah, 308 00:19:26.730 --> 00:19:29.970 that's it with the top news, but 309 00:19:31.490 --> 00:19:35.090 from my side. But when we move on, you have. Some more about Deep 310 00:19:35.090 --> 00:19:38.690 L. Yes, sticking to 311 00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:42.370 the AI unicorns. Deep L is a US 312 00:19:42.690 --> 00:19:46.370 IPO as Europe's AI translation giant 313 00:19:46.530 --> 00:19:50.130 expands globally. The Cologne based Deep L 314 00:19:50.130 --> 00:19:53.170 is one of Europe's leading AI translation and language 315 00:19:53.250 --> 00:19:56.990 platforms and they reportedly exploring a US 316 00:19:57.230 --> 00:19:59.990 ipo signaling a boat 317 00:19:59.990 --> 00:20:03.510 transatlantic expansion strategy and 318 00:20:03.510 --> 00:20:07.230 investor Appetite for generative AI infrastructure. 319 00:20:07.470 --> 00:20:10.350 Those guys have been founded in 2017 320 00:20:11.390 --> 00:20:15.110 and grown into global benchmark for neural machine 321 00:20:15.110 --> 00:20:18.670 translation. Boasting enterprise clients just 322 00:20:19.070 --> 00:20:22.590 just like Microsoft or siemens and major U.S. 323 00:20:22.670 --> 00:20:26.430 law firms. A U.S. listing would mark one of the 324 00:20:26.430 --> 00:20:29.930 largest European AI I today, setting the 325 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:33.650 precedent for the Dach region's export of 326 00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:37.370 AI excellence to American capital markets. Industry 327 00:20:37.530 --> 00:20:40.970 analysts view this move as a test of global investor 328 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:44.170 confidence in European AI competitiveness. 329 00:20:44.570 --> 00:20:47.450 Especially as Deep L's latest valuation 330 00:20:47.850 --> 00:20:51.690 reportedly exceeded 2 billion. Yes. Will it be 331 00:20:51.690 --> 00:20:55.450 US dollars following its 2024 funding round led 332 00:20:55.450 --> 00:20:58.900 by iconic capital for 333 00:20:58.900 --> 00:21:02.740 founders and policymakers, Deep L's trajectory underscores 334 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:05.940 the growing internationalization of Europe's AI champions 335 00:21:06.260 --> 00:21:09.060 amid an intensifying race for 336 00:21:09.060 --> 00:21:12.580 linguistic in generative AI 337 00:21:12.660 --> 00:21:15.700 domination. Quantum Systems targets 338 00:21:15.780 --> 00:21:19.300 150 million US dollar race at 339 00:21:19.300 --> 00:21:22.820 3 billion US dollar valuation to scale 340 00:21:23.060 --> 00:21:26.580 European defense tech the Munich based 341 00:21:26.580 --> 00:21:30.360 startup Quant is Germany's leading 342 00:21:30.360 --> 00:21:34.200 autonomous drone intelligence startup and they are reported 343 00:21:34.760 --> 00:21:38.520 to seek raising 150 million US dollar 344 00:21:38.520 --> 00:21:41.800 at a 3 billion valuation market 345 00:21:42.120 --> 00:21:45.480 one of Europe's most ambitious defense 346 00:21:45.560 --> 00:21:48.600 check fundraisings this year. The company 347 00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:51.240 specializes in dual use UAV 348 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.800 that combine AI powered reconnaissance with 349 00:21:56.800 --> 00:22:00.520 military grade reliability. Actually, I 350 00:22:00.520 --> 00:22:04.320 do have some friends and military grade reliability doesn't 351 00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:07.920 always means what it sounds like. Used by clients including 352 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.560 NATO and Ukraine's armed forces for battlefield 353 00:22:11.560 --> 00:22:15.400 intelligence and infrastructure monitoring, the 354 00:22:15.400 --> 00:22:18.440 planned round follows a surge invest and 355 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:22.040 investments into AI driven defense platforms 356 00:22:22.040 --> 00:22:25.350 as Europe seeks strategic independence 357 00:22:25.590 --> 00:22:28.550 amid global geopolitical instability. 358 00:22:29.030 --> 00:22:32.870 Quantum systems scaling push underscores a 359 00:22:32.870 --> 00:22:36.550 wider dark trend where dual use robotics and autonomous systems 360 00:22:36.710 --> 00:22:40.470 are redefining the intersection between national security, 361 00:22:41.110 --> 00:22:44.950 deep tech and venture capital. Its success 362 00:22:45.270 --> 00:22:48.870 could set a new benchmark for European defense innovation, 363 00:22:49.350 --> 00:22:52.710 balancing sovereign capability with private sector 364 00:22:53.110 --> 00:22:56.870 agility. That will be a great dream. Our former 365 00:22:56.870 --> 00:23:00.270 guest Atalytics expand Series a with 366 00:23:00.270 --> 00:23:03.710 Microsoft's M12 to scale AI 367 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:07.190 driven energy optimization Offenbach based 368 00:23:07.270 --> 00:23:10.990 atalytics, a former Solarbrate IO guest has announced a Series 369 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:14.790 A extension led by Microsoft's M12 370 00:23:15.030 --> 00:23:18.570 venture fund or is it M1,2? I don't know. Aiming to 371 00:23:18.570 --> 00:23:21.810 accelerate deployment of its AI powered energy 372 00:23:21.890 --> 00:23:25.490 optimization platform for industrial and commercial 373 00:23:25.490 --> 00:23:29.330 sites. The investment highlights the growing convergence 374 00:23:29.570 --> 00:23:33.410 of energy management and AI, particularly 375 00:23:33.410 --> 00:23:36.370 in Europe's decarbonization and efficiency sector 376 00:23:37.330 --> 00:23:40.770 at Lytic software suite enables predictive load management, 377 00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:44.130 real time process optimization and 378 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:47.800 carbon intensity reduction across critical 379 00:23:47.800 --> 00:23:51.560 infrastructure from data centers to manufacturing facilities. 380 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:55.000 The backing from M12 strengthens 381 00:23:55.480 --> 00:23:59.320 Germany's standing in industrial AI and cleantech innovation 382 00:23:59.640 --> 00:24:03.480 while positioning analytics as a strategic partner in Europe's transition 383 00:24:03.480 --> 00:24:06.760 toward autonomous energy operations. The deal 384 00:24:06.760 --> 00:24:10.400 reinforces investors focus on climate tech SaaS 385 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:13.720 that bridges digital and physical energy systems, 386 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:17.820 an area increasingly viewed as the backbone of 387 00:24:17.820 --> 00:24:20.100 Europe's net zero ecosystem. 388 00:24:21.620 --> 00:24:25.420 Also, Nexus AI raises 30 million to 389 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:28.180 build Europe's Switzerland for LLMs 390 00:24:28.740 --> 00:24:32.499 Interesting term here. Founded by the creators of NordVPN, 391 00:24:32.580 --> 00:24:36.420 privacy focused startup Nexus AI has secured 30 392 00:24:36.740 --> 00:24:40.260 million to develop a European alternative to US 393 00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:44.260 dominated large language model hosting platforms. Based in Europe and 394 00:24:44.260 --> 00:24:48.010 built on privacy first architecture, Nexus AI 395 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:51.920 aims to establish a Switzerland for LLMs a secure, compliant 396 00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:55.760 environment for training and deployment. Deploying large 397 00:24:55.760 --> 00:24:59.360 language models under the EU Data protection 398 00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:03.040 standards gdpr, the platform provides sovereign 399 00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:06.560 AI infrastructure that keep corporate and public 400 00:25:06.560 --> 00:25:10.240 sector data within European jurisdictions, addressing 401 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:13.520 the rising concerns about model leakage and dependency on 402 00:25:13.930 --> 00:25:17.770 American hyperscalers. The funding round reflects a 403 00:25:17.770 --> 00:25:21.290 surge in AI infrastructure sovereignty investments, 404 00:25:21.530 --> 00:25:24.970 with Europe positioning itself as a global 405 00:25:24.970 --> 00:25:27.850 hub for trustworthy and decentralized 406 00:25:28.330 --> 00:25:32.010 AI hosting for startups and enterprise like Nexus, 407 00:25:32.010 --> 00:25:35.610 AI Vision underscores a strategic pivot from 408 00:25:35.770 --> 00:25:39.610 convenience to compliance driven innovation in the generative 409 00:25:39.770 --> 00:25:43.610 AI stack Guys, sorry for stumbling 410 00:25:43.610 --> 00:25:47.110 a little bit together here with Chris but are both in Germany. It's very close 411 00:25:47.110 --> 00:25:50.910 to 10pm here so we're very tired but we're still working hard for 412 00:25:50.910 --> 00:25:54.390 you guys. Let's follow us on next Monday 413 00:25:54.710 --> 00:25:58.350 for the deep dive. Chris, was a pleasure talking to you and 414 00:25:58.350 --> 00:26:01.590 hosting these with you again. I'm awake as always. I'm super awake. 415 00:26:01.910 --> 00:26:04.710 Bye bye. See you in a couple of days. Bye. 416 00:26:10.070 --> 00:26:13.640 That's all folks. Find more news, streams, 417 00:26:13.800 --> 00:26:14.960 events and 418 00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:19.160 interviews@www.startuprad.IO. 419 00:26:19.640 --> 00:26:21.640 remember, sharing is car.