• German Startup News (Video)

    This Month in German Startups – June 2020

    This Month in German Startups – June 2020

    Intro

    Today we are going to talk about German startups, in the process of producing vaccines for Covid19, the potential accounting fraud at Wirecard, startups in Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Berlin, and the 110th Birthday of Konrad Zuse, the inventor of the modern-day computer.

    Welcome to this month in German Startups by Startuprad.io – in a transatlantic news recording with Chris in New York City.

    Reach out to us

    Patreon

    If you like our podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startupradio

     

    Enabler

    This recording was made possible by (Hessen Trade and Invest). Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/

     

    Find all options to subscribe here: 

    The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, June 25th 2020

    https://youtu.be/xRNMoOSm28Y

     

    The Audio Interview is set to go live on June 30th, 2020

    The Audio Podcast will be published next week. Subscribe to our podcasts here

     

    Housekeeping – Time to brag 

    Now it is official, Startuprad.io passed several milestones. 

    1. We reached more than 200.000 subscribers for our podcasts alone! 206.014 as of today! We count subscribers, who return at least once in 7 days to our RSS feed over 90 days.
    2. We managed to score more than 1.000 days in podcast charts (iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, and Chartable), actually, we made 1.026 days so far. https://www.startuprad.io/blog/startuprad-io-ranked-now-in-33-countries-and-1-000-days-in-podcast-charts/
    3. We now scored with PR China, Croatia, and Singapore in three more countries and now we made it in 33 countries in their respective podcast charts. We are also a steady member of chartable.com’s science and tech podcast charts, for the US as well as globally. https://www.startuprad.io/blog/startuprad-io-ranked-now-in-33-countries-and-1-000-days-in-podcast-charts/

    And again we have several interviews and blog posts for you. We will also have on July 1st our first live stream after corona. https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Couch-TV-Talks/events/271395382/

     

    Coronavirus / Covid19 

     

    Wirecard – This month’s top news in Germany

    Intro

    Wirecard is a company processing payments. The company works as an intermediary and guarantor between buyers and sellers and takes a commission on all transactions. They have about 5,000 employees and actually replaced Commerzbank (we will talk about them later) in DAX 30 (Germany’s equivalent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30). They are the first “fintech” to achieve this.

    The big problem now is that there are accounts missing, which should hold 1.9 bn Euros in cash. So these 1.9 billion are in their balance sheets, but they probably basically don’t exist. Let’s back up a bit, though.

    Find all the details in our dedicated Podcast recording (Audio, Video, and Blogpost):

    https://www.startuprad.io/blog/news-wrap-up-developing-wirecard-story/

    Ecosystem 

    • VC investments have declined by 20 percent worldwide due to the Corona crisis shows the latest report by Startup Genome https://buff.ly/3eoTdus 
    • There are approximately 900 fintech startups in Germany, of which almost 35% are headquartered in Berlin. No 2 are Hamburg and Frankfurt with 10.6% of the fintechs https://buff.ly/3egGH0v 
    • Ridepooling services are not looking good in Germany and the #coronavirus does not help. With a few exceptions no service provider generates profits and many backers may reconsider after the crisis https://buff.ly/3dopX6a 

     

    Startup Hubs

    #Frankfurt

    • Commerzbank is not really known across Germany as a big fintech investor. But this story tells how they invested in Marqeta via CommerzVentures. They invested in a 25 mn US$ round and now own (yes, there is some guesswork involved) approx. 3.5% of the company, now valued at 4.3 bn US$ – which leads to their share being valued at approx. 150 mn. This assumes CommerzVentures did not sell any shares in the meantime https://buff.ly/3dvn7gw
    • Bryter, a software toolbox – with locations in #Frankfurt, #Berlin, and #London raises 14 min Euros #VentureCapital https://buff.ly/2MrmN6m 
    • Wingcopter Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum – sUAS News – The Business of Drones https://buff.ly/2Azw8Hi 

    #Aachen

    #Munich

    #Cologne

    • Ford-owned Spin scooters head to Europe, starting with Germany with Cologne, Essen, and Dortmund – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/3dS2PxN

     

    Companies 

    • Researchers find exposed data on millions of users of #Berlin-based quiz app, TVSmiles – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/36ZotgX 
    • Klarna partners with Raisin to open savings accounts in Germany https://buff.ly/2BWujEy
    • Former Rocket Internet Managers start 468 Capital, a 170 mn Euros #deeptech #VentureCapital fund https://buff.ly/3d9zSMA
    • There is still life in the German-speaking startup scene. Proof here the #VentureCapital investments (in chronological order)
      • Homeday raises €40 million from Axel Springer and others for its hybrid real estate brokerage service – @tech_eu https://buff.ly/3hxYfXH
      • Berlin-based Contentful secures €71.3M funding to accelerate expansion; ropes in new CMO | @SiliconCanals https://buff.ly/3dc2k0l 
      • 83North, Microsoft|s M12 and Next47, Paua Ventures, EQT Ventures and Atlantic Labs invest 26 million Euro #VentureCapital in Wandelbots, a startup which has a tool to code for industrial robots https://buff.ly/3htkkXD #manufacturing #Germany #startups 
      • Berlin-based #fintech scale-up @smava secures €57 million in financing to maintain growth through economic downturn – @tech_eu https://buff.ly/36D3m47 
      • German #Healthcare #Jobs Startup Medwing Wins $30m Series B Round — Red Herring https://buff.ly/2AinHPW
      • Swiss SME Lending Startup Teylor Closes CHF 8 Million Funding / Expands to Germany https://buff.ly/30rMbBb
    • Sennder, a #Berlin-based logistics company, has acquired French rival Everoad to create one of the largest digital platforms for road shipments in Europe. https://buff.ly/3cJZpMd 
    • Vivid Money: How this new German #mobile #banking startup plans to challenge fintech moguls | @SiliconCanals https://buff.ly/37HGX62

     

    Happy 110th Birthday to Konrad Zuse

    Konrad Zuse was born on June 22nd, 1910. His greatest achievement was the world’s first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. His company built more than 250 computers between 1949 to 1967 in Hessen. It was sold to Siemens in 1967.

    Zuse died on 18 December 1995 in Hünfeld, Hesse (near Fulda) from heart failure.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Zuse

     

    See you in September! We will be back with "This Month in German Startups" 
with a summer news wrap-up end of September 2020. Enjoy your summer!

     

    Stay Ahead of the Curve

    News Wrap-up developing Wirecard story

    Find all further Links and show notes on our blog post: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/news-wrap-up-developing-wirecard-story/ 

    Patreon

    You can now support us on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=35246148 if you like what you see and hear consider to support us, so we can keep bringing you great content.

    Affiliate Links

    • Is your startup in need of a bank account in Germany? Try our partner affiliate Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d
    • Looking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

    This Month in German Startups – May 2020

    This Month in German Startups – May 2020

    If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

     

    Reach out to us

    Patreon

    If you like our podcast, consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startupradio

    Enabler

    This recording was made possible by (Hessen Trade and Invest). Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/

    Together with our enabler, we are running a podcast called “Tech Startups Germany”, which will focus on startups at a Serie A stage or even more mature. You will also find all the videos we produce for this podcast on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/startupradio. This podcast is available directly on our device as an audio and video podcast. Yes, Startuprad.io makes the first downloadable video podcast. Find all options to subscribe here: 

    Video Recording – YouTube (the video will premiere on Thursday, May 28th 19.00 CET / 1 pm Eastern)

    https://youtu.be/Yu_rojiz9mw 

     

    Housekeeping – Time to brag 

    • The current situation looks a bit better, so we feel ok with a tiny bit of bragging 🙂 We made it in Russia’s Apple Tech Podcast Charts (up to #121) and PR China Apple Tech Podcast Charts (up to #485). This gets the total to 30 countries!  We are also now on Patreon. If you like your podcast, become a patron! (www.patreon.com/startupradio)
    • We published again some cool interviews, where we wanted to highlight especially this month’s interview with IDA, where we talk to the CEO and Co-Founder Hamedo Ayadi of Intelligence Data Analytics. At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, 70% of their employees worked related to aviation, which was completely stopped by one phone call. He tells the story of how they changed strategy fast to survive: https://www.startuprad.io/interviews/ida-pivoted-fast-during-corona-before-70-of-their-employees-worked-with-aviation-companies/ 

    Coronavirus / Covid19

    • German government approves the corona aid package for startups. A two billion fund will add to private funding from the package (30% private, 70% public) this is called „Corona-Matching-Fazilität“ (CMF). The package was put together quite fast since the first announcement has been in mid-April. https://buff.ly/2zFr4jL There will be another pillar, called “Startup-Schutzschild” (startup shield), which will assist the instruments of Germany’s 16 states for startups, who have no backing by investors yet. 
      • Related we found news about two of the measures of single states: 
      • Bavaria: LfA sets up a new loan program for small and very small enterprises – Munich Startup https://buff.ly/3c3MBkp 
      • Hamburg: They call their program InnoStartup – Hamburg Startups https://buff.ly/2zPOLpp (some more information in the Hamburg Hub section)
    • Corona cases in Amazon logistics center in Winsen, Germany: Verdi demands to close the location https://buff.ly/3dipDGb
    • German unicorns like Dreamlines, Flixbus, Getyourguide, Homelike, Hometogo, Omio, Tourlane and Trivago write an open letter to Google to get 75 mn € advertisement money back https://buff.ly/3f2rFMF  the letter is also signed by the head of German startup association
    • 50% of startups have 6 months to live & other insights from our COVID-19 survey – Slush https://buff.ly/2Z6J0hG 
      • Highlights:
      • Startups will need to raise funds at any cost
        • The importance of networks at a new high
        • Recruitment at a halt, but existing staff is largely kept on
        • Remote work is taking a toll “ Working from home has put a strain on startup employees.”
        • As sales drop, new winners are emerging “B2C startups are doing better than those selling B2B, and pure D2C companies have actually experienced a net increase in sales.”Good news: (Chris)
    • KML Vision is an #AI startup from Graz, Austria. It claims, it’s software could recognize Covid-19 on x-ray pictures https://buff.ly/2SA3MT3 
    • In a podcast, Marc Cuban “Why Coming Out of The Pandemic Will Be The Best Time In The History of Mankind To Start A Business” https://buff.ly/2A5ujBd 
    • He was also guest on the show of our friends at “Remote Daily”, a format building a nice business community via daily Zoom calls. There he spoke about leadership in times of crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcO-HmOZpv4 
    • German online grocery store food.de sees the big impact of #COVID19 on its business. They signup increased 25fold https://buff.ly/2yDt8sg 

    Affiliated Links

    • Is your startup in need of a bank account in Germany? Try our partner affiliate Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d
    • Looking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

    Ecosystem 

    • German Venture Capital Barometer sets a new record low due to #Coronavirus. All indicators in the red. The business climate index for the German VC scene is calculated by the German VC and PE association (BVKAP) and KfW, the government-backed development bank https://buff.ly/2TBBfg5 The quoted specialist finds it likely the VC investors will focus on their portfolio and not make significant new investments 
    • VCs in Germany only finance 8% of startups co-founded by women.  That is 17% of their investments https://buff.ly/2YA04MP 
    • Startups banking in Germany: According to a recent analysis, approx 5% of startups in Germany have a bank account with neobank Penta. The younger the startup, the more likely they are to bank with a challenger bank. The share of established players with newly founded startups is shrinking fast, especially the share of Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank is holding up well. From the established players the German thrift organizations (Sparkassen) are the leaders in startup banking, but they are 385 institutions. Also, the Volksbanken, cooperative banks, are doing pretty well. The Volksbanken and Sparkassen are usually the only banks of which you will find branches outside of larger cities.  
    • More than 50 companies now have permits to trade in medical cannabis in Germany. This crowding leads to a decline in revenues, from „six-digit a month“ to „five-digit a month“ https://buff.ly/3ecdB1V 
      • Related:
        • More cannabis news: Deutsche-Startups has a list of 13 startups, headquartered in Germany working in the market https://buff.ly/3fMwJoI they only forgot Frankfurt-based cansativa https://buff.ly/2VT3gQT, the startup was the reason for a partial lockdown of the city, as they started out because their super-secure warehouse gave a false alarm. 

    Hubs

    This time we have to show a bit more on the less known places, where still interesting startups exist. As you know we like to highlight that here. Note on this section: The order of the articles and hubs is in the order we found them – no other particular order. 

    #Frankfurt (Rhine-Main)

    • The app Aliah supports communications in the hospital and takes away some of the burdens of the medical personal https://buff.ly/2KCssG2 
    • There is a webinar for the STEP program of the German-American Chamber of Commerce in New York City, which enables German startups to make a first “step” to New York. It will take place on June 30th form 14 – 15 CET. You can register here and startups from Hessen can apply for 1.500 Euros funding https://buff.ly/2ADFBg7 
    • Aareal Bank, Wiesbaden-based bank specializes in property financing, wants to sell shares in their IT subsidiary after pressured by an investor https://buff.ly/3dXeJGi

    Also Rhine-Main Area: Mainz

    • There is still business going on during Corona. Mainz-based Mailtastic (a GDPR conform marketing platform) completes exit („seven digits“) to New York-based Cognism https://buff.ly/2X5DpWl 

    #Munich

    • Seven digit Venture Capital investment for Erium, which helps to minimize errors in #manufacturing processes – Munich Startup https://buff.ly/2W20o5r 
    • Wikimedia Germany starts an accelerator program called Unlock in #Munich. All startups working towards an „open knowledge society“ can apply https://buff.ly/2zQ2Cw8 

    #Hamburg

    • Hamburg-based YogaEasy is booming like Netflix – Hamburg Startups https://buff.ly/35vGNO1  
    • Hamburger Corona Soforthilfe (HCS) is seen as a great success. Of the program 25 mn € are earmarked for startups (HCS InnoStartup), which already approved 2.3 mn Euros  https://buff.ly/2Xe1079  

    #Hannover

    • There are still startups founded during corona. Deutsche-Startups highlights 7, including one from Hannover https://buff.ly/3c2ELHz

    #Göppingen (close to Stuttgart) 

    • Permira sells TeamViewer shares worth $1.1 billion – Reuters
      The PE investor bought the German startup outright and listed them later at the Frankfurt stock exchange. Now they sold approx 20% of their stake https://buff.ly/36dV5Dd 

    #Düsseldorf

    #Zürich

    #Potsdam

    • German startup Flightright (a startup getting buying passenger compensation claims) sues Lufthansa due to open refunds https://buff.ly/36e5YoP 

    #Nürnberg

     

    Companies 

    • EIT Digital Challenge is looking for fast-growing European ‚deep-tech‘ companies, handing out 350k in prizes https://buff.ly/2wJwAKR
    • N26, #Berlin-based #fintech unicorn
      – felt first impact (lower transactions) in march
      – in April they sent 150 employees in government-backed Kurzarbeit (10% of their global workforce)
      • now they raise 100 mn US$, with a „steady“ valuation of 3.5 bn US$.  https://buff.ly/3b9dEtm  
        The news comes from the Vienna / Austria-based blog DerBrutkasten.at, they are usually very good, since both remaining founders are natives of Vienna (Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal)  and moved with N26 from there to Berlin. The blog further speculates that the increase of their Series D (now 570 mn US$) – 1 ½ years after their initial Series D round –  suggests a short term need for the money. 
    • One of the former founders of #Berlin-based #todolist darling Wunderlist announces a new productivity app called Superlist https://buff.ly/3c8mE31 
    • Soundcloud founders start with a new mobility startup https://buff.ly/2YnMfB1
    • Porsche Invests in Berlin-based Blockchain Startup to develop Platform for Vehicle Management https://buff.ly/2WglSvr 
    • Jumia (started by #Berlin-based Rocket Internet): The e-commerce start-up that fell from grace via BBC Africa
      A year after its much-heralded debut on the New York Stock Exchange, e-commerce start-up Jumia has shut down in three African states, struggled to turn a profit and got dumped by its original owners,  https://buff.ly/2VNqclA?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-
    • #Berlin-based „B2B Food Group“ with brands like Caterwings, Lemoncat, Monbanquet, and OrderIn retreats from the German home market as a consequence of #Covid19, to focus on other markets https://buff.ly/3d4kVw4 

     

    Stay Ahead of the Curve

    This Month in German Startups – April 2020

    This Month in German Startups – April 2020

     

    If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

     

    Reach out to us, here is our audience survey, to give us feedback, suggest topics, interview partners or just to say “Hallo!” https://forms.gle/mLV6mVKwGwKuut8BA 

     

    Find the hosts here:

    Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io / Twitter  / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018)

    Chris Fahrenbach chris@startuprad.io / Twitter / Homepage / Video Interview (2018)

     

    Enabler

    This recording was made possible by (Hessen Trade and Invest). Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/

     

    Together with our enabler we are running a podcast called “Tech Startups Germany”, which will focus on startups at a Serie A stage or even more mature. You will also find all the videos we produce for this podcast on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/startupradio. This podcast is available directly on our device as audio and video podcast, yes, Startuprad.io makes the first downloadable video podcast. Find all options to subscribe here: 

     

     

    Housekeeping – Time to brag

    A tiny bit of hope is back, so we do a bit a of bragging again:

    Wow, the days around Easter have been AMAZING for Startuprad.io. We retained our position in Chartable’s Global Top 100 Technology and Global Top 100 Science Charts, but we also entered the iTunes Technology Charts in Vietnam for the first time. Again in the US and UK welcomed us to their Apple Technology Podcast Charts again in the Top 200 https://twitter.com/startuprad_io/status/1252523750123352066

     

    You can subscribe to Startuprad.io here:

    Our Sub-Podcasts:

     

    Housekeeping – tracking startups we interviewed

     

    InvestSuite snaps up €2 million to grow its investment tools for banks and brokers https://buff.ly/3dQLGoy 
    Learn more about them in the Startuprad.io interview here: https://buff.ly/2X960cG  (the interview was published on 18th of December 2018)

     

    The video will go live on Thursday, April 30th, 19.00 CET

     

    Coronavirus / Covid19

    __________________

    We are working with Startup Genome to quantify the impact of the crisis on startups and push for adapted policy action now. They’re doing it all over the world so they’ll be able to prove how good policy action is saving startups—and lack of policy is disastrous.

    If you had an ongoing startup before the crisis, please take 5 min. to contribute right now: 

    • If you since had to close it click here
    • Otherwise, if your startup is ongoing and even if you paused operations, click here

    We need hundreds of founders to do so–and you know it’s not easy.  

    __________________

    #Funding in times of Corona

    #Government aid and direct loans

    Related:

    • Germany’s $2.2 Billion Bailout for Startups Stuck by Who Pays Up – Bloomberg https://buff.ly/2RRNOTP 
    • Corona aid for companies in #Hessen (German only) | Hessisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Verkehr und Wohnen https://buff.ly/2WQY8P4
    • KfW emergency credit application volume reaches 7.4 bn Euros according to @FAZ exclusive coverage https://buff.ly/2Jg52FP  

    30 applications with a total volume of 6 mn Euros filed by startups and „young companies“

     

    As you may know we try to expose you to different angles of the same story. Here is another interesting point talking about challenger banks

     

      • N26 Says Bank Closures May Drive Mobile Banking Adoption https://buff.ly/3bDdsTO writes Bloomberg on March 23rd
        • “We assume that many people will open an online account because more and more bank branches are closing due to the corona crisis. Online banking will become much more important,” Chief Financial Officer Maximilian Tayenthal said in a telephone interview on Monday.
      • “Digital bank signups dive in lockdown” https://buff.ly/2VEcdOU writes Sifted on the other hand, but on April 27th.

     

    • “Europe’s top challenger banks saw a drop in digital downloads last month in a sign that the coronavirus lockdown may be negatively impacting business. 
    • Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 saw their growth rate drop by between 18% and 36% in their native markets*, according to an analysis by Priori Data commissioned by Sifted.”

     

     

    #Additional resources, related to funding in times of corona

     

    • “Investors then–and now–quickly turned inward to assess their existing portfolio companies’ health to create strategies for those who have shorter runways and would need to cut back. Today, as then, companies are advised to plan for two years without raising new funding. All startups have to throw out previous business plans, reassess expenses, sales projections and risks.”
    • We found this article since we screen the blog on a regular basis. But it is also mentioned in the post above: 
      What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era https://buff.ly/2W6EgqP “Let’s break down the trends by series. The earlier the stage the company, the less it was impacted.”

     

      • Useful: How (not) to pitch to an investor over video call | Siftedeu https://buff.ly/33N5nsQ 
        • … “re-read: Don’t jump on the call without sending the presentation in advance. …
        • Questions in advance: One primarily for the investors. Help the founders set the agenda by taking the time to go through the deck and tell them the areas you want to focus on and key questions you want to cover in the meeting. …
        • Agenda: Don’t wing it! Always set an agenda and manage the time allocated for the meeting (the previous tip really helps on this front). 
        • …”
      • Investor wisdom for startups to get through coronavirus | Sifted https://buff.ly/2QURRhG

     

    • “Tip number 3: Rule of three
      Axa Venture Partners is advising founders to think of coronavirus as a three-part crisis: first, confinement; second, when people are allowed to leave their homes again; and third, the mid to long run.”

     

     

    Positive news

    Global VC Partech closes €92.3M funding to invest in post-COVID trends in health, finance, mobility & more | @SiliconCanals https://buff.ly/2zyHIRP

     

    Ecosystem 

     

    On a more general note, from April 6th: “Startup funding during the crisis: What’s really going on?” https://buff.ly/39LcWlh 

    • Investors are still investing 
    • Valuations are likely to be lower, reflecting the new market conditions
    • No sectors are ‘off-limits’ 
    • Some investors will disappear for a while
    • It’s worth looking into government funding schemes 
    • It’s important for startups to keep developing, even if they’ve become incredibly lean

     

    If you want to keep up to date, there is a free “Weekly global economic update” https://buff.ly/2Jfkku9

     

    Fintech could be hit especially hard. We found two articles on the topic
    Fintech in a downturn: Why some sectors are vulnerable | Sifted https://buff.ly/2UzrVJl 

    How Covid-19 Is Impacting Fintech Financing | CB Insights Research https://buff.ly/2R61Kcw

     

    Hubs

    #Frankfurt / Rhine-Main

    Frankfurt-based and listed creditshelf, a p2p credit market place for SMEs, doubles revenue and reduces losses https://buff.ly/2UkEzx6 

    Here is the link to our interview with them from April 2019: https://www.startuprad.io/exclusive/do-you-know-creditshelf-it-is-germanys-only-listed-pure-play-fintech/ 

    The link is the audio file, here is the video: https://youtu.be/GdY2pJeh1tE 

     

    Scoutbee launches free tool to help organisations search for COVID-19 support-related supplies – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/2wOewFI

     

    Merck Venture Arm Invests in Quantum Computing Startup Seeqc https://www.wsj.com/articles/merck-venture-arm-invests-in-quantum-computing-startup-seeqc-11586454285

     

    German holding company Haniel buys majority stake in Emma, a #Frankfurt-based „sleep tech“ startup https://buff.ly/2Vv956V (keep that in mind for later, the companies section)

     

    #Mainz / Rhine-Main

    Mainz-based BioNTech, Pfizer To Begin COVID-19 Clinical Trial In Germany https://buff.ly/3bvPYAr 

    Related:

    BioNTech: has been approached “several times” to sell the whole company outright, but is not interested https://buff.ly/3aCbQss

    RhineMain.vc 

    Startups and tech companies in the greater Rhine-Main-Area raised more than 310 mn Euros in funding for Q1 2020. Four large deals have been driving the numbers (Volocopter additional 32 mn Euros for their Series C, Scoutbee 54 mn Euros, BionNTech (from above) got 135 mn US$ for the Covid19 research and Iwoca got 100 mn Euros to lent from their German Headquarter in Frankfurt to German SMEs and startups) learn more here: https://buff.ly/39PRuvm

    Kassel 

    Information company Schufa and fintech Fino set up a joint company, to help fight money laundry https://buff.ly/2VtV35j 

    Hamburg

    German Fintech NAGA Turns Profitable | Finance Magnates https://buff.ly/2xs6xyh

    Munich

    Abracar, the professional car broker – backed by Allianz with 11.5 mn Euros – will be liquidated. Reasons are a strategy shift at AllianzX (turning their unit from a company builder to a later stage investor) and the coronavirus, which makes the business almost going flat. Even Auto1 has many of its employees in Kurzarbeit https://buff.ly/3eS6GvL 

    Wirecard AG: KPMG delivers report on special investigation „Incriminating evidence for the public allegations of balance sheet forgery has not been identified.“

    https://buff.ly/2SbVb8A 

    Note our special blog post on the whole story here:

    https://www.startuprad.io/blog/wirecard-vs-financial-times-the-history-which-lead-to-a-special-audit/

     

    Companies

    #Insolvencies

    Berlin-based #startup Tausendkind has to file for #insolvency, due to #coronavirus https://buff.ly/3dDgOb6 they have been an online shop for children’s apparel

     

    #mattresses (remember from above?)

    Three months after their IPO Casper retreats from Europe and cuts more than 20% of its workforce to save more than 10 mn US$ annually. CFO and COO to leave May 15th! This also means shutting down their office in Berlin https://buff.ly/2RYiYZy 

     

    #Online groceries getting real boos with Covid19

    Picnic opens a second fulfillment center in Germany https://buff.ly/2UFKXPJ

     

    #There are still some fundraisings and exits:

    Germany’s Xpension pension platform raises €25M in a Series C growth round – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/34a5uPe

     

    German security firm Avira has been acquired by Investcorp at a $180M valuation – TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/08/german-security-firm-avira-has-been-acquired-by-investcorp-at-a-180m-valuation/

     

    # There is life next to Amazon

    Otto ( #Germany’s No 2 in #ecommerce) sees sales grow 9 percent to 3.5 billion euros in 2019 https://buff.ly/2ULHFum the company has it’s origins in catalogue mailing business and is the only one, which made a transformation in Germany. Both former competitors Neckermann and Quelle have gone out of business (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcandor). Sad note, at one point they belonged to – what is now part of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof – which also had to file for insolvency during Corona. We see the retail transformation in Germany in real time. 

     

    Stay Ahead of the Curve

    There is a survey of the impact of Covid19 on UK startups: https://public.flourish.studio/story/279152/

    Few startups have significantly cut headcount, but 80% have stopped or slowed hiring, in view of a meaningful revenue drop and negative projections.

    Revenue implications:

     

    • 40% have seen March revenues drop by over 25%
    • 68% expect full-year revenues to drop more than 25% below plans

     

    Staff cost implications:

     

    • 49% have frozen hiring, another 32% have slowed hiring
    • 16% have committed to laying off at least 10% of staff
    • 26% have committed to furloughing at least 10% of staff
    • 30% have cut salaries across the company by at least 15%

     

    Many startups have sought to reduce non-staff costs, in view of a more challenging funding environment.

    _____________________________

    The next outbreak? We’re not ready for – Ted Talk by Bill Gates from 2015 on YouTube it appears no one listened? https://buff.ly/2wc5IsC

     

    Sales During COVID-19: What We’re Seeing – Bowery Capital https://buff.ly/34eNMdC

     

    Planning and Managing Layoffs – Andreessen Horowitz https://a16z.com/2020/03/31/planning-and-managing-layoffs/

    This Month in German Startups – March 2020

    This Month in German Startups – March 2020

    If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

     

    Feedback

    Reach out to us, here is our audience survey, to give us feedback, suggest topics, interview partners or just to say “Hallo!” https://forms.gle/mLV6mVKwGwKuut8BA 

     

    Find the hosts here:

    Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io / Twitter  / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018)

    Chris Fahrenbach chris@startuprad.io / Twitter / Homepage / Video Interview (2018)

    Note that Chris decided to stay in New York to be able to report from there, which is the epicenter of the US corona outbrake! Thank you for that!

    Enabler

    This recording was made possible by (Hessen Trade and Invest). Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/

    Together with our enabler, we are running a podcast called “Tech Startups Germany”, which will focus on startups at a Serie A stage or even more mature. You will also find all the videos we produce for this podcast on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/startupradio. This podcast is available directly on our device as audio and video podcast, yes, Startuprad.io makes the first downloadable video podcast. Find all options to subscribe here: 

    ______________________________________
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    Housekeeping

    No bragging this time.

    Now there is

     

    Coronavirus / Covid19

    We will bring you weekly short updates, called Corona Flash. This is meant to keep you updated on the most recent developments, relevant for startups.

     

    German Government in Talks With Startups on Survival Package – Bloomberg https://buff.ly/2vB6zmu

    Related 

    Covid19 response by the German Government
    50 bn € aid for freelancers and SMEs
    400 bn € guarantees and 100 bn € for equity stakes
    100 bn € for liquidity aid via KfW
    DER SPIEGEL https://buff.ly/3bnrc54 

     

     Important Knowledge Sources for Startups on Covid19 and policy responses

    The first victims of #Covid19 in Germany are Maredo (a chain of steakhouses), as well as Vapiano, who both have to file for insolvency. We are afraid there will be more … https://buff.ly/2QH8HjM 

     

    Keep in mind, there are many people out there looking for help AND THERE WILL BE SCAMMERS, so validate your sources, start from associations and government pages. Be wary of potential scams. 

     

    This video is set to go live on Thursday, March 26th 16.00 CET (11 am EDT (New York, Boston), 15.00 GMT (London))

    Ecosystem

    Looking beyond the #coronavirus scare: It may have set in motion a boom for delivery robots, for food and parcels https://buff.ly/2PAebwu 

     

    What Coronavirus Could Mean for the Global Economy https://buff.ly/33K6MAg  

    “Yet, a closer look reveals that a recession should not be seen as a foregone conclusion.  

    ….

    There is no doubt that financial markets now ascribe significant disruptive potential to Covid-19, and those risks are real. But the variations in asset valuations underline the significant uncertainty surrounding this epidemic, and history cautions us against drawing a straight line between financial market sell-offs and the real economy. …”
    Bottom line: You should have everything from a long recession to a V-shaped recovery in your planning scenarios!

     

    What happens when VCs go out fundraising | Sifted https://buff.ly/2PVYNKL 

    “It’s a pretty humbling experience, several VCs told me. The ratio of limited partners (LPs) to VC general partners (GPs) is around 1:4, which means there are far more VCs hunting for cash than people prepared to offer it to them. (The ratio of women to men is about as bad.)

    ….

    This year, the odds of success were made worse by coronavirus; many VCs had several meetings cancelled by LPs who’d decided not to fly over. Hand sanitiser was scattered liberally around the conference, and some VCs adopted fist bumps instead of handshakes to keep on the safe side. …”

     

    Funding in the Time of Coronavirus https://buff.ly/32W96E6 by Mark Suster, now VC at Upfront Ventures (LA) 

    “A $40m pre-money deal today ma fund at $20m pre-money in 6 months even if the financial performance hasn’t changed. …

    While nobody knows for sure what will happen, I think coronavirus is more likely to be seen as a “Black Swan” event (like 9/11) where the world will be very different as a result.”

     

    The #Coronavirus Outbreak Has Erased Nearly $460B Of Big Tech’s Market Cap | CB Insights Research https://buff.ly/39IPyWm

     

    Hubs

    #Frankfurt / Rhine-Main

    Covid19

    • This German biotech startup that’s working on a coronavirus cure has captured the world’s attention https://buff.ly/2ITg6Zi
      • Related: CureVac’s Ingmar Hoerr tells us why he returned to take on a pandemic; NGM loses a president https://buff.ly/2QvlPIR 
    • Fosun and BioNTech launch $135m vaccine hunt for coronavirus https://buff.ly/39ejGHW 
    •  You can find here an overview of how #startups from #Hesse help to combat #Covid19 – Technologieland Hessen https://buff.ly/3doy5oo 

     

    #Drones in RheinMain

    • Bruchsal-based Volocopter extends its Series C to €87 million to pioneer air taxi services | EU-Startups https://buff.ly/2PpfpdJ 
    • Drone startup Wingcopter secures a further seven-digit investment from Corecam https://buff.ly/3aBD7f7 

     

    Being a fintech CEO is good, at least if you are in Frankfurt https://buff.ly/2VluOzs 

    Some of the C-Level employees of the startups are earning 500.000 Euros or more a year, according to their annual reports. Note that this salary is not outrageous compared to the position the people could hold elsewhere, especially in Frankfurt. 

    Take for example here the list of what startups in the US pay their CEOs. Some upward of 4 million USD a year (in one case even beyond 100 mn USD) https://about.crunchbase.com/blog/startup-ceo-salary/ The whole discussion was started because one CEO in Berlin earned more than 130.000 Euros a year. This seems to be a very German discussion.

     

    Iwoca, with German headquarters in Frankfurt, raises 100 mn Euros to hand out as credit in Germany to its clients | FinanceFWD https://buff.ly/3aatsfb  it could be a test for a much larger investment

     

    #Savedroid Saga

    #Frankfurt-based Savedroid wins court ruling and share price rises, is this the first sign of a turn around asks FinanceFWD https://buff.ly/2vvHOIq 

     

    Meet #Frankfurt-based capheniatec, they are all about carbon-neutral synthetic fuels https://buff.ly/3cD8dEZ 

     

    Augsburg

    Cioplenu, the #SaaS for ‘deskless’ workers on the production floor, raises €4.2M seed https://buff.ly/2VAt2dV

     

    More to the south: Munich

    Do you know the startup Fraundorfer Aeronautics, from Munich? They are developing a helicopter with fuel cells https://buff.ly/3an1Pzs

    Munich-based #airtaxi startup Lilium raises 224 mn Euro VentureCapital https://buff.ly/2Uy5CnD 

     

    Companies

    #Penta

    Funding Circle’s losses grow to £84.2m amid European layoffs „A significant factor was a £34.3m “non-cash exceptional write-down” of goodwill and intangible assets in Germany and the Netherlands“  https://buff.ly/3d3DNvS Keep in mind, they bought Berlin based Rocket Internet startup Zencap. 

     

    Do you know these seven startups from #Germany? They all raised beyond 10 mn Euros #VentureCapital https://buff.ly/3aoXR9K?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-

    Lanes & Planes (10 mn US$)

    Limehome (21 mn Euros)

    Mister Spex (15 mn Euros recently, 65 mn € before)

    Sanity Group (20 mn Euros)

    Soundcloud (75 mn US$, more than 542 mn US$ according to Crunchbase)

    Tier Mobility (Series B extended to beyond 100 mn US$)

    Volocopter (Series C recently extended to 87 mn Euros)

     

    #S/MDAX

    Hellofresh ascents from small caps (SDAX) to medium caps index (MDAX)  https://buff.ly/2TSwbU7 
    They used to be a Rocket Internet startup, but Rocket sold their 29% stake in 2019 (we talked about it https://buff.ly/2PYGncx) 

    Related:

    HelloFresh now has 3 mn customers and stopped burning cash in 2019. They want to grow to 2,2 bn € (+22%) revenue, focusing on profit via Exciting Commerce https://buff.ly/38kDlFN

     

    Does it smell good here? 🙂

    Online perfumery Flaconi is growing 48% and misses the 200 mn Euro mark. https://buff.ly/2TyhB52 Exciting has a great overview of the tough competition between pure online players and brick and mortar retailers (Douglas)

    #Scooter wars

    #New Funding Sources:

    • Target Global launches €120 million Early-Stage Fund II to back tech founders across Europe | EU-Startups https://buff.ly/2SUETBR
    • #Zurich-based #VentureCapital investor Lakestar raises $735 mln for Europe bets „will invest one-third of the commitments to its Early Stage fund and two thirds to its Growth Stage fund “ https://buff.ly/2T76UoA
    • RTP Global (known for investments like Delivery Hero) announcing new €581M early-stage fund to back tech startups | Silicon Canals https://buff.ly/39hWPMB?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0- 

      

    #Unicorn watch

    • N26 raises fees, in some cases whopping 66 percent https://buff.ly/32Ph55Z
      • Customer blunders and tensions at the top – behind N26’s failed UK expansion | Sifted 
    • #Munich based #ecommerce startup Westwing reshuffles its management, CFO is out and the CEO (and founder) takes 6 month maternal leave https://buff.ly/2wvEY68 the company ipo’d in October 2018 for 23 Euros a share, currently it is trading barely above 3 Euros.

     

    #CVC Watch – Fintechs

    Want to know where Deutsche Bank invests in #fintechs? Look here: https://buff.ly/3cDSG7S 

    • TrustBills
    • dwins 
    • vermietet
    • ImmoBeratung 
    • Deposit Solution 

     

    #Exits

    • VC arm of German TV station ProSiebenSat1 and General Atlantic buy (as expected) with their joint venture NuCom Group – The Meet Group, an online dating and social entertainment company https://buff.ly/2TMuRSH 
    • Former CFO of online sex shop Amorelie build #Berlin-based sex toy company Wow Tech and sold it to PE fund CDH from Singapur  https://buff.ly/2IJwo70 #TechNews #startup #startups #startupnews #entrepreneur #business #TechnologyNews 

     

    Stay ahead of the curve

    The impact of COVID-19 on investment management | Deloitte Insights https://buff.ly/2Wq4Awn

    Impact of COVID-19 on insurers | Deloitte Insights https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/economy/covid-19/impact-of-covid-19-on-insurers.html?id=us:2em:3pa:financial-services:eng:di:031720 

    Banking and capital markets: Implications of COVID-19 | Deloitte Insights https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/economy/covid-19/banking-and-capital-markets-impact-covid-19.html?id=us:2em:3pa:financial-services:eng:di:031720