This Month in German Startups - June 2020IntroToday we are going to talk about German startups, in the process of producing vaccines for Covid19, the potential accounting fraud at Wirecard, startups in Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne and Berlin, and the 110th Birthday of Konrad Zuse, the inventor of the modern-day computer.
Welcome to this month in German Startups by Startuprad.io - in a transatlantic news recording with Chris in New York City.
Reach out to us* Our audience survey, to give us feedback, suggest topics, interview partners or just to say “Hallo!” https://forms.gle/mLV6mVKwGwKuut8BA * Find the hosts here: + Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io / Twitter / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018) + Christian “Chris” Fahrenbach chris@startuprad.io / Twitter / Homepage / Video Interview (2018)
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The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, June 25th 2020https://youtu.be/xRNMoOSm28Y
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Housekeeping - Time to brag Now it is official, Startuprad.io passed several milestones.
And again we have several interviews and blog posts for you. We will also have on July 1st our first live stream after corona. https://www.meetup.com/Startup-Couch-TV-Talks/events/271395382/
Coronavirus / Covid19 * 80% of Berlin-based startups see their very existence threatened by the coronavirus https://buff.ly/2UYMi3P * CureVac is the first German biotech to receive a direct investment from the German government, an astonishing 300 mn Euros. The reason behind this is the Trump administration. You can learn in our blogpost how the story unfolded https://www.startuprad.io/blog/germanys-hope-for-coronavirus-vaccine-and-how-they-got-a-300-mn-euros-government-investment/ * Mainz-based BioNTech (we talk about them frequently) is the first company in Germany to start human trials for a Coronavirus vaccine: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer_and_biontech_dose_first_participants_in_the_u_s_as_part_of_global_covid_19_mrna_vaccine_development_program
Wirecard - This month’s top news in GermanyIntroWirecard is a company processing payments. The company works as an intermediary and guarantor between buyers and sellers and takes a commission on all transactions. They have about 5,000 employees and actually replaced Commerzbank (we will talk about them later) in DAX 30 (Germany's equivalent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average 30). They are the first “fintech” to achieve this.
The big problem now is that there are accounts missing, which should hold 1.9 bn Euros in cash. So these 1.9 billion are in their balance sheets, but they probably basically don’t exist. Let’s back up a bit, though.
Find all the details in our dedicated Podcast recording (Audio, Video, and Blogpost):
https://www.startuprad.io/blog/news-wrap-up-developing-wirecard-story/
Ecosystem * VC investments have declined by 20 percent worldwide due to the Corona crisis shows the latest report by Startup Genome https://buff.ly/3eoTdus * There are approximately 900 fintech startups in Germany, of which almost 35% are headquartered in Berlin. No 2 are Hamburg and Frankfurt with 10.6% of the fintechs https://buff.ly/3egGH0v * Ridepooling services are not looking good in Germany and the #coronavirus does not help. With a few exceptions no service provider generates profits and many backers may reconsider after the crisis https://buff.ly/3dopX6a
Startup Hubs#Frankfurt* Commerzbank is not really known across Germany as a big fintech investor. But this story tells how they invested in Marqeta via CommerzVentures. They invested in a 25 mn US$ round and now own (yes, there is some guesswork involved) approx. 3.5% of the company, now valued at 4.3 bn US$ - which leads to their share being valued at approx. 150 mn. This assumes CommerzVentures did not sell any shares in the meantime https://buff.ly/3dvn7gw * Bryter, a software toolbox - with locations in #Frankfurt, #Berlin, and #London raises 14 min Euros #VentureCapital https://buff.ly/2MrmN6m * Wingcopter Awarded as Technology Pioneer by World Economic Forum - sUAS News - The Business of Drones https://buff.ly/2Azw8Hi
Companies * Researchers find exposed data on millions of users of #Berlin-based quiz app, TVSmiles – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/36ZotgX * Klarna partners with Raisin to open savings accounts in Germany https://buff.ly/2BWujEy + You can learn more about raising in our interview with its founder: https://www.startuprad.io/interviews/raisin-financial-crises-inspired-former-partner-large-consultancy-jump-ship-found-startup/ * Former Rocket Internet Managers start 468 Capital, a 170 mn Euros #deeptech #VentureCapital fund https://buff.ly/3d9zSMA * There is still life in the German-speaking startup scene. Proof here the #VentureCapital investments (in chronological order) + Homeday raises €40 million from Axel Springer and others for its hybrid real estate brokerage service - @tech_eu https://buff.ly/3hxYfXH + Berlin-based Contentful secures €71.3M funding to accelerate expansion; ropes in new CMO | @SiliconCanals https://buff.ly/3dc2k0l + 83North, Microsoft|s M12 and Next47, Paua Ventures, EQT Ventures and Atlantic Labs invest 26 million Euro #VentureCapital in Wandelbots, a startup which has a tool to code for industrial robots https://buff.ly/3htkkXD #manufacturing #Germany #startups + Berlin-based #fintech scale-up @smava secures €57 million in financing to maintain growth through economic downturn - @tech_eu https://buff.ly/36D3m47 + German #Healthcare #Jobs Startup Medwing Wins $30m Series B Round — Red Herring https://buff.ly/2AinHPW + Swiss SME Lending Startup Teylor Closes CHF 8 Million Funding / Expands to Germany https://buff.ly/30rMbBb * Sennder, a #Berlin-based logistics company, has acquired French rival Everoad to create one of the largest digital platforms for road shipments in Europe. https://buff.ly/3cJZpMd * Vivid Money: How this new German #mobile #banking startup plans to challenge fintech moguls | @SiliconCanals https://buff.ly/37HGX62
Happy 110th Birthday to Konrad ZuseKonrad Zuse was born on June 22nd, 1910. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. His company built more than 250 computers between 1949 to 1967 in Hessen. It was sold to Siemens in 1967.
Zuse died on 18 December 1995 in Hünfeld, Hesse (near Fulda) from heart failure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Zuse
**See you in September! We will be back with "This Month in German Startups"
with a summer news wrap-up end of September 2020. Enjoy your summer!**
Stay Ahead of the Curve* SoftBank Invested in Credit Suisse Funds Financing Its Bets: FT https://buff.ly/2YzDi6j
* Peloton is having a moment. So are its competitors https://buff.ly/2ChQzsw