Latest / Startup & Tech News from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by Startuprad.io™ / German Startup News – February 2025: Finn's €1B, Cherry's €500M AI Fund & Lilium's Fall
Transcript
- WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:08.660 Welcome to StartupRad.io. 2 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:13.095 Your podcast and YouTube blog covering the German start 3 00:00:13.175 --> 00:00:16.555 startup scene with news, interviews, and 4 00:00:16.615 --> 00:00:17.755 live events. 5 00:00:20.135 --> 00:00:23.835 Welcome to our regular startup news from the startup and tech entrepreneurship 6 00:00:24.135 --> 00:00:27.960 scenes in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Our startup news 7 00:00:28.279 --> 00:00:31.960 is recorded, today with me, 8 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.260 Chris, in New York City. And I have to say, I don't fully know why 9 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:39.000 in our script I am talking about myself first. 10 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:42.475 But joining me is, Joe in 11 00:00:42.475 --> 00:00:46.155 Frankfurt. Hey, Joe. How are you? I'm doing good. And, Chris, you know 12 00:00:46.155 --> 00:00:49.455 why you're first in the script? Because today I wrote it. 13 00:00:50.795 --> 00:00:54.635 Yeah. As if I wrote as if there were other days when I write it 14 00:00:54.635 --> 00:00:58.240 then. Today's news cutoff date 15 00:00:58.300 --> 00:00:58.700 is 16 00:00:58.700 --> 00:01:02.380 02/24/2025. 17 00:01:02.380 --> 00:01:06.080 As always, all news not included will be in our next news wrap up. 18 00:01:06.380 --> 00:01:10.095 We needed to cut our news seriously short this time so you can 19 00:01:10.095 --> 00:01:13.854 have a brief news overview. And without further ado, that means 20 00:01:13.854 --> 00:01:17.395 that you're gonna guide us through some of the highlights 21 00:01:18.015 --> 00:01:21.555 of this month. Yes. As our audience already knows, 22 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:25.439 we are aggregating the news from all the social media 23 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:29.200 shares we do during the course of the month. Usually, I'm going through 24 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.960 something like 15 to 20 pages, in terms of 25 00:01:32.960 --> 00:01:36.115 startup news. But this month, we had 26 00:01:36.175 --> 00:01:39.855 59 pages of startup news. Of course, some of 27 00:01:39.855 --> 00:01:43.695 them, the same news from multiple sources, but nonetheless, that 28 00:01:43.695 --> 00:01:46.835 was really a lot. So we had to cut it really seriously. 29 00:01:47.580 --> 00:01:51.420 Talking about our highlights here, the DACH startup ecosystem is buzzing 30 00:01:51.420 --> 00:01:54.880 with activity from major funding rounds to political 31 00:01:54.939 --> 00:01:58.080 changes that could reshape the landscape. German 32 00:01:58.380 --> 00:02:01.865 German auto tech, Finn, the the the startup 33 00:02:01.865 --> 00:02:05.325 renting out, cars as a car subscription model, 34 00:02:05.465 --> 00:02:08.905 reached 1,000,000,000 in 35 00:02:08.905 --> 00:02:12.425 funding commitments signaling a major shift in German startup 36 00:02:12.425 --> 00:02:15.940 scene. Meanwhile, Solaris secured a substantial 37 00:02:15.940 --> 00:02:19.319 140,000,000 investment, fueling its growth 38 00:02:19.940 --> 00:02:23.300 in the banking as a service sector. But we gotta 39 00:02:23.300 --> 00:02:26.440 see that funding was basically, 40 00:02:28.975 --> 00:02:32.655 a rescue for Solarisbank. The other option would be 41 00:02:32.655 --> 00:02:36.195 to wind them down. This development highlights the continued 42 00:02:36.815 --> 00:02:40.655 strength and potential of the DACH Region as a hub for 43 00:02:40.655 --> 00:02:44.350 innovation and investments. However, challenges remain. Lilium, 44 00:02:44.350 --> 00:02:45.490 the Munich based, 45 00:02:48.430 --> 00:02:51.890 Iftol, Iftol, the drone 46 00:02:52.350 --> 00:02:56.050 flying cars developer faced a second insolvency 47 00:02:56.430 --> 00:02:59.584 raising questions about the viability of the industry. 48 00:02:59.965 --> 00:03:03.325 Additionally, the recent German election brought a change in 49 00:03:03.325 --> 00:03:07.005 government with CDU taking the lead. This shift could 50 00:03:07.005 --> 00:03:10.625 have significant implication for startup policies and regulation, 51 00:03:11.170 --> 00:03:14.689 creating both opportunities and uncertainty for entrepreneurs and 52 00:03:14.689 --> 00:03:18.069 investors. Stay tuned to startuprate.0 for in-depth 53 00:03:18.129 --> 00:03:21.970 analyzers and expert insights. And of course, we will 54 00:03:21.970 --> 00:03:25.269 talk with Chris about the startup news and the startup elections 55 00:03:25.409 --> 00:03:28.785 here because he is one of the person, 56 00:03:29.885 --> 00:03:33.725 he is one of the people who actually keeps Germany up to 57 00:03:33.725 --> 00:03:37.165 date on US politics and also covers those 58 00:03:37.165 --> 00:03:40.925 politics. Talking about the schedule here, we are shifting to 59 00:03:40.925 --> 00:03:44.620 two publications a week. Let us know how you like it. 60 00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.460 Chris, you wanna straight hop into the top news? 61 00:03:52.200 --> 00:03:54.700 Yes. I want to. And, 62 00:03:56.485 --> 00:04:00.025 I also don't know how it's pronounced, eVTOL 63 00:04:00.165 --> 00:04:03.605 electrical vehicle takeoff and 64 00:04:03.605 --> 00:04:06.504 landing. EVTOL. 65 00:04:07.525 --> 00:04:11.129 God. Anyway Maybe they only have problem 66 00:04:11.129 --> 00:04:14.970 because the industry had such a strange acronym. I still 67 00:04:14.970 --> 00:04:18.669 prefer air taxis. Yes. 68 00:04:18.730 --> 00:04:22.535 Yes. So, let's jump 69 00:04:22.535 --> 00:04:25.595 in. You mentioned it already. The 70 00:04:26.535 --> 00:04:29.755 company FIN, a company 71 00:04:30.055 --> 00:04:33.514 that is working in the car subscription 72 00:04:33.895 --> 00:04:37.690 services field, secured a $1,000,000,000 73 00:04:38.150 --> 00:04:41.830 investment to expand its fleet. They are based in Munich, and they are 74 00:04:41.830 --> 00:04:45.190 capitalizing on the shift from traditional car ownership to more 75 00:04:45.190 --> 00:04:49.030 flexible, all inclusive subscriptions, hoping to cater to a 76 00:04:49.030 --> 00:04:52.514 new generation of mostly, especially urban 77 00:04:52.514 --> 00:04:56.055 drivers, and businesses looking for hassle free mobility 78 00:04:56.115 --> 00:04:59.875 solutions. They hope that they 79 00:04:59.875 --> 00:05:03.710 will be part of the general transformation of 80 00:05:03.710 --> 00:05:07.410 the automotive industry, and, their growth strategy 81 00:05:07.470 --> 00:05:11.070 positions them as one player there. Mobility as a 82 00:05:11.070 --> 00:05:14.130 service is the buzzword there. 83 00:05:14.845 --> 00:05:18.685 And so we will see whether they can bank in on what they 84 00:05:18.685 --> 00:05:22.225 hope will be the future of car ownership. The 85 00:05:22.605 --> 00:05:26.365 Berlin based Cherry Ventures is doubling down on the 86 00:05:26.365 --> 00:05:30.080 future of AI and deep tech startups. They are getting a 87 00:05:30.080 --> 00:05:32.800 $500,000,000 sorry. They are starting a 88 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:35.220 $500,000,000 investment fund, 89 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.560 that focuses on AI first businesses, robotics, and next 90 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:44.405 generation enterprise solutions. Want to they want to provide 91 00:05:44.405 --> 00:05:48.085 early stage funding to, innovations. And 92 00:05:48.085 --> 00:05:51.785 with venture capital tightening in some sectors, Cherry Ventures' commitment 93 00:05:51.925 --> 00:05:55.705 signals a strong confidence in long term potential of deep tech investments, 94 00:05:56.850 --> 00:06:00.530 hopefully creating Europe's next AI unicorn. And one 95 00:06:00.530 --> 00:06:04.290 shouldn't forget that we had a very nice in-depth interview with the 96 00:06:04.290 --> 00:06:08.050 CEO who led, Finn to this big funding. I 97 00:06:08.050 --> 00:06:11.884 talked with him about, his automotive experience 98 00:06:11.884 --> 00:06:15.405 and so on and so forth. And actually, he was driving at the time 99 00:06:15.405 --> 00:06:18.625 he cofounded, Finn, he was driving, 100 00:06:19.245 --> 00:06:21.504 an old Beetle, VW Beetle. 101 00:06:25.180 --> 00:06:29.020 Well, maybe part of the fleet too. And then Lilium, I feel 102 00:06:29.020 --> 00:06:32.240 as if we are talking about them every month right now. 103 00:06:32.780 --> 00:06:36.565 Munich based, e v t o l, developer 104 00:06:37.025 --> 00:06:40.865 has filed for insolvency for the second time, major setback 105 00:06:40.865 --> 00:06:44.465 for the whole industry, raising questions about the viability of the business 106 00:06:44.465 --> 00:06:48.240 model. Also, that is kind of the, yeah, the 107 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:51.759 debate we're having every every month or every other month about that 108 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.599 industry. Lilium's situation highlights the challenges in 109 00:06:55.599 --> 00:06:58.099 developing and scaling aviation technologies, 110 00:06:59.280 --> 00:07:02.659 long development cycles, regulatory hurdles, intense competition. 111 00:07:04.055 --> 00:07:07.835 So we will see whether the industry actually can 112 00:07:08.055 --> 00:07:10.955 weather their, challenges. 113 00:07:11.655 --> 00:07:15.195 And if you're an investor, obviously, you need to carefully 114 00:07:15.255 --> 00:07:18.520 assess the risks in that emerging sector. 115 00:07:19.300 --> 00:07:23.060 And you also said it already, the German election, this is 116 00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.759 this is very current news because 117 00:07:26.900 --> 00:07:30.520 I think the last votes were counted less than twenty four hours ago. 118 00:07:31.505 --> 00:07:35.105 My vote was not counted because my mail in ballot didn't arrive in 119 00:07:35.105 --> 00:07:38.805 time here in The US. But Germany, has elected 120 00:07:39.025 --> 00:07:42.544 a new parliament, most likely 121 00:07:42.544 --> 00:07:46.165 leading to a new government led by 122 00:07:46.990 --> 00:07:50.690 the Christian Democratic and Christian Democratic 123 00:07:50.830 --> 00:07:54.590 Union, basically the center left party in Germany sorry, 124 00:07:54.590 --> 00:07:58.430 the center right party in Germany, which will then 125 00:07:58.430 --> 00:08:02.190 be a shift in power from the Scholz administration of the Social Democratic 126 00:08:02.190 --> 00:08:06.025 Party. But the Social Democratic Party without the current chancellor 127 00:08:06.245 --> 00:08:10.085 might be the junior partner in the coalition. That 128 00:08:10.085 --> 00:08:13.865 change in leadership could have impact on startup policies, digitalization, 129 00:08:14.325 --> 00:08:17.990 VC investment regulation. And, we'll have a 130 00:08:17.990 --> 00:08:21.450 closer look at those new policies that are being drafted, 131 00:08:22.550 --> 00:08:26.150 and we will see what it means also for taxation, maybe AI 132 00:08:26.150 --> 00:08:29.985 investments, and incentives for businesses. Yes. 133 00:08:29.985 --> 00:08:33.585 I want to get your impressions from that because, what most 134 00:08:33.585 --> 00:08:37.424 people don't know if they are only listening to our podcast here, you are 135 00:08:37.424 --> 00:08:41.125 actually, more active in politics, 136 00:08:41.424 --> 00:08:45.045 covering politics than you are active in, 137 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:49.320 let's talk about startup and tech here, even though that are your 138 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.779 roots as a reporter. I I was I was wondering, 139 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.519 what was your perspective for that? We also may add to the 140 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:59.905 audience everybody who is able to speak German. There's a highly 141 00:08:59.905 --> 00:09:03.745 recommended newsletter from you, KrautReporter, for which you also won 142 00:09:03.745 --> 00:09:07.045 2019 the, prestigious Kremer Online Award. 143 00:09:07.425 --> 00:09:10.805 Plus, you also do, a regular 144 00:09:11.250 --> 00:09:15.010 podcast in Germany on US politics. So but here, I 145 00:09:15.010 --> 00:09:18.610 want to pick a little bit of your brain on the German election. What 146 00:09:18.610 --> 00:09:21.990 actually scared me a little bit that the right wing 147 00:09:22.050 --> 00:09:25.714 AfD got over 20%. Yeah. That is that 148 00:09:25.714 --> 00:09:29.475 is scary. Actually, the right wing party in Germany had the best result 149 00:09:29.475 --> 00:09:33.315 for right wing extremists since 1945. So, 150 00:09:33.315 --> 00:09:37.154 basically, since the beginning of the Federal Republic Of Germany after World War 151 00:09:37.154 --> 00:09:40.870 two. But we always have to say 152 00:09:40.870 --> 00:09:44.570 that as long as no other party, is willing to build a coalition 153 00:09:44.630 --> 00:09:48.470 with them, they, they are not in governmental power. Now 154 00:09:48.470 --> 00:09:51.770 the big question is whether the conservative party will 155 00:09:52.535 --> 00:09:56.075 keep up their so called firewall and not 156 00:09:56.295 --> 00:09:59.755 work together with them the way it looks like now, 157 00:10:00.695 --> 00:10:04.375 is that this is the case. I mean, I guess my take is, 158 00:10:04.375 --> 00:10:08.180 well, okay, that was a win that was expected. We see it everywhere around 159 00:10:08.180 --> 00:10:11.720 the world that governments in power or the governments who were in power 160 00:10:12.180 --> 00:10:15.880 during or right after the, COVID pandemic, 161 00:10:17.620 --> 00:10:21.185 voted out of office. And, now he has a long 162 00:10:21.185 --> 00:10:25.025 list of things to be done. He's not necessarily Friedrich Maerts, 163 00:10:25.025 --> 00:10:28.805 I mean, with he, the, soon to be chancellor, 164 00:10:30.065 --> 00:10:33.665 or the expected new chancellor of Germany. He has a very long list of 165 00:10:33.665 --> 00:10:37.080 things to do. He basically has to lead Europe without 166 00:10:37.220 --> 00:10:41.000 ever having been a secretary in 167 00:10:41.380 --> 00:10:45.140 no state in Germany or, in the German 168 00:10:45.140 --> 00:10:48.785 federal government. He has so far only been even though he's 169 00:10:48.785 --> 00:10:52.625 relatively old, he's close to 70 years old. He 170 00:10:52.625 --> 00:10:56.464 has so far only been a parliamentarian in the German parliament and in the 171 00:10:56.464 --> 00:10:59.904 European parliament. So, the hope is that 172 00:10:59.904 --> 00:11:03.740 he is able to become a 173 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:07.260 steady hand leading Europe in what seems to 174 00:11:07.260 --> 00:11:10.480 be even more geopolitical turmoil 175 00:11:10.780 --> 00:11:14.220 with the Trump administration who 176 00:11:14.540 --> 00:11:18.305 like, which is really guessing or really changing 177 00:11:18.685 --> 00:11:21.745 long term alliances right now. And we see 178 00:11:22.205 --> 00:11:25.805 huge discussions about the question whether the post World 179 00:11:25.805 --> 00:11:29.560 War two order is actually history. Mhmm. 180 00:11:29.560 --> 00:11:33.399 So, yeah, very complex. By the way, everybody who's interested 181 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:36.620 in that, we are in the preparation, meaning me, 182 00:11:37.079 --> 00:11:40.920 that we are we'll be blogging a little bit about the the results, what 183 00:11:40.920 --> 00:11:44.715 we think about this, go through the election program of 184 00:11:44.715 --> 00:11:47.615 the CDU and potential allies in a coalition, 185 00:11:48.395 --> 00:11:51.855 what they think about tech and development and so on and so forth. 186 00:11:52.475 --> 00:11:55.960 One should keep in mind that Friedrich 187 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:59.560 Mads has been working for international, law firms 188 00:11:59.560 --> 00:12:03.320 like Mayer Brown and also BlackRock Germany. So he's a little bit 189 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:06.760 more on the business side. Hopefully, that will be good for the German 190 00:12:06.760 --> 00:12:10.475 economy. Yeah. Chris, you 191 00:12:10.475 --> 00:12:13.615 wanna talk ecosystem? I do. 192 00:12:14.955 --> 00:12:18.714 Let's start this time around with some news about 193 00:12:18.714 --> 00:12:22.540 the European ecosystem. So Bitcoin slams, 194 00:12:23.160 --> 00:12:27.000 Bitcoin is how do we always explain it? The 195 00:12:27.000 --> 00:12:30.540 German It's it's the largest digital 196 00:12:30.760 --> 00:12:34.200 association in Europe. And they are, I 197 00:12:34.200 --> 00:12:37.875 do I do believe, thousands of corporate they 198 00:12:37.875 --> 00:12:41.655 do have thousands of corporate members here from Germany. There you go. 199 00:12:41.795 --> 00:12:45.315 So Bitcoin slams the European Union's new online 200 00:12:45.315 --> 00:12:48.850 marketplace regulations. So the question becomes with 201 00:12:48.850 --> 00:12:52.530 tighter rules are actually a win for consumers or more of a burden 202 00:12:52.530 --> 00:12:56.310 for sellers. We have a link to that 203 00:12:56.530 --> 00:12:59.510 on the Bitcoin website. 204 00:13:00.545 --> 00:13:04.005 France is investing a hundred billion dollars 205 00:13:04.305 --> 00:13:07.985 in AI technology in order to compete globally in 206 00:13:07.985 --> 00:13:11.445 that new market. There's also a European 207 00:13:11.745 --> 00:13:15.550 AI Act, which tries to regulate that new 208 00:13:15.550 --> 00:13:19.250 field, reshaping AI compliance 209 00:13:19.310 --> 00:13:22.670 in Europe. And the 210 00:13:22.670 --> 00:13:26.430 European Union is coming up with a startup and scale up 211 00:13:26.430 --> 00:13:30.084 strategy that should be unveiled by 212 00:13:30.144 --> 00:13:33.845 summer. Question there, will it help Europe to stay competitive 213 00:13:33.985 --> 00:13:37.665 in the global tech race? More about that in the months to 214 00:13:37.665 --> 00:13:41.504 come. And, a the 215 00:13:41.504 --> 00:13:45.080 start up scene in Europe, in 216 00:13:45.080 --> 00:13:48.760 general, demands a united AI strategy. Question is 217 00:13:48.760 --> 00:13:52.460 there, will the EU support more homegrown AI players 218 00:13:52.520 --> 00:13:55.820 or fall behind China and The US? Trendingtopics. 219 00:13:56.440 --> 00:14:00.055 Eu has the, wrap up of 220 00:14:00.055 --> 00:14:03.415 that discussion, what the European 221 00:14:03.415 --> 00:14:06.855 startups want, and what kind of strategy they are looking 222 00:14:06.855 --> 00:14:10.395 for. And, we have a list at TechEU 223 00:14:10.695 --> 00:14:12.635 of the twenty twenty four unicorns 224 00:14:14.529 --> 00:14:18.209 showing which European startups reached the ever so 225 00:14:18.209 --> 00:14:22.050 coveted $1,000,000,000 valuation last year. For 226 00:14:22.050 --> 00:14:25.675 Germany, it was only eGym. There 227 00:14:25.675 --> 00:14:29.215 you go. But moving on to Germany, Speedinvest 228 00:14:29.995 --> 00:14:33.615 warns of a liquidity crisis in, 229 00:14:35.195 --> 00:14:38.820 the VC market. One of Europe's top VC 230 00:14:38.820 --> 00:14:42.660 firms predicts that, we will be seeing one of 231 00:14:42.660 --> 00:14:46.180 the biggest capital crunches in years. It's also on 232 00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:50.019 trending topics dot e u. So, yeah, we will 233 00:14:50.019 --> 00:14:53.774 see whether their rather grim prediction actually becomes true. 234 00:14:53.774 --> 00:14:57.615 But, I mean, again, going back to what I said a bit earlier before, the 235 00:14:57.615 --> 00:15:01.295 geopolit if you look at the geopolitical, landscape right 236 00:15:01.295 --> 00:15:03.475 now, there is certainly reasons to be worried. 237 00:15:04.815 --> 00:15:08.310 Jumping from Germany to Switzerland and the ecosystem there, Swiss 238 00:15:08.470 --> 00:15:12.010 startups raised $2,400,000,000 in 2024. 239 00:15:12.310 --> 00:15:16.070 Even though the market is tough there too, obviously, a lot 240 00:15:16.070 --> 00:15:19.370 of money went into deep tech AI and life sciences. 241 00:15:21.485 --> 00:15:24.785 They're also hoping to have their next unicorn 242 00:15:24.925 --> 00:15:27.505 soon. More about that can be found in 243 00:15:27.805 --> 00:15:30.785 vcmagatzin.de. 244 00:15:31.485 --> 00:15:34.845 And, the university, the 245 00:15:34.845 --> 00:15:38.360 engineering university in Zurich, ETH, ETH 246 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:42.520 Zurich, continues to launch high growth 247 00:15:42.660 --> 00:15:45.800 start ups. They are experiencing quite the boom there there. 248 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:49.860 And, so that start up ticker.ch is 249 00:15:49.860 --> 00:15:53.365 asking whether this is actually Europe's top tech incubator. 250 00:15:55.265 --> 00:15:59.105 Moving on to some to the general news, tech news, 251 00:15:59.105 --> 00:16:02.625 company news section. I have the honor to 252 00:16:02.625 --> 00:16:05.670 highlight some of the, new funds and VC 253 00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:08.490 news in case you are looking for money. 254 00:16:09.510 --> 00:16:13.110 We are already we have already, talked about 255 00:16:13.110 --> 00:16:16.790 Cherry Ventures and their $500,000,000 for DeepTech and AI in 256 00:16:16.790 --> 00:16:19.769 Germany. Then there's the Khan Fund, 257 00:16:21.325 --> 00:16:24.845 $51,000,000 fund targeting life 258 00:16:24.845 --> 00:16:28.524 sciences and deep tech, also based in Germany. And 259 00:16:28.524 --> 00:16:32.205 there's Hellantec VC the Hellantec VC 260 00:16:32.205 --> 00:16:35.505 Fund, a hundred million dollars to fuel European 261 00:16:35.964 --> 00:16:39.710 defense startups, also based in Germany. 262 00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:44.110 Now industry news. 263 00:16:44.570 --> 00:16:48.330 And back to you. Yes. Let's look a little bit 264 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:52.010 at biotech news. German ecology startups. Germany ranked number 265 00:16:52.010 --> 00:16:55.745 three in EU for biotech innovation. They have more 266 00:16:55.745 --> 00:16:59.445 than 200, cancer related, 267 00:17:01.345 --> 00:17:05.130 startups here in Germany. Talking a little bit about fintech news, 268 00:17:05.210 --> 00:17:08.829 Trade Republic under Baffin investigation for high yield savings 269 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:12.430 promotion. Finleap is struggling with multiple portfolio 270 00:17:12.569 --> 00:17:16.329 company failures. Tesla crashes with 271 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:20.055 Baffin over financial compliance issues. Trade Republic 272 00:17:20.115 --> 00:17:23.795 and N26 are now having real 273 00:17:23.795 --> 00:17:27.474 duel here. They, one blog called it 274 00:17:27.474 --> 00:17:30.995 the ultimate fintech showdown, which company is leading the race for 275 00:17:30.995 --> 00:17:34.700 Europe's top neobank. Neobroker's customers are 276 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:38.220 unhappy. A new study shows high dissatisfaction with 277 00:17:38.220 --> 00:17:41.980 neobank trading platform. What's going wrong? Trade 278 00:17:41.980 --> 00:17:45.679 Republic is also under fire again for another 279 00:17:45.740 --> 00:17:49.215 another ankle on their, high yield interest rate 280 00:17:49.215 --> 00:17:52.755 promises. And we go to the general 281 00:17:52.895 --> 00:17:56.575 news where Alep Alpha CEO says no one will 282 00:17:56.575 --> 00:18:00.335 use DeepSeek R1 in twelve month. Is this a 283 00:18:00.335 --> 00:18:03.679 hype or an AI revolution in the making? ADAC, 284 00:18:04.139 --> 00:18:07.500 the German what is the equivalent like AAA in The 285 00:18:07.500 --> 00:18:11.340 US? Yeah. I was gonna say AAA. Yeah. Yeah. New range test 286 00:18:11.340 --> 00:18:15.179 for EVs, chargers, manufacturers. Which brands lives up to the 287 00:18:15.179 --> 00:18:18.825 promises? Also Frankfurt Airport makes space for Uber. 288 00:18:18.825 --> 00:18:22.044 Could this be signal shifting away from traditional taxis? 289 00:18:22.985 --> 00:18:26.284 Frankfurt Airport, 1 of the busiest in Europe's year. 290 00:18:26.424 --> 00:18:30.205 OpenAI opens a new office in Munich and Deutsche Classfauser, 291 00:18:30.345 --> 00:18:33.880 one of the companies that is, that is providing 292 00:18:34.020 --> 00:18:37.860 high speed. They disclosed that they need more than 293 00:18:37.860 --> 00:18:41.300 €1,000,000,000 for this high speed 294 00:18:41.300 --> 00:18:44.985 Internet. Chris, you wanna do some creative destruction as well? 295 00:18:45.785 --> 00:18:49.625 Yeah. Sure. Let's talk about what did not work. More than a 296 00:18:49.625 --> 00:18:53.385 hundred and startups failed in 2024. Deutsche startups 297 00:18:53.385 --> 00:18:57.065 has a list of them. Mostly a lot 298 00:18:57.065 --> 00:19:00.285 of them actually did not make it through the winter, actually, 299 00:19:01.070 --> 00:19:04.370 wiping out a lot of the promising ventures there. Then 300 00:19:04.750 --> 00:19:08.050 Spreadshirt lays off employees as ecommerce 301 00:19:08.270 --> 00:19:12.110 shifts. Spreadshirt being really around for quite a long time 302 00:19:12.110 --> 00:19:15.605 already now, and it's another sign of market correction for online 303 00:19:15.605 --> 00:19:19.225 retail platforms in Germany. It's a place where you can customize, 304 00:19:20.005 --> 00:19:22.825 gear, gear as in clothing. 305 00:19:24.085 --> 00:19:27.625 Refurbed lays off 20% of its staff, 306 00:19:28.100 --> 00:19:31.860 reflecting pressure on refurbished electronics. They are based 307 00:19:31.860 --> 00:19:34.760 in Austria. And Heitzma 308 00:19:35.300 --> 00:19:39.140 acquires the insolvent Neo Energy, showing 309 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:42.920 that the heat pump sector in Germany isn't also immune to turbulence 310 00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:43.575 there, 311 00:19:47.174 --> 00:19:50.235 which already leads us to 312 00:19:51.335 --> 00:19:55.095 should we do mergers and acquisitions first? Because it 313 00:19:55.095 --> 00:19:58.860 says end on a high note. Lease my bike joins Munich's 314 00:19:59.320 --> 00:20:02.700 Green Mobility holding, another step towards sustainable 315 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:06.680 urban transport. Travelperk raises 200,000,000 in 316 00:20:06.680 --> 00:20:09.180 series a for the acquisition of Yokoi. 317 00:20:10.105 --> 00:20:13.404 Home2Go acquiring inter home to shape reshape 318 00:20:13.544 --> 00:20:16.985 European vacation rentals. Merck in talks to 319 00:20:16.985 --> 00:20:19.485 acquire US Cancer biotech firm SpringWorks. 320 00:20:20.424 --> 00:20:23.725 Heitzmark acquires bankrupt Mio Energy signaling 321 00:20:23.865 --> 00:20:27.480 sector consolidation. Chris, now you are 322 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:31.320 the highlight. You are the high note for the end. Yes. So I 323 00:20:31.320 --> 00:20:35.080 end on a high note, with just a couple of the successful 324 00:20:35.080 --> 00:20:38.855 fundraising and exits. Keep in mind that it's just a selection 325 00:20:38.855 --> 00:20:42.155 that we come up with. This time around, we included only fundraisings 326 00:20:43.255 --> 00:20:46.554 above €10,000,000, Swiss francs, or US dollars. 327 00:20:47.095 --> 00:20:50.720 For example, Zolaakos, they got a hundred and €40,000,000 328 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:54.100 to strengthen embedded banking and fintech 329 00:20:54.159 --> 00:20:57.380 infrastructure. Then the Kompanisto 330 00:20:57.760 --> 00:21:01.440 backed start up raised €40,000,000 in series b 331 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.235 funding. Wondering 332 00:21:05.655 --> 00:21:08.715 whether this will fuel more European status exits. 333 00:21:09.495 --> 00:21:13.255 Avelius Medical raises €30,000,000 334 00:21:13.255 --> 00:21:16.855 in a series a. They are working on AI 335 00:21:16.855 --> 00:21:18.554 powered health care automation, 336 00:21:20.669 --> 00:21:24.210 streamlining hospital workflows. MeteoMetix 337 00:21:24.669 --> 00:21:26.929 from Switzerland could secure 338 00:21:27.149 --> 00:21:30.909 $22,000,000 for their series c 339 00:21:30.909 --> 00:21:34.210 funding already for AI powered weather forecasting. 340 00:21:35.485 --> 00:21:37.424 Neurrocare secures 341 00:21:37.725 --> 00:21:41.405 €19,300,000 to work 342 00:21:41.405 --> 00:21:45.184 on mental health treatments, also AI driven 343 00:21:45.405 --> 00:21:47.664 personalized therapy solutions there. 344 00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:50.140 Genlogs raises 345 00:21:50.760 --> 00:21:54.140 $14,600,000 in a series 346 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:57.500 a round to revolutionize logistics 347 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:01.559 with AI working on supply chains 348 00:22:01.559 --> 00:22:03.784 there. Construct 349 00:22:04.245 --> 00:22:08.024 €12,500,000 also to bring 350 00:22:08.164 --> 00:22:11.784 AI, which is, like, apparently the buzzword of all of our fundraisings 351 00:22:12.005 --> 00:22:15.705 and exits this month, to bring AI powered automation 352 00:22:16.005 --> 00:22:19.640 to construction. So hoping that the construction 353 00:22:19.860 --> 00:22:22.919 industry actually is also ripe for 354 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:27.220 disruption coming from the machines. But, Chris, you 355 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:30.899 remember there was also some time when we only talked about ecommerce, when we 356 00:22:30.899 --> 00:22:33.705 talked about quick delivery, when we talked about, 357 00:22:34.345 --> 00:22:38.025 yeah, air taxis and so on and so forth. So I 358 00:22:38.025 --> 00:22:41.705 don't think it will crumble it will crumble like a 359 00:22:41.705 --> 00:22:45.385 quick delivery hype, but but I do believe it's it's a little bit 360 00:22:45.385 --> 00:22:49.160 overhyped AI right now. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or at least, I 361 00:22:49.160 --> 00:22:52.120 mean, it seems to be the one word that you have to include on all 362 00:22:52.120 --> 00:22:54.700 your in all your pitch decks, apparently. 363 00:22:56.120 --> 00:22:59.720 €10,000,000 for Ocell, o c e l 364 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:02.715 l. It's also another deep tech investment in Europe, 365 00:23:04.154 --> 00:23:07.674 working on complex tech. Bioversus from 366 00:23:07.674 --> 00:23:11.515 Switzerland is a biotech IPO that got money. And then 367 00:23:11.515 --> 00:23:15.294 Felt. Energy secures funding from the FlixBus founders. 368 00:23:16.154 --> 00:23:19.740 It's a Munich startup bringing AGRI PV 369 00:23:20.280 --> 00:23:23.960 to farmers, clean energy without sacrificing the 370 00:23:23.960 --> 00:23:27.640 crops. Chris, given that we went 371 00:23:27.640 --> 00:23:31.345 through so much material in order to cut down for the 372 00:23:31.345 --> 00:23:35.025 news. I think we're pretty happy to have it, down to twenty five minutes 373 00:23:35.025 --> 00:23:38.805 here. Right? Honestly, that was like, drut. 374 00:23:39.265 --> 00:23:43.105 Rattling. Drut. German engineering in the 375 00:23:43.105 --> 00:23:46.580 podcast today. Awesome. Chris, as always, was a 376 00:23:46.580 --> 00:23:50.420 pleasure talking to you. Looking forward to do the, next news 377 00:23:50.420 --> 00:23:54.180 with you. Let me look on my wall calendar. They should also go live 378 00:23:54.180 --> 00:23:57.240 on the March 27. 379 00:23:57.985 --> 00:24:01.205 Sounds awesome. Bye. Bye, guys. 380 00:24:06.065 --> 00:24:09.365 That's all, folks. Find more news, streams, 381 00:24:09.745 --> 00:24:12.030 events, and interviews at 382 00:24:12.030 --> 00:24:15.250 www.startuprad.io. 383 00:24:15.630 --> 00:24:17.809 Remember, sharing is caring.