Fintech Germany - By Startuprad.io

Happy 2023, as well as a happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. 2023 Chris and Joe will again bring you startup news once a month (with a small summer break) wrapping up what was going on — and we found noteworthy — in the GSA / DACH startups scene.Our Highlights:WeFox is under fire for growing with acquisitions of insurance broker pools, BioNTech makes largest acquisition in its history, DeepL confirms unicorn status and snipes at Grammarly, Solarisbank in trouble with BaFin, Trade Republic has to disclose numbers and Sono Motors gets longer runway with EU money.Let's talk startups:Subscribe HereFind all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradioOur EnablersInvest-in-HessenThis show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Look for Tech Startups Germany here: https://linktr.ee/startupradioStartupraven.comThe best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: Startup RavenTop NewsWeFox got some splaining to do

Executive SummaryIn this episode, we have the privilege to explore fintech and banking in 2023 alongside Paolo, Global Research Leader for Banking and Capital Markets for IBM. He offers his insight into fintech and banking twenty years from now. We examine the strategies important for capital markets, fintech, and banking and the forces shaping their future. Paolo shares with us that these players need to be cognizant of their strategy choices, as well as how different successful platforms will be in the future. Last but not least, he impresses how imperative it is to start reasonably preparing for quantum computing today. It is a must-listen episode that provides tremendous insight into fintech growth and innovation.Subscribe Herehttps://linktr.ee/startupradioOur Sponsor StartupravenA startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day - no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance.The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: https://startupraven.com/The ExpertPaolo is a fintech entrepreneur and thought leader who stands out from the crowd. He has been at the forefront of innovation in banking and fintech for nearly two decades. He has served as an experienced banker and risk manager, having held senior positions in major firms. In 2008, he founded Capitecs, an innovative startup based in Frankfurt that would eventually be acquired by IBM in 2012. Since then, Sironi has continued to innovate and lead the global research efforts for the IBM consulting institute, particularly in banking, fintech, and capital markets. He has also released five bestselling books on various fintech-related topics that have further established him as an authority figure. Paolo Sironi serves as a testament to success resulting from fintech expertise gained through experience in traditional banking institutions.His most recent one is "Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies: Contextual and Conscious Banking (The Wiley Finance Series)" you can buy it and learn more here: https://amzn.to/3XC3OIU (AL)His other books are:FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification https://amzn.to/3IOHqrM (AL)MiFID II: Value-Generation for Investors https://amzn.to/3iFtQML (AL)Modern Portfolio Management: From Markowitz to Probabilistic Scenario Optimisation https://amzn.to/3iFtQML (AL)Financial Market Transparency: Essay on Financial Markets Theory https://amzn.to/3Wi7z5j (AL)金融科技创新 (Fintech Innovation Mandarin Edition): https://amzn.to/3Wi7z5j (AL)Thoughts To PonderPaolo, a fintech entrepreneur, banker, and thought leader in risk management, believes that banks are unable to compete on the level of volume needed to match that of tech giants. In order to stay competitive and provide value for their customers, fintech must set their sights on delivering superior service rather than chasing the same levels of scale. With his books and writing, Paolo has created a framework through which bankers and fintech entrepreneurs alike can better target value-based services in order to gain...

Executive SummaryIn this bonus episode of our expert interview series, Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics at INSEAD, joins us to provide insights into the current situation with FTX. We've gathered a good deal of information about the collapse so far but there is still much that remains unknown. We delved into some of the known facts surrounding FTX and pondered together on what could happen in the future. It's clear from our discussion that FTX was not a regulated financial institution, and also had its own unique challenges. We'll be keeping an eye out for more developments related to FTX as time goes on to see what other lessons we can learn.I do believe there are other places where entities are insolvent, we just have not seen it yet.Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics Subscribe HereWe are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. https://linktr.ee/startupradioFTX suffered from bad management and likely fraud as wellAntonio Fatas, Professor of EconomicsBackgroundAs crypto continues to grow into a new and important market, the digital asset industry has been rocked by the sudden collapse of one of its biggest crypto exchanges - FTX. Led by crypto personality Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX had previously been ranked as the world's third-biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, so its downfall came as quite a shock to crypto investors. This news is sure to cause ripples throughout the crypto industry for a long time, and it serves as another reminder that despite its rising popularity, crypto remains an unpredictable and high-risk gamble. Regulators may now have a different view on the risks and regulations of crypto. Antonio Fatas, Professor of EconomicsThis event echoed Mt Gox's downfall although the underlying problem was quite different. Unlike Mt. Gox which fell victim to hack, FTX merely could not keep up with the sudden demand for withdrawals caused by investors who were losing faith in the platform. The resulting effect sent FTT, their native token, tumbling and kicked off a domino effect causing customers to rush out of the exchange and further crippling its ability to sustain itself, leading inevitably to its demise.I find it very revealing that these tokens that are supposed to work with high inflation, because the central banks are all crazy but this is the way to hold on to your purchasing power. Now that we have inflation, they are collapsing. That to me is a really red flag.Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics Bitcoin crashed, Ethereum crashed, and almost every other major token did the same. Then Binance stepped in, with the world's number one exchange announcing it would buy FTX and ensure everyone gets repaid. But just as soon as the market settled, Binance announced a U-turn, saying the situation at FTX was beyond recovery. The implications from the complase of FTX will be felt for crypto for the coming years in more an thougher regulations. That is why we will follow the story. We start with a discussion of the situation with our guest. Professor Fatas.The ExpertAntonio is an influential professor of economics with an impressive set of credentials. With a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University and a research fellowship at the Centre for Economic and Policy Research in London, he brings broad expertise to his job as a Professor of...

Management SummaryWelcome to a Startuprad.io tradition, airing on December 25th. A review of the most important events in Fintech from the perspective of our guests for the 8th year in a row right now. The most important development in the fintech world was for most guests the FTX collapse. During the recordings agreed that fintech investments have seen a peak — there will be a valley behind it, but there will be new investment records achieved after the expected recession. As next hot topics emerged embedded finance and crypto. Not all crypto will be hot again, only with a sustainable business model, there is a future according to our guests. Actually, some guests welcomed a shakeout of the market — albeit it should not have been that violent and long. Leave Us a Good ReviewWe would be more than happy if you rate and review us either on YouTube, your podcast app of choice, or on the internet radio station you are listening to us right now.Introduction to our Fintech ReviewFor years Startuprad.io makes an annual fintech review, where practitioners, investors, and fintech folks get to wrap up their year. The focus is on GSA, but it seems to be more and more the case that markets get more interconnected and trends follow each other in much shorter time spans. It is also a tradition that we publish it on December 25th. Keep in mind that since the first fintech review the field has changed and broadened a lot! Really a lot. Where it used to be only payment apps, now there are fintechs in insurance, crypto, proptech, banking, SME banking, capital markets, and much much more. So we thought we would invite guests from a diverse range of backgrounds to give you their perspective on the time of corona, the year 2022, and the outlook for next year.Our guest this year:Meeri Savolainen, CEO and Co-Founder of Insurtech INZMOLuca Frignani, CEO and Co-Founder of Credit Platform ExaloanHenrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Crypto Custody Bank FinoaFrank Schwab, Co-Founder of the Fintech Forum and multiple supervisory board memberOur questions to the guests:What was the most important development in the fintech world in 2022?Do you think fintech has peaked in terms of investments — as some data suggests?What is the next hot topic in fintech? Is crypto making a comeback or are we all focusing on API tools for embedding finance functions?If you have one: What was the most interesting fintech development for you during corona?If you have one: What was the most important piece of news in 2022?Thank you very much for your valuable time and insights. We wish you much success in 2023 and happy holidays!Blog Post With Links and Show Noteshttps://medium.com/startuprad-io/fintech-review-germany-switzerland-and-austria-gsa-2022-97b12122e34b#startup #germany #austria #switzerland #fintechreview #startupradio #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #investing #venturecapital #crypto #embedded #custodyMentioned in this episode:Kickstart your Entrepreneurial Journey with Next Big ThingKickstart your entrepreneurial journey with Next Big Thing's 100-day deep tech incubation program. NBT Visionaries gives remarkable founders a playground to rapidly validate, build, and scale new IoT and AI-powered business models to create high-tech solutions at lightning speed. NBT gives you a chance to co-found your solution with runway capital, tailored guidance, top-tier talent, hands-on support, industry partners, and more. Be part of the next batch and apply by the 15th of January with your B2B tech idea to take off with us towards Industry 4.0. Learn more at...

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups, our startup news wrap-up for December 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on December 19th, 2022. Keep in mind, this news episode covers everything since our last news episode.As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode, which will be January 2023, the first news for 2023. Guys, another year is over! Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog, link belowOur Highlights:Enpal makes huge fundraising in the current environment, more than 800 mn €. Sennder doubles its valuation in the next funding round to 2 bn US$ and has already 60 mn commitments. The funding environment may be bleak, but investors announced new funds for VC and PE investments worth 3.1 bn US$ targeting startups and scaleups in GSA or Europe. One blog asks if the time of Rocket Internet is over, Matter Labs raises 200 mn, a big heist drives a startup into insolvency and Getir buys Gorillas for 1,2 bn US$, a far cry from Gorillas' former 3 bn US$ valuation.Let's talk startups:Top News Enpal FundraisingEnpal could double its valuation in the new funding round. Berlin-based unicorn Enpal closes €855 million in debt funding to accelerate the adoption of solar energy.Sennder Raises New Funds At Double ValuationDigital forwarder unicorn Sennder is raising new money, at a 2 bn US$ valuation. According to the report, they already have 60m commitments.Fundraising For VCs Went Quite Well - More Than 3.1 bn Euros Worth of New Investment Funds Have Been ClosedThe largest is EQT Ventures. It has Money if your startup needs it: EQT Ventures III closes Europe's largest venture capital fund committed to early-stage tech startups. The money will go to early-stage startups in Europe and North America. For more funds, wait for our later section with new fund announcements.A service for our audience: Learn more and send in pitches here: https://eqtgroup.com/current-portfolio/funds/eqt-ventures-iii Has Rocket Internet Already Seen Its Best Years?"Mucho trouble over at Rocket Internet," wrote Robin Wauters in his readworthy newsletter for Tech.eu. The article asks if their era is over. Staff cuts and investment stop point in that direction.Startup Brand RankingJung von Matt publishes their annual GERMAN STARTUP BRAND RANKINGSome of the top 50 startup brands are known from our news: About You, Flink, Numa Group, getquin, Vivid, Flaschenpost, Tier Mobility, Zolar, Enpal, Sono Motors, Trade RepublicMatter Labs raises 200 mn US$Matter Labs, the Berlin, Germany-based developer of zkSync, a solution that reduces the cost of Ethereum transactions, raised $200M in Series C funding https://buff.ly/3UorChpNot Oceans Eleven, But Still BIGBerlin-based luxury watch marketplace Watchmaster was one of the largest marketplaces of its kind. After a spectacular robbery where 10 m € worth of watches have been stolen the company has to file for insolvency https://buff.ly/3Fi3qsG Getir Buys Gorillas And It Is Not Going Well For the Gorillas FounderFirst, this kind of news appeared: Getir will take over Gorillas soon - according to press reports. The negotiations have been dragging on for some time now.Then, we got the confirmation: Getir acquires German competitor Gorillas in $1.2 billion deal - where Gorillas was once valued at 3 bn...

Executive SummaryFilip is a founding partner of Cherry Ventures, one of Germany's most important seed investors. Their portfolio includes unicorns like Flixbus, Auto1 Group, Forto, Infarm, and well-known startups like Amorelie, Kitchen Stories, Flaschenpost, Spryker, and Superlist. Their portfolio also includes our former guests: Qualifyze, Sanity Group, and Rows. Filip has a background as an entrepreneur himself, so he and Cherry approach startup investing differently. Tune in to learn more about him and the VC.“We have software helping us to find good startups, for example, if you are head of product at a good startup and change your title to ‘working on something new' we get notified.”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry VenturesSubscribe HereWe are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below.The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree“I really believe an investor should be stage focused”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry VenturesThe FounderFilip Dames has had an accomplished career, starting out as an intern in Malaysia with DaimlerChrysler, at BCG, and Sony BMG in New York City. Following his venture into the corporate world, he then founded a collectible marketplace called Tamundo. There he went on to oversee the international expansion of Zalando and become the founder and CEO of Zalando Lounge (Zalando's shopping club). The venture was a success, helping Zalando to go public in 2014. He decided to leave the company, making his 30th birthday also his Zalando farewell party.From there Filip decided to venture off and focus on venture capital; so it came as no surprise when he started Cherry Ventures in 2013 in Berlin as business angel and startup investor. With tickets of 10.000–50.000€ they are dedicated to helping Germany, Europe, and beyond with investments for entrepreneurs wanting to make their visions reality.“We invest almost exclusively in Europe”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry VenturesCherry VenturesCherry Ventures (https://www.cherry.vc/) is an early-stage venture capital fund founded and led by former entrepreneurs. They are focusing on European seed-stage companies in the B2B and B2C space. Cherry invests there at the pre-seed- and seed stage with initial tickets between €500k and €5M.“Founders first and investors second” is the motto of Cherry VenturesThey started out with their first fund with their own money and the money of close friends, much less than 10 m €. From there they build a portfolio of 30 companies, of which some did really well. This in turn enabled them to raise an institutional fund, worth 150 m Euros. In the second fund, successful entrepreneurs from the first fund invested like the founder of Amorelie or the founders of Flixbus.Their portfolio is already pretty impressive and includes names our frequent followers will recognize, unicorns like Flixbus, Auto1 Group, Forto, Infarm. But they are also investors in well-known startups like Amorelie, Kitchen Stories, Flaschenpost, Spryker, and Superlist. Their portfolio also includes former guests, Qualifyze, Sanity Group, and Rows, for which you can find the interview link in the show notes.Further Readings / Additional ResourcesQualifyze (audio only) https://player.captivate.fm/episode/220f49cc-2ef1-471a-bd5b-504d9235e892Sanity Group

Our Highlights: FTX may be history, BUT a German Blog reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX. FTX also triggered Bitpanda to order a special audit from KPMG. We have some more job cuts, this time the 2nd round. Gorillas may sell itself at 1 bn USD even though they have raised 1.3 bn USD in venture capital already. Air taxis are still hot, Volocopter raises more than 180 m US$ to get closer to certification and Lilium sells 100 Airtaxis to Saudi Arabia. The German VC market is stabilizing, according to KfW Research. Our former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and pockets 100 m Euros. Gitpod, a startup from Kiel convinces the founders of GitHub and Shopify to invest.Let's talk startups:Our Sponsor StartupravenThe best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/Find all options to follow us and subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradioTop News FTX may soon be History, BUTA German blog Finance Forward reports there are several parties interested in buying the European Entity of FTX, which is headquartered in Switzerland. Their information has been spot-on in other cases in the past.Job Cuts Keep Coming - 2nd Round NowProptechs Homeday and McMakler enter the second round of job cuts. Homeday cuts 20 jobs (60 before) and McMakler again 100 employeesGorillas May Sell Itself at a Huge DiscountSequoia-backed grocery startup Getir is close to buying its troubled rival Gorillas in a heavily discounted deal said to be worth less than $1 billion. They have been valued at their series C investment at 2.1 bn US$ and to date they raised more than 1.3 bn US$.Related: Deutsche-Startups uncovered that Gorillas (which is in the process of selling itself) paid 300 m € this year for french competitor Frichti.Lilium Sells 100 Airtaxis Saudi Arabia buys 100 air taxis from Munich -based startup Lilium. The delivery is expected 2025. Before the deal, they also hired former Airbus executive Klaus Roewe. Fingers crossed for them, they did not generate revenue yet, but 841 m Euros in losses so far. Volocopter Raises 182 M US$Volocopter raises $182M to bring air taxi closer to certification, as part of their Series E funding The company is currently testing its two-seater VoloCity air taxi for the requirements set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Volocopter is looking to certify its aircraft in H2 2023 and generate revenue with rides in 2024.Creditshelf Partners with Goldman SachsOur former guest Creditshelf partners with Goldman Sachs and hits profitability - Goldman Sachs is providing the German alternative lender for SMEs with up to €100m of secured funding. Learn more in our interview with Creditshelf here https://buff.ly/3NVANo1 Creditshelf is Germany's only listed pure-play fintech, offering a credit platform, where investors can grant credit to German small and medium enterprises.Mentioned in this episode:Our EnablersYounium Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/ Tvarit Tvarit is an industrial ai startup, that helps companies to reduce rejections by 40%-60% in metal casting, as well as saving up to 18% on energy. Learn more here: https://www.tvarit.com/Startupraven.comThe best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/

Executive Summary We hear from Meeri, who is the co-founder of INZMO (Insurance on Mobile). She co-founded the Berlin-based insurtech which helps to make simple insurance contracts via an app. The simple approach also made them one of the fastest-growing insurtechs in Europe. In the interview we talk about her journey from a corporate lawyer to an entrepreneur, pivoting and founding INZMO. We also talk about how a simple insurance contract via an app could turn 50 bn € sitting on bank accounts productive again. Tune in to learn more. “Our mantra is that insurance just has to be there, hidden in other products. You only realize it is there when you need it.”Meeri Savolainen, CEO and Co-Founder INZMO Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree “We want to be one of the service providers, … who help you to have a fun, free and flexible live.”Meeri Savolainen, CEO and Co-Founder INZMO Our Enablers Younium Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/ Tvarit Tvarit is an industrial ai startup, that helps companies to reduce rejections by 40%-60% in metal casting, as well as saving up to 18% on energy. Learn more here: https://www.tvarit.com/ Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early stage startups. Sign up for early access here: Startup Raven The Founder Today we're joined by Meeri, the CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based insurtech startup INZMO. Meeri is a lawyer by training, and she spent several years working in the corporate world before deciding to start her own company. Her co-founders include Risto Klausen a former professional motorcycle road racer and multiple Estonian and Baltic Champion in the Superbike class, which helped inspire the company's focus on insurance for bikes. They pivoted from only bikes to providing more offers via the app. Since its launch in 2019, INZMO has become one of the leading apps for mobile insurance in Europe, and Meeri has been named one of the top 10 women to watch in insurtech in 2022. We're excited to hear more about her story and her company's success. Thanks for joining us, Meeri! The Startup INZMO was born out of the idea to quickly insure a bike via an app (Bike ID). During product presentations of Bike ID the team got feedback, on why they only offer insurance for a bike via their app. This was the moment INZMO was born. The team relocated to Berlin from Estonia. The company is by now one of the fastest-growing insurtechs in Europe, with a female founder. This makes INZMO the first insurtech company in Europe that offers property insurance for e-scooters and regular bicycles through an app. The whole insurance process takes just a few minutes and is completed entirely online — from signing the contract to making a claim. Currently available in Germany, and several other European countries with plans to expand further. And with over 30,000 users already on board, it looks like INZMO is well on its way to becoming the go-to insurance provider for two-wheeled commuters across Europe. They currently offer property insurance including to replace of a rental...

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in October 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from Essen, Germany, and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on Thursday, October 20th, 2022. Our Highlights: Another one of our former guests gets a Snoop Dog investment. Quick delivery startup Gorillas seems to sell itself to competitor Getir, according to Bloomberg, despite an earlier announcement they are looking for more investments. Gadget rental service Grover adds 270 m € in venture debt, getting it close to 2 billion €. Our former guest Nuri (formerly Bitwala) had to file for insolvency, now investors jump ship and the company is wound down this year. Volocopter is sued by early crowdfunding backers, Home24 has a takeover offer from a brick-and-mortar furniture retailer and BioNTech takes on cancer. Also, Munich-based travel tech Holidu raises 100 m € in a combination of 75 m equity and 25 m debt funding. Let's talk startups: Our Enablers Younium Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/ Tvarit Tvarit is an industrial ai startup, that helps companies to reduce rejections by 40%-60% in metal casting, as well as saving up to 18% on energy. Learn more here: https://www.tvarit.com/ Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: Tech Startups Germany - Startups and Venture Capital Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early stage startups. Sign up for early access here: Startup Raven Top News Europe's Largest Cannabis Funding To Date Europe's largest cannabis funding to date: Snoop Dogg-backed German cannabis startup gets $37.6M Series B led by British American Tobacco learn more about the Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 (German Startup Awards) founder Finn Age Hänsel in our interview Gorillas May Soon Be Bought By Getir Delivery Startup Getir in Advanced Talks to Buy Gorillas (Bloomberg). They write: “Proposed deal for Gorillas would be a mix of cash and equity The combination would give Getir, which is backed by Mubadala Investment Co. and Sequoia Capital, scale in key European markets including the UK and Germany. Gorillas had previously held talks with a number of competitors about the prospects for a merger or sale of its business, people familiar with the matter said previously. Chief Executive Officer Kagan Sumer said earlier this year that he planned to look for new financing to recalibrate the company to work toward profitability.” Grover Takes Home 270 m € As consumer spending tightens, yet appetites for tech remain the same, Berlin-based Grover sees an uptick in rental interest and is now bringing its debt funding to close to €2 billion to meet demand. Grover takes on more debt funding, this time €270 million from London-based M&G Our Former Guest Nuri (Bitwala) Will be wound down. Despite seeing interest from investors, they could not get one to sign up. So the company will be shut down until the end of the year. The last day one can use a Nuri account is in mid-December. Neobank Vivid makes all former Nuri customers a good offer. Insolvency administrator of crypto startup Nuri sees interest in the platform and fintech sales capacities After the crypto markets did not turn positive, two potential investors in Nuri jumped ship, so the company will not emerge from insolvency but be wound down Volocopter Now Sued by Crowdinvestors German unicorn Volocopter was sued by 177 former crowd backers, who feel they should have gotten “a fair participation”, especially since they backed the company very early We Mentioned Home24 on a Regular Basis Now they stand alone time may be over. We talked in the past about lowering forecasts and the tough environments. Now XXXLutz — a traditional brick-and-mortar furniture store — made an offer to buy Home24 BioNTech Takes on Cancer First, they took on Corona with their widely successful vaccine. Now the doctors are hopeful it could lead to new treatments for melanoma, bowel cancer, and other tumor types. The mRNA technology being used works by sending an instruction or blueprint to cells to produce an antigen or protein. In Covid, this antigen is part of the spike protein of the virus. In cancer, it would be a marker on the surface of tumor cells, which teaches the immune system to attack it.Learn more on BBC: Could Covid vaccine technology crack cancer? TravelTech is Not Dead Munich-based traveltech startup Holidu raises 100 m € for renting out vacation homes. The 75 m € Series E investment is led by VC 83North, other investors include Northzone, HV Capital, Vintage Investment Partners, and Communfund Capital. Holidu also raised 25 m € venture debt. The brother's Johannes and Michael Siebers will use the money for product development, geographic expansion, and acquisitions. Links and Show Notes Learn more here

Executive Summary Monite is a Berlin-based embedded finance startup, which is already active in the US, UK, and major European economies, despite being at Seed Stage. With their API partners like B2B neobanks, SaaS companies & marketplaces can embed Invoicing, AP Automation, and more in 3–5 weeks. They are looking for next year for their next funding and start to offer contract management. We really want to make sure, that anyone who wants to offer workflows with financial documents … can integrate it with us. Ivan Maryasin, CEO & Co-Founder Monite  Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! https://linktr.ee/startupradio The revolution is yet to happen for CFO tools.Ivan Maryasin, CEO & Co-Founder Monite  Our Sponsor Younium Younium is the subscription management and billing platform for B2B SaaS. Younium brings the transformative infrastructure to manage and grow your business while you focus on the things that matter. https://www.younium.com/ Our Sponsor Startupraven A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day — no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance. The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: https://startupraven.com/ Our tool could be build by bigger players in 12–18 months, but we give them an API with which they can start earn revenue in a few weeks.Ivan Maryasin, CEO & Co-Founder Monite  Find all the Links and Show Notes here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/meet-monite-they-make-the-life-of-cfos-easier-startuprad-io-257afdc8be79 

Our highlights: Germany is preparing for a potentially rough winter, in many ways. Now Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe): Asked Germans not to put up any Christmas lights this season. Startups in GSA keep laying off staff, but also raising significant funds. We have our usually shortened list a bit longer this month, to show that it is not all gloom and doom here. You will also notice that the M&A activity is up, totaling 55 bn US$ in summer 2022 (for all of Europe), and is still going strong. Let's talk startups: Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel, or listen to our internet radio station here: The Authority on German, Swiss and Austrian Startups | Linktree Our Enablers Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: Tech Startups Germany Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: Startup Raven Blog Post Find all links, news and show notes here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-september-2022-53339fae6ca7

Executive Summary This episode is part of our Subject Matter Expert Interviews. It will be one in a series over time, keeping up with the development of the central banks and their digital currency. This episode is just the start! We talk to Kimmo, a regtech entrepreneur, who formerly worked at central banks of Finland, Norway, Bank of England, ECB, and the Fed in New York City. This episode is a starting point for us, from which we will dive deeper, keeping up with the developments on CBDC. At the Federal Reserve in New York I siumlated attacks on critical infrastructure on the back of the 9/11 attacks.Kimmo Soramäki, Founder and CEO of FNA Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! https://linktr.ee/startupradio We work with a lof of clients with three letter acronyms. So we decided to name our company financial network analytics, FNA.Kimmo Soramäki, Founder and CEO of FNA The Expert This episode is part of our Subject Matter Expert Interviews. It will be one in a series over time, keeping up with the development of the central banks and their digital currency. We talk to Kimmo, a regtech entrepreneur, who founded with FNA a company that helps banks, central banks and financial institutions. He has already advisde the central banks of Finland and Norway, been a visiting researcher at the Bank of England and expert at ECB. He also spents a year as research economist at the Fed in New York City. His first software simulated for finish banks the impact of joining the euro zone. When the financial crisis 2008 came, we realized that we don't need an outside attack on the symstem to destabilize it. Kimmo Soramäki, Founder and CEO of FNA Our Sponsor Startupraven A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day - no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance. The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: https://startupraven.com/ Blog Post Find all links and show notes here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/fintech-opportunities-in-cental-bank-digital-currency-part-1-839a35c2a1be

Startups in GSA did better than expected. We had a few insolvency filings, but also amazing fundraisings like Celonis 1 bn US$ combination of equity and debt funding. Insuftech Wefox raises 400 m. One can already see the signs of a downturn, M&A activity going up, as well as the news about insolvencies or job cuts/ hiring freezes. But — according to a Bikcom survey — 8 out of 10 startups are still hiring. Deal time our recent guest Qonto buys former guest Penta and there was more in a B2B neobank deal week. Even Allianz had to learn, that one can not buy fintech success and there is more news on Wirecard. We will also bombard you with funding data on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as global numbers. Keep in mind you can read all our news on our blog https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-summer-2022-wrap-up-603e2c1939ae

Executive Summary French neobank unicorn Qonto announced their 486 m Euros in Series D funding at 4.4 bn Euro valuation in January 2022, with a global Who-is-Who of investors. 100 m Euros of this record funding will go into their expansion in the German market, competing with Penta, N26, Holvi, or Deutsche Bank's Fyrst. So we talked to Torben Rabe Qonto's Country Director for Germany about how they want to compete and reach their goal of 1 million customers by 2025. Our Sponsor Startupraven A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day — no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance. The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: Startup Raven Learn more and find all links and show notes here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/learn-how-french-fintech-unicorn-qonto-wants-to-conquer-the-german-market-fdab1f1d3aa4 

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in June 2022 by Startuprad.io. My co-host is again Chris from New York. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, and our partner station IBGR.Network. We recorded this new episode on Monday, June 27th, 2022. Keep in mind, that we will have a summer break and be back for you with another news episode on Labor Day, which is September 5th, 2022. In this episode, we will wrap up July, and August. As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode in September. We will also slightly change our publication schedule for this July and August, mostly going to one publication every two weeks. You can keep up to date with our Google Calendar for all publications. Our highlights: Startups in GSA also shedding headcount, including unicorns that recently raised money. All signs point towards them extending their runway, expecting a recession. Some startups face a challenging fundraising environment, but others like WeFox want to almost double their valuations. Also, Personio and Trade Republic raise additional funds. In our “stay ahead of the curve” section, we have a lot of articles an entrepreneur should read to prepare for the potential downturn. German economic minister Habeck is unveiling his new startup strategy, considering even a minimum investment in VC Funds for German insurers and pension funds. The fast delivery startups seem to hit a wall and even formerly mighty Gorillas now explores strategic options. Let's talk startups: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-june-2022-2651b2b64fe

Executive Summary AlphaQ is a new fund of VC funds, headquartered in Berlin. They are not only raising money to invest in VC funds, but they also swap shares in existing VC funds for shares in their Fund of Funds. In our interview Stephan, the founding partner also elaborates on their investment strategy. Over the last years venture capital has outperformed most other investment classes, but now we see a correction in valuations. Stephan Heller, Founding Partner AlphaQ  Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! Startuprad.io | Linktree The goal of one billion is only the minimum size for us to list. Our earliest listing window is in 2026.Stephan Heller, Founding Partner AlphaQ  Our Sponsor Startupraven A startup's journey can be a tough one, but it doesn't have ́to feel like you're alone on your quest! Invest in others' success with us by joining our community of entrepreneurs who are building amazing things every day — no matter how big or small their ideas may seem at first glance. The best way to find investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up here: Startup Raven Find all links and show notes on our blog post here: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/meet-alpahaq-they-are-on-their-way-to-becoming-a-one-billion-euros-fund-of-vc-funds-1b182c1319cc 

We want digital debt to be registered, issued, transferred and eventually traded on our infrastructure. Benedikt Schuppli, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FQX Executive Summary FQX is a Zürich, Switzerland-based fintech with great aspirations. They want to digitize company debt and this digital debt to be registered, issued, transferred, and eventually traded on their infrastructure. Promissory notes are known around the financial world. These instruments are fairly standardized. So, if you put this on a blockchain, you have an extremely powerful financing tool. Benedikt Schuppli, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FQX The Founder This time we interview Benedikt Schuppli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedikt-schuppli/), a founder from Switzerland. He is the co-founder and co-CEO of FQX (https://fqx.ch/), a fintech startup from Switzerland offering electronic IOUs. Benedikt is a lawyer by training but took his first job after graduating with a Swiss fintech pioneer named Lykke as Chief Legal Officer. He there realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur and co-founded a smart contract startup called Lexon. The Startup FQX (https://fqx.ch/) is based in Zürich, Switzerland. Promissory notes, a version of IOUs is a stable of company funding in the German speaking area. Now with digitalization they get the ability to become much more widely used and listed on capital markets globally. A single issuance of promissory notes by one issuer is normally between 50-150 million Euros each. According to a recent statistic Q2 2021 alone saw the issuance of promissory notes worth 2,5 bn Euros in Germany, compared to 3,2 bn Euros in Q2 2020. Right now, they have a premium for not being tradable, but this is about to change with FQX. Learn more here: We want digital debt to be registered, issued, transferred and eventually traded on our infrastructure. Benedikt Schuppli, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FQX Executive Summary FQX is a Zürich, Switzerland-based fintech with great aspirations. They want to digitize company debt and this digital debt to be registered, issued, transferred, and eventually traded on their infrastructure. Promissory notes are known around the financial world. These instruments are fairly standardized. So, if you put this on a blockchain, you have an extremely powerful financing tool. Benedikt Schuppli, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FQX The Founder This time we interview Benedikt Schuppli (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benedikt-schuppli/), a founder from Switzerland. He is the co-founder and co-CEO of FQX (https://fqx.ch/), a fintech startup from Switzerland offering electronic IOUs. Benedikt is a lawyer by training but took his first job after graduating with a Swiss fintech pioneer named Lykke as Chief Legal Officer. He there realized he wanted to be an entrepreneur and co-founded a smart contract startup called Lexon. The Startup FQX (https://fqx.ch/) is based in Zürich, Switzerland. Promissory notes, a version of IOUs is a stable of company funding in the German speaking area. Now with digitalization they get the ability to become much more widely used and listed on capital markets globally. A single issuance of promissory notes by one issuer is normally between 50-150 million Euros each. According to a recent statistic Q2 2021 alone saw the issuance of promissory notes worth 2,5 bn Euros in Germany, compared to 3,2 bn Euros in Q2 2020. Right now, they have a premium for not being tradable, but this is about to change with FQX. Learn more here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/fqx-brings-companies-debt-funding-to-the-blockchain-83c8528515a3

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups in May 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Christian Fahrenbach from New York City and Jörn Menninger, from Frankfurt. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, and our partner IBGR.Network. We recorded this news episode on Thursday, May 19th, 2022. The next news will go live on June 30th. Keep in mind, that we will have a summer break afterward and be back for you with another news episode on Labor Day September 5th, 2022. In this episode, we will wrap up July, and August. As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode in June. We will also slightly change our publication schedule in the summer — as we have done before. For July and August, we will only post a new episode every other week (July 14th, 28th, and August 11th, as well as August 25th). We will be back to normal at the start of September. We also partner with Artic 15 you get a discount with our code in the show notes at www.medium.com/startuprad-io Artic15 startupradio Our Highlights: We can proudly announce unicorn No 29 Taxfix, No 30 Onefootball and on the downside, RaisinDS loses its unicorn valuation. Really bad news for car sharing: BMW and Mercedes pull the plug on their joint venture. Our 2018 guest ProGlove is sold in a 500 m € deal (525 m US$) and Orderbird is sold in a 100 m € deal (105 m US$). Other unicorns are currently on the hunt for new capital and feel the heat of the current funding environment. Let's talk startups: Our Enablers Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: Tech Startups Germany This is Tech StartUps Germany by Startuprad.io, a global top 125 Tech Podcast. You will find interviews with all sorts…techstartups.sounder.fm Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: Startup Raven Welcome! We know the time-consuming process of approaching investors and companies can be tedious, so we do it for you…startupraven.com Find all news and show notes here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-may-2022-de23cf4942e3

Executive Summary Exaloan started out as a rating agency for digital assets. They developed into a global platform to connect crowdlending platforms and institutional investors. They started out with the rating of digital assets. Soon they realized that it makes more sense for them to help investors with the access to lending platforms and building of their portfolio in crowdlending assets using tokenization. Our mission is to close the global financing gap, which is a staggering 5.2 trillion US$, which means there are more than 100 m SMEs that are lacking financing.  Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of ExaloanWith our partners we have created a tokenization engine, a digital asset platform, on which we can create a digital token for the loans, we have sourced from crowdlending. This is really a step to the next level. We are joining digital assets with digital lending.  Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of Exaloan Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! Startuprad.io | LinktreeThe Authority on German Startupslinktr.ee The Founder Our guest today is Luca Frignani (https://www.linkedin.com/in/luca-andre-frignani/), the CEO and co-founder of Frankfurt based fintech Exaloan (https://www.exaloan.com/). He is an original Frankfurt boy, with roots in Italy and Czech Republic. Since he is already very international, he spent quite a bit of time studying in France Lille and Nizza. He also spent time in London and Zürich. At one time he also worked as a quant analyst, developing investment strategies. Development banks are seeing crowdlending platforms are a very important tool.Luca Fignani, co-founder and CEO of Exaloan The Startup Exaloan (https://www.exaloan.com/) is a Frankfurt-based fintech company. They are a rating agency for digital assets. It is also working with its clients to give them access to international crowdlending platforms and help them to build a portfolio. They are cooperating with platforms in Germany, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, just to name a few. Venture Capital Funding ... learn more on our blogpost at www.medium.com/startuprad-io

"Klana is all built beautifully around the consumer. … but many merchants also want a B2B checkout and here Klana decided to partner with the leading provider in the space [Billie.io]."Matthias Knecht, Co-Founder Billie.io The Founder “I was raised in Germany, with a stint at Columbia University before moving to McKinsey. After working for them,” says Matthias (https://de-DE_.linkedincom/in/-matthiasknecht), “I left and started Zencap.” This company was eventually acquired by Funding Circle where he spent only one year of his time there; then on into Billie — together with cofounder Christian. "Hiring is currently one of our main challenges. Our doors are wide open."Matthias Knecht, Co-Founder Billie.io Subscribe Here We are always sharing new resources with you. Find all of our options below. We want to make sure that we provide what's best for your growing team, so please take a look at these additional ways in which can help! https://linktr.ee/startupradio The Startup Billie's business is disrupting the B2B market by allowing consumers to buy now and pay later. Their investors include Klana — one of Europe's largest Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) companies for this sector with over 50 million clients across 500+ brands worldwide!The company also integrates seamlessly into Klana's systems so that all client transactions can be done through Billie's platform while still enjoying advanced features such as payment encryption and loan pre-payment options which not only make financial services more accessible but give buyers peace of mind when making large purchases or taking out short term loans. Website: https://www.billie.io/ Crunchbase: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/billie-io Twitter: https://twitter.com/billiegmbh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/billie.io/ Venture Capital Funding Billie is one of the most successful startups in Germany and they have raised more than 140 m US$ from investors like Creadum, Global Founders Fund (Rocket Internet), Dawn Capital, Speedinvest, Klana, Tencent, and Picus Capital. It sounds like Billie may become soon a unicorn with all these hints being dropped about their future success. Learn more at www.medium.com/startuprad-io

Welcome to This Month in GSA Startups in April 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Christian Fahrenbach ”Chris” from New York City today and me Jörn Menninger “Joe”, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, the blog Fundscene, and our partner IBGR.Network. We recorded this new episode on Monday, April 25th, 2022. The next news will go live on the 26th of May, the day we celebrate fathers day in Germany. For this reason, we have at this date two publications: the news and an episode on men's health. As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. We also partner with the EU-Startups Summit and Artic 15 you get a discount at both events with our codes in the show notes www.medium.com/startuprad-io. You can meet Joe in person in Barcelona at the EU Startups Summit on May 12th and 13th. The discount codes are: EU Startups STARTUPRADIO20 Artic15 startupradio Our highlights: Despite slightly declining global VC investments GSA still generates Unicorns. This time we welcomed Grover and Choco officially into the league. Swiss Beqom is not confirmed, but also a massive investment. Apple and Porsche are rumored to work together on joint projects. Gorillas is looking for funding again, after raising a billion US$ (850 m Euros) in September 2021. Germany's second most valuable fintech Mambu had to publish numbers. The corona patron registration app Luca first boomed during the lockdown, then their data protection was questioned, now they pivot to a fintech with the backing of investors including the Wefox founder. Let's talk startups: Find all the links and show notes on our blog www.medium.com/startuprad-io

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss and Austrian (GSA) Startups in March 2022 by Startuprad.io — in a news recording with Chris — not from New York City today and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio and our partner IBGR.Network. We recorded this new episode on Monday, March 21st, 2022. The recording is one week earlier than usual, due to the travel schedules of Chris and me. As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. Our Enablers Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://techstartups.sounder.fm/ Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ Our highlights: We have the 100 most influential women in startup and venture capital in Europe. There are two new unicorns to announce in GSA. Unicorn Personio set up a charity fund and Germany's largest fintech exit (at approx 1 bn US$) is in the making. We have an exclusive interview with the CEO in charge for almost 40 minutes from July 2021. We try to touch on the Russian invasion in Ukraine as lightly as possible, only when it impacts the GSA startup scene since you get more than enough news about this tragedy on ANY OTHER outlet. Please note that this does not mean we don't care, but it is not our area of coverage. We are also talking about delivery startups and again Wirecard. Not surprisingly, Wirecard will keep the German courts busy for years to come. Let's talk startups: Find all links and show notes here: https://medium.com/startuprad-io

People talk today about the crypto winter, but I went through the time after the Dotcom Bubble burst and there are a lot of similarities here. Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio A few years ago, I was attracted by the opportunities the blockchain offers. Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ As a blockchain investor I am currently looking at … 1) Everything that is happening in the DeFi space, especially the new ways of money transfer. 2) The Gaming Sector. It is a market with 3 bn people 3) Metaverse… it maybe a big failure or a big success. There is a fair chance it becomes huge 4) IoT security. For example, a car currently has more than 200 IoT devices. 5) The whole world of financial services, including insurance. Just look at the back offices of asset managers. Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor The Investor Wolfgang Männel (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wolfgang-maennel/) has been working for 30+ years. He was born and raised in Franconia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia), close to Nürnberg in Germany. Wolfgang started out in sales, started an agency and joined a consultancy (today Capgemini Invent). Surprisingly he had also a stint at a radio station, focused on classical music called Klassik Radio (https://www.klassikradio.de/). Klassik Radio is also the only public listed radio station in Germany. In between he was also an investor with 3i Group, at the time active in venture capital and private equity. He has also been an investor in turn-around cases during the subprime crisis. If you have seen many crises before, you know how to react. I remember the 1987 Russian crisis, the Dotcom Crash, and more. … It was always followed by a long phase where it as difficult for startups to get any kind of financing. It took years to recover … but the only way after all the crisis was up. The valuations always went up after the recovery Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor He is the co-founder (senior partner) of Blockchain Founders Group BFG, a company builder and venture capital investor. You can apply here: https://www.f6s.com/ look for block rocket. We are looking to be the first or second money in, even pre-revenue. Most companies we invest in have an MVP. Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor Further Readings / Additional Resources · 1987 Dissolution of the Soviet Union: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union · Dot-com bubble https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble · Sub-Prime Mortgage Crisis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subprime_mortgage_crisis · Here is the personality test 16 personalities: https://www.16personalities.com/ I turned to turn-around investing at the time of the sub-prime crisis. Wolfgang Männel, Blockchain Investor 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

Nobody knows what a digital euro will look like. ECB is in the process of exploring the possibility. Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio China is with its digital Yuan ahead of Europe or the US. The ECB is investigating the possibility, with the aim of having a digital Euro 2025. We will see China launching the digital Yuan this year. That is almost 5 years ahead.Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ CBDC is a variant how the Euro will run on a modern infrastructure.Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert The Expert This interview is part of our series with subject matter experts. Our guest today is Philipp Sandner (https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippsandner/), Professor at Frankfurt School of Management and Finance. There he is head of the Blockchain Center. He is also a member of the fintech advisory council to the German federal government (FinTechRat), Chairman of the International Toke Association, as well as a contributor to Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/philippsandner/).  According to one of Germany's largest newspapers Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), Philipp is also one of the 30 most influential economists in the German-speaking area in their ranking for 2018 and 2019. He is also co-founder of the German Blockchain Association. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippsandner/ Twitter https://twitter.com/philippsandner Wiki https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Sandner The situation of the Federal Reserve in developing a digital central bank Dollar is like the ECB. Both are early in exploring the topic. Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert The Digital Euro Central banks take inspiration from cryptocurrencies and are actively thinking about introducing their own cryptos, called central bank digital currency (CBDC). There are many podcasts out there talking about CBDC, especially US$, but Startuprad.io is headquartered in the city of the Euro, Frankfurt. So, we thought we shed some light on the perspective from Europe. The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are both in the first steps of exploring the possibilities and implications of CBDCs for the Euro and the US Dollar. But there is already a growing market in US$ stable coins, where stable coins in Euro have to stomach losses, due to the negative interest rates in the European Monetary Union (EMU). Tune in to learn more... The difference in the US is that there is already a working alternative, the US$ stable coins. Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert Further Readings / Additional Resources Here is the link to the blockchain master program of Frankfurt School https://www.frankfurt-school.de/home/programmes/master/blockchain-digital-assets The central bank digital currency tracker of the Atlantic Council: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/ CBDC definition https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/central-bank-digital-currency-cbdc.asp Definition legal tender https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/legal-tender.asp Swift https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWIFT Bhutan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutan Stable coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stablecoin Tether coins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tether_(cryptocurrency) Lender of last resort https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb/educational/explainers/tell-me-more/html/what-is-a-lender-of-last-resort.en.html Money multiplier https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_multiplier Money Supply M1, M2, M3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supply Interest rates https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/interestrate.asp DEFI is dominated by US$ since many people active in crypto calculate their net worth in US$. Philipp Sandner, Blockchain Expert 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 The Interviewer This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him:LinkedInTwitterEmail Keep Up to Date Here is our publication calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=012i27ak525qi3smgjl8v9tbio%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Europe%2FBerlin

Welcome to This Month in GSA Startups - meaning Germany, Austria and Switzerland, for February 2022 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio, our partner station IBGR.Network and the Fundscene blog. We recorded this new episode on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022. Today we bring you everything from a new Switzerland-based unicorn to a new take on quick delivery - pardon the pun. We start out with mega-deal in Gaming: ESL Gaming is sold for 1bn US$, Munich-based Fintechsystems is sold for 120 mn € and Aachen-based Next Ego may accomplish THE turnaround of the whole year, coming out of insolvency, they are looking to list via SPAC, valued at 1.5 bn €. Switzerland has a new unicorn, congratulations to Scandit, Gorillas wants to buy a french competitor and is thinking about a SPAC deal. Also, we have a large update on neobanks in Germany, and they are not all doing well. Let's talk startups: https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-gsa-startups-february-2022-44520c52b1eb

When I started in crypto, I had to manage so many wallets and platforms, that I could not imagine how complicated it would be for an institutional investor. We started FINOA to help with that. Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FINOA Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here https://startupraven.com/ We want to be the No 1 crypto custodian for institutional investors in Europe. Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FINOA The Founder In this interview we speak to Henrik Gebbing (https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrik-gebbing-finoa/), the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Finoa, a Berlin-based crypto fintech, which is already one of the hidden champions. They are a global top 5 crypto custodian for institutional investors. Henrik attended Golden Gate University in San Francisco as a Fulbright Scholar and got his MBA at IE Business School in Madrid. He later worked as a consultant with McKinsey, but after 4 years jumped ship to start Finoa. He developed the idea, that would later become Finoa with his roommate (and now co-founder) on the kitchen table in Madrid while studying for his MBA. Globally we want to maintain one of the top 5 spots for crypto custody.Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FINOA The Startup The co-founders started Finoa (https://www.finoa.io/) in Berlin. Their driving idea was – and still is – to support institutional investors to go into crypto. They also support wealthy individuals, who hold substantial amounts of crypto assets of more than 100.000US$. Finoa is a custodian, meaning they keep - on behalf of their clients - their crypto assets save. At the time of the interview, they have around 400 customers. Their clients include the crypto holdings of Rocket Internet, T-Systems, US-based VCs, and hedge funds. In April 2021 they announced a 22 mn US$ Series A funding, which is sizeable for Germany, as well as for crypto at the time. We hold assets for entities in Asia and Silicon Valley, but our focus market is the European Union. Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FINOA Venture Capital Funding FINOA announced their Series A funding of 22 mn US$ in April 2021(LINK). FINOA is open to discussions with investors, but they are not actively looking for new investors. Fintech is fast, but crypto is warp-speed. Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of FINOA

A Joint Audio-Only Podcast This is the first joint radio program and podcast of IBGR and the Startuprad.io podcast with its radio program Startup.Radio. You may know that IBGR and Startup.Radio are syndication partner, almost from the start of Startup.Radio. I, therefore, welcome William Eastman, founder of the IBGR Network, everybody calls Bill. Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ What we have learned Today we bring you insights from Atomico's State of European Tech 2021 - an annual survey of startups all over Europe taking place annually since 2015. This survey may be the most comprehensive, repeated overview of the European startup and tech scene. This survey is a joint endeavor by Atomico, a London-based VC and PE fund, as well as the annual Slush tech festival in Helsinki, Finland. And, guys, you know a tech festival has to be good, if it can lure people to the freezing cold Helsinki in December. They also add data from providers like S&P and Dealroom in the mix. Startuprad.io had Dealrooms Founder in an interview btw. This is just a start This is just a starting point for you to discover the whole report on your own. It spans more than 350 pages, so we can not give you all the information here. The bottom line is … I would say: The whole continental ecosystem all over Europe has been lacking behind the US and China for quite some time. It looks like they have started to catch up in a big way, despite corona. We see this in increases in the number of investors, startups, fundings (number and size), and the increase in the uni/decacorn herds. The authors see a potential for the whole ecosystem that is now worth 3 Trillion US$ to be worth 24 Trillion US$ in 2030. Learn More here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/what-we-have-learned-from-atomicos-state-of-european-tech-survey-audio-only/ Feedback is always welcome: Reach out to us, here is our audience survey, to give us feedback, suggest topics, interview partners or just to say “Hallo!” Google Form for Feedback

This Month in German Startups - January 2022 Happy New Year guys! Welcome to This Month in German Startups in January 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. This recording is sponsored by Invest-in-Hessen and Startupraven.com. It is in radio syndication with our very own station www.startup.radio and our partner IBGR.Network. We recorded this new episode on Monday, January 24th, 2022. All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode. There will also be a special episode on Atomico's State of European Tech 2021 together with Bill, the founder of the IBGR Network, as an audio-only podcast. This is a new year with 365 blank new pages, so let's write the best story possible. Our highlights: The last year was amazing for the German startup scene, there are now officially 25 unicorns and we feel that there will be more. 60 mn for sunfire from the federal government, Go Student's tutors and students start to critique the company, Tado is looking to IPO via a SPAC. Also Cherry Ventures had been good in snatching up stakes in unicorns early. Now Cherry raises their 4th fund. Let's talk startups: Tune in to our Internet Radio Station here: www.startup.radio Startuprad.io is globally a Top 75 Science Podcast, Top 125 Tech Podcast, and Top 650 Business Podcast (Chartable.com) Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Our EnablersInvest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany Startupraven.com The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ All show notes and news links are here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-germany-austria-switzerland-january-2022/

“For banks the pandemic meant that they had to digest 10 years of digitalization in only two years.” Paolo Sironi - Thought Leader and Author Hello and welcome everyone to our 2021 Fintech Review for the German Speaking Area - Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, also called GSA. This is an annual tradition started in 2014, first in German, now in English. You can find the older reviews in the blog post below: “Crypto is coming, no question. The metaverse is coming and exciting for me is the question how we will pay in the metaverse” Oliver Oster - CMO and Founder OptioPay “What struck me the most in 2020 is Crypto. It is sooo much more popular today than one or two years ago” Janis Dust - CMO and Co-Founder Epap Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio “As people are going from in-person to remote a lot of [banking] processes have to be updated. It is basically a huge accelerator for the whole banking industry.” Frank Schwab - Co-Founder Fintech Forum Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ “[Venture] Capital becomes more concentrated. It will get harder for the new kids on the block” Frank Schwab - Co-Founder Fintech Forum Our Guests Today I welcome our guests: Janis Dust - A young fintech entrepreneur, co-founder and CMO of epap (https://de.linkedin.com/in/jannisdust) Paolo Sironi - A fintech entrepreneur, turned global research leader in banking and financial markets as well as a book author (Website: https://www.thepsironi.com/, https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepsironi/)You can buy his newest book here: https://amzn.to/30MLgOy Frank Schwab - Co-founder of Fintech Forum (http://fintechforum.de/) and multiple board member (https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankschwab/) Oliver Oster - Fintech entrepreneur, founding partner AQVC, founder and COO OptioPay (https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-oster-37611063/) “10 years ago adding the valuation and market capitalization of the global top 500 banks and fintech unicorns plus the payment providers: 10 years ago banks represented 97% of that value, today they are down to almost 70%.” Paolo Sironi - Thought Leader and Author “The most obvious impact [of corona] for me was, that here in Berlin people have stopped paying cash and now pay by card or digital [cell phone or wrist watch]” Oliver Oster - CMO and Founder OptioPay Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/fintech-review-2021-germany-austria-and-switzerland-gsa/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

HoHoHo Welcome to This Month in German Startups in December 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. We recorded this new episode on Monday, December 20th. All news not included here will be published in our next news episode. There will also be our annual Fintech Review on December 25th and we will be back with an AI startup interview on January 13th. So we take a few weeks off around the holidays. Happy Holidays! We are not there yet, so let's get started: Today we bring you another new unicorn, a monster funding of 266 mn US$ at Mambu, Volocopter calls off its SPAC IPO and gets a backlash from its early crowd investors, also Jokr is now the 3rd quick delivery unicorn - in record time - and we have an update on Sono Motors. We also take a look at the State of European Tech survey by Atomico and several news pieces on the German Venture Capital Market, as well as VC in general. Let's talk startups: Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Enablers Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ Find all links and extensive show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-december-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Our Sponsor Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ The Survey Hey guys, this is Joe from Startuprad.io. Today we bring you an audio-only episode. We know this is uncommon, but there is a special occasion for this. The most comprehensive startup survey is Germany was published, so we wanted to bring you some highlights. This extensive survey is conducted by the German Startup Association in cooperation with partners annually since 2013. 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 The Host This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him: LinkedIn Twitter Email Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/germanys-most-extensive-annual-startup-survey/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups in November 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris from New York City and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. We recorded this new episode on Friday, November 19th. All news not included here will be published in our December News (to be published on December 23rd). There will also be our annual Fintech Review on December 25th and we will be back with an AI startup interview on January 13th. So we take a few weeks off around the holidays. We are not there yet, so let's get started: Today we have escooter Tier's newest funding and acquisition, N26 pulling the plug on their US operations already in January 2022, and the amazing IPO of Sono Motors on NASDAQ. There are also new unicorns, we proudly present Frankfurt's first unicorn, the insurtech Clark.de. Also, Razor Group (an Amazon shop buyer) becomes a unicorn with a 125 mn US$ fundraising. In November, there is no unicorn tracker. We will keep our eyes open and maybe the next news will have a unicorn tracker companion. Happy Thanksgiving to our US audience! Let's talk startups: Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-november-2021/ Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Enablers Invest-in-Hessen This show was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany Startupraven The best way to identify investors and cooperation partners for early-stage startups. Sign up for early access here: https://startupraven.com/ News Text and Show Notes Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-november-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

The Enabler This interview was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest with their brand Invest-in-Hessen. You can learn more about them here (https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/). We also run a dedicated sub-podcast with all interviews and news in cooperation with them. Find it all here: https://anchor.fm/techstartupsgermany We started serveral early SaaS Platforms and Fastbill was one of them. We just solved our problems at the time. René Maudrich, MD Germany FreshBooks The Founder In this interview, we talk to one of the most experienced fintech founders in the greater Frankfurt area. René Maudrich (https://www.linkedin.com/in/renemaudrich/) is the CEO and founder of Frankfurt-based accounting and invoicing fintech Fastbill. They have been bought by Toronto, Canada-based, fintech unicorn Freshbooks (https://www.freshbooks.com/). He now holds the position of managing director of FreshBooks Germany. Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? Get scouted by us, when we a have matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. We became a top 3 provider in GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), but we also have clients in 13 other countries. René Maudrich, MD Germany FreshBooks The Startup Fastbill (https://www.fastbill.com/) was one of the early fintech startups, that have been around, before fintech was a thing. They help small companies and freelancers with their invoicing and accounting. They are a top 3 provider for this kind of software in Germany. You can learn more about them here: Also, Mario (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahachemer/), the CTO of Fastbill has been a frequent guest. Mario is also part of the frequent crew of our annual fintech review. You can learn more about the company, him, and René in our interviews linked below. We bootstrapped for six years before we took VC money. That was a bit too late. I would recommend it later. René Maudrich, MD Germany FreshBooks The Exit FreshBooks already knew Fastbill from events. FreshBooks was interested in purchasing a stake in Fastbill with their next investment round. During the conversation, they decided on an outright takeover. FreshBooks now owns all equity in Fastbill and the core team with René, Mario and Benjamin stay on board. All former Fastbill shareholders are now FreshBooks shareholders. The Fastbill team is not permitted to speak about the transaction price. We can make estimates about the price range: In 2019 they had approx. 2.5 mn Euros revenue (according to estimates in several databases). Assuming a growth to 3 or even 5 mn Euros annualized revenue in 2021 one can estimate the range of the transaction volume with normal multiples from 45 mn Euros at the low end to 110 mn € at the higher end, adding an “earn-out clause” of approx. 10% over the next few years. Find all links, show notes and further readings here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/fastbills-exit-to-canada-based-unicorn-freshbooks/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Meet TIS the world's leading SaaS-B2B outbound payment platform The problems we are solving for our clients now are the problems I had in my former corporate job. Jörg Wiemer, Co-Founder and CSO at TIS Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? Get scouted by us, when we have a matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. Our goal is for the topline 3x in the last three years. Jörg Wiemer, Co-Founder and CSO at TIS The Founder In this interview, we talk to Jörg Wiemer (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joerg-wiemer/) the co-founder, former CEO and current CSO (Chief Strategy Officer) of the grown-up tech company TIS (https://www.tis.biz/). Jörg had already an extensive corporate background with stops at Deutsche Bank and Douglas Holding (a beauty retailer). Was Senior Vice President and Head of Global Treasury at SAP, where he saw an opportunity and took a leap into entrepreneurship. In 2010 he co-founded TIS. Joe always wanted to interview them, because they have been an important early success story that made startups sexy again. Also, any current or aspiring entrepreneur can learn a lot from Jörg in the interview. Jörg has a lot of good advice from his early times starting TIS. You will find it in the last 1/3rd of the interview. For us … getting venture capital early was a good decision. Jörg Wiemer, Co-Founder and CSO at TIS You don't want to optimize your shareholdings in the company, you want to maximize your chances of success. Jörg Wiemer, Co-Founder and CSO at TIS The Tech Company TIS has been part of FT 100 Europe's fastest-growing companies in 2019, 2020, and 2021. TIS stands for Treasury Intelligence Solutions (https://www.tis.biz/) and is headquartered in Walldorf. Yes, the Walldorf is also home to SAP. The company has routes within SAP but is by now an independent grown tech company with more than 200 employees worldwide and a strong presence in Europe and North America. Startuprad.io always aims to bring you interesting founder stories, so it was about time to bring you the founder of a successful tech company. Founders first have to do the hard work and then hire someone. Jörg Wiemer, Co-Founder and CSO at TIS The Interviewer This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him: LinkedIn Twitter Email Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-tis-the-worlds-leading-saas-b2b-outbound-payment-platform/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups by Startuprad.io – in a news recording with Chris (from New York City) and me Joe (from Frankfurt am Main). Guys, it is October, it is getting colder outside and cozier inside, so we bring you another “Doppelpack” of our news recording! We bring you another bonus news episode as part of our news coverage of the German startup scene. We recorded this episode on October 25th, 2021, wrapping up October. This is a Bonus Episode following our special coverage of the unprecedented creation of unicorn startups in the German-speaking startup scene! Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? Get scouted by us, when we have a matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. Find all the links to our sources and the show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/gsa-unicorn-tracker-october-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

This Month in German Startups - October 2021 Welcome to This Month in German Startups in October 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris (Back Home in New York) and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. We recorded this new episode on October 25th. Note that there is also another episode of our unicorn tracker, getting published along with this episode in order to keep the news brief. Today we have to announce that N26 reclaimed the title of Germany's most valuable fintech (but not startup, that is still Celonis), Sono Motors is filing for an IPO in the US - ahead of even delivering their first car -, corona is leaving the first traces in the startup scene, fewer startups, but more funding for the surviving ones. Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? Get scouted by us, when we have a matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. Find our extensive collection of links, sources and the whole show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-october-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups by Startuprad.io – in a news recording with Chris (from New York City) and me Joe (from Frankfurt am Main). Guys, it is fall and we are back from the summer break! We bring you another bonus news episode as part of our news coverage of the German startup scene. We recorded this episode on September 28th, 2021, wrapping up July, August, and September. This is a Bonus Episode following our special coverage from June! Get scouted by us, when we have a matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-september-2021-unicorn-tracker-bonus/ Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

This Month in German Startups - Summer Wrap-Up (July, August, September) 2021 Welcome to This Month in German Startups in September 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris (Back Home in New York) and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. We recorded this new episode on September 28th. Not that there is also another episode of our unicorn tracker, getting published along with this episode. Have a look. This will be a bit longer recording. Best get a snack and a drink right now. The summer was hot here in Germany in terms of startups, but not so much in terms of temperature. Since we have the weather out of the way. Let's talk startups: Want to be found by Business opportunities or contacted by new investors? Get scouted by us, when we have a matching mandate and enroll your startup in our database: https://forms.gle/DmPtBKJH7MMmJoYo8 We don't sell your data or spam you. We will even reach out to you before we include you in a scouting mandate. Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-summer-wrap-up-july-august-september-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Meet Austria-Based Monkee – A fintech with more than 80% Women as Clients With Monkee I am combining my passions for finance and what I learned in the area of habit forming technology Martin Granig, CEO and Co-Founder Monkee Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio The Founder This is one of our interviews, covering a startup from Tirol, Austria, the fintech Monkee (https://monkee.rocks/). We have Martin Granig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/martin-granig-52775054/) in the interview, CEO and co-founder of the fintech. Martin is an engineer by training, having worked more than a decade at Swarovski, in his last position he was leading the global innovation department. He is also currently working on a Ph.D. in savings behavior. It may not surprise you now that Monkee is a startup helping you to save money and with vouchers on the spending as well. During his studies, he also attended 北大 BeiDa (Peking University), Fudan University 復旦大學, London Business School, SDA Bocconi, Ashridge Business School and many more. Nudges are only slight tips in the right direction if someone is already in the process of making the right decision to form habits. Martin Granig, CEO and Co-Founder Monkee The Startup The startup Monkee is based in Tyrol, one of the states of Austria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrol). The goal of Monkee is to improve the financial well-being of its clients. The app works with small nodes in order to help you save money, either for your rainy-day fund or towards an actual goal like a vacation, a laptop or another large purchase. The Monkee-App also helps with (retail)-partners to save money with discounts to get your actual savings goals cheaper. They are also in the process of getting partners for daily necessities. What really differentiates Monkee from other fintechs is that they have 84% women as active clients. That turns the normal client base of fintechs upside down. On the other hand, their female clients also like to interact more frequently with the app. The Monkee App Apples App Store Google Play Store Money worries are already the No 1 worry for most people. Martin Granig, CEO and Co-Founder Monkee Venture Capital Funding Monkee is currently raising a new round of venture capital, they are currently planning to close the round end of 2021. There are many things coming together for Monkee so we could attract more women as clients. Martin Granig, CEO and Co-Founder Monkee Find all the links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-austria-based-monkee-a-fintech-with-more-than-80-female-clients/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Entrepreneur Tools #6 – How to Start Thinking About Your Corporate Culture You, as a founder will impact the culture, which than becomes a brand. Michelle Tsing, Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, Podcast/Radio Host Entrepreneur Tools This is a new series, within Startuprad.io's YouTube Blog. We meet a lot of people and of course, we talk with some of them about the typical entrepreneur problems. Sometimes an entrepreneur solves known problems in a very systematic way, which we find great, or has great insights. In both cases, we will talk to him or her and bring you these recordings as entrepreneur tools. We are looking forward to your feedback. I learned that humans are basically good. Michelle Tsing, Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, Podcast/Radio Host The Entrepreneur Michelle Tsing (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laptopradio/) is an investor and entrepreneur. She hosts a weekly show on the Stanford University Campus radio, called Laptop Radio. She used to work at PayPal, Samsung, Cisco, and eBay. She is also a podcast host at Starting Y, based in Silicon Valley. In addition to that Michelle works with several startups as an advisor. She shares in our 6th episode of entrepreneur tools her thoughts about company culture and how to start thinking about it. Company culture is a very complex topic and we are just scratching the surface here, but it is a good point to start. The culture is usually the founder … think about your vision, your mission, and the values you care about. Michelle Tsing, Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, Podcast/Radio Host Further Readings / Additional Ressources Start with a self-assessment, good places to start are for example the book “The Four Agreements “ Look around examples for values Great examples Paypal – Practise detachment Ebay – Humans are basically good Google - Don't do evil Zappos your culture is your brand – Pursuit of happiness https://www.huffpost.com/entry/zappos-founder-tony-hsieh_1_b_783333 Every aspect of your company should correlate to your values. Embrace it not only in words but also in action. Michelle Tsing, Entrepreneur, Investor, Mentor, Podcast/Radio Host Helpful Books (Affiliate Links) The Four Agreements https://amzn.to/3B8B3bD The Gift of Imperfection https://amzn.to/2WfTj3I Daring Greatly https://amzn.to/2Wnie5h Links and Show Notes https://www.startuprad.io/blog/entrepreneur-tools-6-how-to-start-thinking-about-your-corporate-culture/ 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 The Interviewer This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him: LinkedIn Twitter Email --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

We started with 2-3 employees. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest At the start we wanted to build a robo advisor. Now we have a platform on which our clients, the banks, can customize their own robo advisor. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest The CEO Olaf Zeitnitz is also kind of a returning interview guest (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-olaf-zeitnitz-722b0a1b/). He was part of our Robo Advisor talk, dating back to October 2016, when not every video was turned into an audio podcast. VisualVest is not an average Robo Advisor, it is a white-label company, integrated into a much larger group of cooperative banks in Germany. Olaf studied physics and his Ph.D. studies took him to the CERN particle accelerator, where he was one of the first users of the newly invented internet. He also attended the first www conference. Not one robo advisor startup was ever able to become profitable in a few years … VCs have to invest for the long term. If you invest for two to three years, a robo advisor is the wrong VC investment. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest The Corporate Startup VisualVest (https://www.visualvest.de/) is part of the cooperative banking group, a group of independent banks – known as Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken - (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VolksbankenundRaiffeisenbanken), working closely together on many services, including asset management. Their asset manager is called Union Investment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Investment) and VisualVest is a corporate startup of Union Investment and the DZ Bank, the central bank of the cooperative banks in Germany. VisualVest is a SaaS platform. They are basically a toolbox where the different banks within the group can choose their features to create their own robo advisor. I was there at [CERN], when they invented the internet. Our experiment was one of the first users. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest Youtube Video from October 2016 Olaf has been a guest in our robo advisor talk back in 2016, together with other returning guests. You can find it here: https://youtu.be/akCaXmFfgMQ Investing is the opposite of sexy. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest I was positively surprised that BaFin did not try to kill robo advice from the start. Olaf Zetnitz, MD VisualVest The Interviewer This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him: LinkedIn Twitter Email Keep Up to Date Here is our publication calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=MDEyaTI3YWs1MjVxaTNzbWdqbDh2OXRiaW9AZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ Find all the links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-visualvest-the-white-label-robo-advisor-with-e-2-6-bn-client-assets-under-management/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

The Founder This interview is an overdue follow-up with ottonova, the first German health insurer founded in almost 20 years. Roman Rittweger (https://www.linkedin.com/in/romanrittweger/) is the CEO and Founder of ottonova, not an insurtech, but a fully licensed insurer (https://www.ottonova.de/). Roman had a long and successful career, before founding ottonova. As he says in the interview, in insurance everything takes longer. Roman is a doctor by training, with a Ph.D. in medicine, as well as an MBA from INSEAD. He also served as Platoon Leader in the German mountain troopers and was a consultant with ATKearney and McKinsey, before starting his own companies. He is also a member of the supervisory board of naontek AG, a corporate startup offering digital services to health professionals. When you are a private health insurer in Germany, you basically live forever. Roman Rittweger, CEO and Founder of ottonova We do not report all our funding rounds instantly. We raised more money than is on CrunchBase. Roman Rittweger, CEO and Founder of ottonova Venture Capital Funding So far ottonova has raised more than 90 mn US$ up to Series D (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ottonova-holding-ag) and is a licensed health (re-) insurer in Germany. ottonova will start new talks for a growth equity talks end of 2021. We are a full stack insurer, but we also have a re-insurance license. Roman Rittweger, CEO and Founder of ottonova The Audio Interview from 2017 The original interview – the first English interview of ottonova – was published on September 14th, 2017. https://www.startuprad.io/interviews/exclusive-first-english-interview-newly-founded-digital-health-insurer-ottonova/ Links and Show Notes Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/follow-up-with-the-all-digital-health-insurer-ottonova/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

We are not only spending 10 bn € on startups, but we also have 5-6 bn € from older programs. … we will spend in total 15 – 16 bn Euros Thomas Jarzombek, MdB, Commissioner for Digital and Startups Startups with a significant presence in Germany – from abroad – also can receive money from the funds. Thomas Jarzombek, MdB, Commissioner for Digital and Startups The Commissioner for Digital and Startups In this interview we talk to Thomas Jarzombek (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-jarzombek-a4227183/) a member of the German Parliament Bundestag, also the Commissioner for Digital and Startups of Germany and in charge of the newly started 10 bn startup program. Thomas is a member of the CDU, Christian Democratic Union, the party of chancellor Merkel. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany). Thomas has also been an entrepreneur before he was an elected official. He started out with implementing Windows 95. Note: In the name tag in the YouTube video, we shorted this to “Digital commissioner”, due to the available space. How the money will be invested Note: There is a general election coming up in Germany on September 26th, 2021. This will lead to a new government since chancellor Merkel will retire. Therefore, another government may change this allocation. We also invest in rocket technology. We have been looking at what Elon Musk does with SpaceX and adapted some of his strategies. Thomas Jarzombek, MdB, Commissioner for Digital and Startups Investing Indirectly (as LP) The new investment program is looking to invest 50% together with private investors, who also chip in the other half. The program will invest in European VCs, focusing on Germany. They are looking for VCs, investing in Germany approx. the money they receive from the program. The largest single investment will be as LP of the European Investment Fund, which will get 3 bn Euros (https://www.eif.org/). HTGF will start the 4th fund with money from the program. Look in our show notes below for the interview with the CEO of HTGF. They raise funds with half of the money coming from the Government and half from private investors, which include already household names like Bosch, BASF, B. Braun, Boehringer, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Post DHL, Lanxess, RWE, SAP, and many others. You can learn more about HTGF in our interview, see links below. We have patient money and I expect the money to be spent over the next 10 years. Thomas Jarzombek, MdB, Commissioner for Digital and Startups Investing Directly: Deep Tech Future Fund The Deep Tech Future Fund (https://deeptech-future-fonds.de/) is aiming to commercialize innovations from Germany. They are even investing in startups directly, who do not have a business model yet, for example working in quantum computing. 2 bn Euros will be managed by KfW in discretionary accounts to set up specific investment vehicles and their subsidiary Coparion (https://www.coparion.vc/). Part of the money will be managed in discretionary accounts. These vehicles can invest directly in startups. https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-the-person-in-charge-of-germanys-e10-bn-startup-program/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

(BONUS) German Institutional Funds Will Not Invest Big Bugs in Cryptocurrencies This is another bonus episode, where we cover interesting – behind the scenes – development in the larger German-speaking tech space. Recently there was a wave of excitement sweeping across the crypto blogs, due to an update in the German Investment Law (https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/kagb/). The reason: Investments of German institutional funds, since they could – theoretically – invest up to 20% in cryptocurrencies, starting on August 2nd, 2021. Joe gets together with Marco; a specialist lawyer and they talk about what is realistic. Instead of a large wave (theoretical max of ~400 bn €), as many blogs forecast, there may be only a small trickle (likely only millions over time). Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio The Specialist Marco Zingler (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marco-zingler-14b2a390/) is a seasoned lawyer, with almost 10 years of experience in capital markets legislation. He also holds a degree in Finance. He, therefore, spent most of his career as a specialist for regulatory and investment law, covering for example the changes to the new German investment Law. Is your Startup in Need of A bank Account? - Affiliate Links Try the account of our Affiliate Partner Penta: http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d The Interviewer This interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder, and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him: LinkedIn Twitter Email Keep Up to Date Here is our publication calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0?cid=MDEyaTI3YWs1MjVxaTNzbWdqbDh2OXRiaW9AZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ Find all the links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/bonus-the-german-institutional-funds-will-not-invest-big-bugs-in-cryptocurrencies/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

IDnow talks about their acquisition of Ariadnext We are growing organically 50-60% year over year right now organically. Andreas Bodczek, CEO IDnow Media Partnership with Munich Startup Munich Startup is the official startup portal for Munich and the surrounding region. It was developed by the City of Munich, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for Munich and Upper Bavaria and the four entrepreneurship centers of the Munich universities within the framework of the Entrepreneurship Strategy Munich. You can learn more here: https://en.munich-startup.de/ The CEO This time we have a rarity on our channel because Andreas Bodczek (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasbodczek/) is not a founder, but an early investor in the company, which became later the CEO of IDnow. Andreas has been an early business angel, investing in IDnow. So he has been involved in the company for quite some time before he took the job as external CEO. Andreas has been with Bertelsmann, where he worked with dial-up internet connections, building one of the broadest platforms for broadband and Voice-over-IP services in Germany. He later moved to become the CEO of Telefonica Germany (https://www.telefonica.de/) and co-founded Fyber (https://www.fyber.com/ ), which they build up in Germany, the US, and several more companies. They sold the company in 2014. Andreas is also a board partner with Point Nine Capital (https://www.pointnine.com/), a Berlin-based VC fund focused on platforms and SaaS. We will conclude most of the integration work streams of Identity TM at the end of this year. Andreas Bodczek, CEO IDnow The Startup IDnow (https://www.idnow.io/products/idnow-videoident/) is an online identification service provider, that helps banks, insurance companies, and other companies to verify the identity of their clients remotely. This has not always been the case in Germany, but IDnow was one of the early companies providing this service. Today IDnow has amongst their clients some well-known names like N26, Solaris Bank or Sixt, Western Union, Tier Mobility, and WeFox. The startup grew early with a strong focus on financial services companies, starting when the German regulator moved to allow so-called “video idents.” Now IDnow extends its services across industries, products, and countries. The acquisition of France-based Ariadnext (https://www.ariadnext.com/) fits in the category of extending in countries, to expand their footprint in France. SPAC Deal? From our conversation, we took that IDnow has SPAC offers at hand, still evaluating their options. Find all links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/exclusive-idnow-talks-about-their-acquisition-of-ariadnext/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups June 2021 by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris (Back Home in New York) and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. We are reporting live from Germany's largest unicorn wave ever. We announce two new unicorns (Scalable Capital and Forto (formerly FreightHub)) and Germany's first Decacorn Celonis, valued at more than 11 bn US$. The 2019 Unicorn Wefox raises large funding of 536 mn € (650 mn US$). About You IPOs for 23 €/share at 4 bn Euro (4.85 bn US$) AND Austria becomes a new most valuable startup with GoStudent (1.4 bn €, 1.67 bn US$), after they had their first unicorn only last month. Plus SolarisBank is rumored to be in talks of a 100 mn Euro VC Deal, which would make them a unicorn as well, to buy up a competitor. Especially active in this frenzy of unicorn creation is Softbank from Japan and Tencent from China. We have a special episode on the unparalleled unicorn creation, which is available on the same channels. If you want to know more about the new Decacorn and unicorns in Germany and Austria you want to listen to this episode as well. We keep here the coverage of unicorns to a minimum. Note: This will be the last news recording before the summer break. There will be no regular news in July or August, but we will be back with news at the end of September, wrapping up the summer news. We are soooooooooo looking forward to the summer that Joe even wears a Hawaii shirt. Be happy for your eyes if you are only listening to this podcast :-) Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Linkhttps://linktr.ee/startupradio Find all links, texts, and show notes here on our blog post: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-june-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups by Startuprad.io – in a news recording with Chris (from New York City) and me Joe (from Frankfurt am Main). This is a Bonus Episode covering the Unicorn Stampede in German-speaking countries. This recording is from June 29th, 2021 and all-new unicorns, formed afterward will be covered in our next news podcast, to be published End of September! You may remember that we had another bonus episode last month covering the rise of Berlin-based fintech Trade Republic to become Germany's most valuable startup? There is already a new king in the country with Celonis becoming Germany's first Decacorn (valuation above 10 bn US$, here even 11bn US$). We also see that all of these monster fundings are driven by international investors, especially Softbank from Japan and Tencent from China. Find all links and show notes on our blog post here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/bonus-this-month-in-german-startups-unicorn-stampede/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

“It's our ambition to be present across the entire Eurozone in the next four months,” Christian Hecker according to TechCrunch Welcome to This Month in German Startups - A bonus episode since we have a new king in town. Trade Republic just became Germany's most valuable startup with a 900 mn USD funding round backed by investors like Sequoia. Chris joins Joe for this episode. Subscribe Here Find all options to subscribe to our newsletter, podcast, YouTube channel or listen to our internet radio station here: Link https://linktr.ee/startupradio Start in 2015 - at comdirect Startup Garage The story of Trade Republic starts with the comdirect startup garage. comdirect is Commerzbank's online broker, founded during the late 1990s. Commerzbank again is Germany's 2nd largest listed bank. So, the founding team Christian Hecker, Thomas Pischke, and Marco Cancellieri started out with the idea of a German RobinHood Trading app (What is today called a neobroker). The Garage helped at the start in 2015 but did back out at funding the startup. The team did not receive funding from comdirect Garage, because one million Euros was too much to invest in a company at a seed stage Affiliate Links Learn how to grow your business using the numbers in your profit and loss and balance sheet: https://www.learndesk.us/class/5571076509663232/growth-by-the-numbers-real-small-business-finance-for-real-small-business-owners use our promo code: Access Find the whole story here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/bonus-episode-trade-republic-becomes-germanys-most-valuable-startup-with-5-3-bn-us-valuation/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to This Month in German Startups by Startuprad.io - in a news recording with Chris (Back Home in Germany) and me Joe, from Frankfurt am Main. Today we are wrapping up May 2021 for you. We talk about the massive Trade Republic funding, making them Germany's most valuable startup. We are talking about SPACs again, Germany's institutional funds investing in crypto, and 3 bn shots of the corona vaccine. As always, we have a great show for you! Housekeeping - Time to brag Stay safe everyone! We are very happy to have been listed as No 4 on the Welp Magazine list of "20 Best Start-ups Podcasts of 2021" https://welpmagazine.com/20-best-start-ups-podcasts-of-2021/ Station Frankfurt featured our newest internet radio station in an article https://station-frankfurt.de/2021/05/07/das-steckt-hinter-dem-24-7-startupradio-startuprad-io/ Italy-based Startup.info covered our internet radio station as well: The World's First Internet Radio Station Dedicated to Startups and Tech Companies Just Launched https://buff.ly/3upGZte Top News Trade Republic is now Germany's most valuable startup with 5.3 bn US$ SPACs In the US the largest wave of SPAC IPOs is already behind us, but in Europe, it is just gaining speed. Frankfurt Stock Exchange expects up to 20 SPAC IPOs in 2021. In all of Europe, they expect more than 30 https://buff.ly/3h0mMqS Amazon Shops are still HOT Berlin's Razor Group raises $400M to buy and scale Amazon Marketplace merchants – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/2PVJULY Germany rumored to open flood gates to Crypto Investments - Think again 'Damn Huge': Germany Opens Up to Institutional Crypto Funds - Decrypt https://buff.ly/3vvX3dU Joe will talk about this soon - as soon as he gets to it - but the main point one has to understand in German institutional funds is that the investors are regulated and not so much the vehicles. 3bn Shots are coming Corona vaccine producer BioNTech is looking to produce 3bn shots https://buff.ly/2RHzXlA We just passed a small moment in History 80 years ago, on May 11th, 1941 german inventor Konrad Zuse started his Z3. This was one of today's first - maybe The first - modern-day computer. He developed it, to take over statistical calculation he found tiresome https://buff.ly/3eEJ3sB Find all other show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-may-2021/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Welcome to Startuprad.io, we cover the German-speaking startup scene since 2015 with our franchise. Since 2019, we eased access to the German-speaking startup scene further with our special interest podcasts Fintech Germany, Blockchain Germany, Deeptech Germany, and German Startup News. We have been called "The Authority on German Startups" and are a Top 0.5% global podcast, according to Listen Notes. Chartable.com scored us in 2020 a global Top 100 Science Podcast, a global Top 150 Tech Podcast, and a global Top 750 Business Podcast. You can learn more here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support

Enabler This recording was made possible by (Hessen Trade and Invest). Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/ The Finish company later stopped all their activities in Central Europe. This is where I started crossinx. Marcus Laube, Founder and CEO of crossinx The Founder In this interview, we are talking to Marcus Laube (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-laube/) , the founder and CEO of one of the largest fintech exits this year. He sold the company, he founded in 2007 in 2021 for 100 mn Euros to Unifiedpost Group from Belgium (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210411005030/en/Unifiedpost-Group-and-Crossinx-Join-Forces-to-Create-a-Unique-European-Business-Network). Marcus has been the chairman of the European Fintech Alliance (https://eufintechs.com/) and the co-chairman of the European E-Invoice Service Provider Association (EESPA https://eespa.eu/) The story of Marcus as an entrepreneur is totally fascinating: He was helping one of Lufthansa's businesses (AirPlus) to get their first website and digitize Germany's Flag Carrier. This brought him in contact with lots of electronic business ideas, with which he ventured out on his own. His first company was sliding into insolvency. He bought the company out of insolvency and this company stayed afloat by selling chairs and tables. This company was bought later by a company from Finland. This Finnish company stopped their business in Germany and Marcus decided to start over again with founding crossinx in 2007. He now sold this company in a 100 mn Euro plus deal (the deal includes a clause of up to 13 mn € further conditional earn-out payments according to the press statement). Tune in to our exclusive content. We call what we do the financial supply chain. Marcus Laube, Founder and CEO of crossinx Affiliate Links Learn how to grow your business using the numbers in your profit and loss and balance sheet: https://www.learndesk.us/class/5571076509663232/growth-by-the-numbers-real-small-business-finance-for-real-small-business-owners use our promo code: Access The Startup crossinx (https://www.crossinx.com/en/) is the leading provider of e-invoicing based service solutions in Germany, working with the largest companies and institutions, such as Nestle, Bayer, TNT, Sixt and the German national government. The company was founded back in 2007 by Marcus Laube. The Exit On April 12 Unifiedpost Group announced to acquire crossinx for 100 mn Euros (up to 113 mn €): https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210411005030/en/Unifiedpost-Group-and-Crossinx-Join-Forces-to-Create-a-Unique-European-Business-Network The connection came from Marcu's work in EESPA, where he met Unifiedpost. There has been interest to acquire crossinx 3 years before, but the deal was sealed after the IPO of Unifiedpost at Euronext (Euronext: UPG). https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-the-fintech-behind-the-100-mn-e-exit-nobody-talks-about/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/fintechgermany/support