Tech Startups Germany (Video): Recent Episodes

Jörn "Joe" Menninger

This is the Tech StartUp Germany track provided by Startuprad.io. You will basically find interviews with all sorts of promising Tech StartUps, mostly ScaleUps, from Germany. Subscribe to learn more, or visit www.startuprad.io. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Hessen Trade & Invest (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home) Have a look around and look at our audio podcast.

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doks. innovation enables indoor drone flights for next-level digital logistics

Inside a building GPS does not work. We use a combination of global mapping and local mapping… it is very very complex.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

The FounderIn this interview, we talk to Benjamin Federmann (https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminfedermann/) the CEO and Co-Founder of Kassel-based drone startup doks. innovation (https://www.doks-innovation.com/). D oks.innovation is not a hardware startup, they only provide Benjamin has spent some time after university in marketing and consulting for some smaller and also well-known companies like Leica.

The feedback from the interviews I conducted was so good, I was sure I needed to found the company

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

PatreonLearn about our interviews hours before they are released, help in the selection of the startups we interview, or even suggest startups to be interviewed, by becoming a Patron: https://buff.ly/32bZ4zW

The customer can ask almost any question and find the answer in our data.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

DueDashIf you don’t like Patreon, there is DueDash. DueDash is a Social Network, for startups and investors. We have a group of supporters there as well. You can join the group there: https://buff.ly/2R90PYp

When we started with our first prototype, we crashed 30 to 40 drones.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

Affiliate LinksIs your startup in need of a bank account in Germany? Try our partner affiliate Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d

Looking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

Our drone is a flying camera to collect data for the inventory management.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

The Startup The startup doks.innovation enables companies to monitor their warehouses via drones, which can fly indoors without smacking on any shelf or wall. Doks is not a hardware startup. doks.innovation provides only the ai software for the drones to enable them to fly indoors. On the other hand, they are also working closely with hardware providers, since they have very specific requirements for their drones. The drones are using cutting-edge drone hardware, which is not yet publicly available.

The company is still small, but they have reference customers like Mars and BMW.

Our clients have to press a button and come back 3 or 4 hours later. The data collection is totally automated. The customer can ask almost any question and can find the answer in our data.Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

Venture Capital Fundingdoks.innovation is open to talking to new investors from Europe and the US. They are looking for the next financing round in Q1 2021 and to expand to the US in 2021.

When we stared there was no hardware available for what we have been looking for.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

The Video Interview is set to go live on October 15th, 2020 19.00 CET Frankfurt/Paris/Zürich/Milanohttps://youtu.be/yi8SmEMuuj8

Drones are good for land surveying, but are there areas where drones are currently not working? So I made more than 100 interviews in one and a half year.

Benjamin Federmann, CEO and Co-Founder doks.innovation

Further Readings / Additional ResourcesLearn more about Kassel here: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g187342-Kassel_Hesse-Vacations.html

FeedbackReach 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 InterviewerThis interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him:

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Cyreen provides consumer brands with brick and mortar analytics

***We analyze shopping behaviour based on the contact with an in-store commercial. Our system does not even know if you are male or female.

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

[caption id="attachment_3655" align="aligncenter" width="1194"]Cyreen establishes a data-driven retail media standard for consumer brands in supermarkets. Courtesy of Cyreen[/caption]The FounderWe talk to Davide Scheidegger (https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidescheidegger/), who is originally from Switzerland, but now lives in Wiesbaden, working with his other co-founders on their startup Cyreen (https://www.cyreen.de/). They provide with movement tracking of shopping carts and in-store-advertisements, analytics for brick and mortar retailers, as well as for retail brands.

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***This is kind of the best advertisement in Germany, when you say: “Today you save 20%”

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

The StartupCyreen is an analytics software for inside a brick and mortar retailer. The tool tracks (anonymized) shopping carts and analyze customer behavior in the market. They can also show advertisements to the clients inside the retailer on small screens and track their efficiency. Cyreen can also include outside parameters e.g. temperature.

Cyreen is an award-winning start-up that provides transparent, measurable and close-to-purchase marketing solutions for advertisers. They successfully launched their first product C.A.P. (Connecting Ad-Impressions with Purchase) in several stores. With C.A.P., they have developed a high-end digital signage system. For the first time, detailed advertising effectiveness analyses for offline marketing are possible according to the online logic of Facebook & Co.

***We normally don’t talk to our clients directly, but via our ad & media agencies.

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

Davide refers to this advertisement of Wiesenhof, which they helped to measure in storeAtze Schröder Wiesenhof, was one of the commercials measured by Cyreen in-store:

https://youtu.be/7BZfmh7JM68

More information on their tool CAP - Connecting Ad-Impressions with Purchase (Cyreen is the name of the company)https://vimeo.com/341804155

A study by the University of St. Gallen. The link will open a PDF.

***We even tested the advertisement for ice cream in winter.

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

PatreonLearn about our interviews hours before they are released, help in the selection of the startups we interview or even suggest startups to be interviewed, by becoming a Patron: https://buff.ly/32bZ4zW

DueDashIf you don’t like Patreon, there is DueDash. DueDash is a Social Network, for startups and investors. We have a group of supporters there as well. You can join the group there: https://buff.ly/2R90PYp

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Looking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

***Even though I have not been to Wiesbaden before, I fell in love with the city instantly. Mainz is not too far away and the wine is great.

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

The Video Interview is set to go live on September 17th 19.00 CET (Frankfurt / Zürich)https://youtu.be/iN0RgBpMYg8

The Audio Interview will go live at the same timeSubscribe to our podcasts here

Further Readings / Additional Ressources Bahncard 100 https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/bahncard/bahncard_100-conditions.shtml

German retailer REWE (as of end of 2019 they generated 62.7 bn Euros in revenue, almost 75 bn US$) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REWE_Group

Herbert, a German male first name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_(given_name)#:~:text=From%20Wikipedia%2C%20the%20free%20encyclopedia,names%20with%20the%20same%20roots.

Joe refers to the shopping list app BRING! https://getbring.com/#!/app

ALDI and Lidl (the German discounters mentioned):

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aldi
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidl

***We normally don’t talk to our clients … but to their ad agencies.

Davide Scheidegger, Co-Founder Cyreen***

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 InterviewerThis interview was conducted by Jörn “Joe” Menninger, startup scout, founder and host of Startuprad.io. Reach out to him:

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This is the last episode before our summer break of this podcast. We will be back in September! QuoScient helps to analyze, investigate and respond to cyber-threats

Attackers are devious… During the current health crisis, they are going after health institutions and hospitals. They don’t basically care that they are doing damage to people who have already health problems.

Ioannis Bizimis, Co-Founder QuoScient

The FounderIn this interview, we are talking to Ioannis Bizimis (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ioannis-bizimis-6423527/, https://twitter.com/defense_active), the Co-Founder, CFO, CRO, and CISO of QuoScient.

Ioannis has been an Investment Manager, project lead with Dow Jones, with MarkIt, an employee of Deutsche Bank and other well-regarded companies. He has a lot of experience and with this experience, he started to set up QuoScient.

***One of the biggest strategies [of hackers] is to come into your network and stay there and install as many backdoors as they can. They will use them when they need it.

Ioannis Bizimis, Co-Founder QuoScient***

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It costs hackers just a few hundred Dollars or Euros to build up an attack campaign. The effort on the other side is thousands, sometimes millions to understand this kind of campaign.

Ioannis Bizimis, Co-Founder QuoScient

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

The StartupQuoScient (https://www.quoscient.io/, https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quoscient) is a cybersecurity startup, which recently split into three parts to better pursue their respective activities. Two of those entities are still headquartered in Frankfurt, one in Columbia, Maryland (close to Baltimore). They basically split along their business lines:

  • QuoLab Technologies – Defense Technology https://quolab.com/
  • QuoSec – Security Consulting https://www.quosec.net/
  • QuoIntelligence – Cyber Threat Intelligence https://quointelligence.eu/

[A company] first must understand what their most critical assets are and what are the [cyber] risks to those assets.

Ioannis Bizimis, Co-Founder QuoScient

Venture Capital FundingQuoScient has just raised venture capital. They may be looking at another funding round in the fall of 2020. If you want to keep posted, reach out to us.

Threats can not only come from the outside. Capable hackers can also send you someone, pretending to work for you as contractor. … they do this professionally.

Ioannis Bizimis, Co-Founder QuoScient

The Video Interview is set to go live on July 2nd, 2020 19.00 CEThttps://youtu.be/qM_ngqKHuZ4

Subscribe to our podcasts here Further Readings / Additional Resources* Front Office https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/frontoffice.asp * Back Office https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/backoffice.asp * Middle Office https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/middleoffice.asp * Neuer Markt / and its index Nemax https://deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-en/our-company/know-how/glossary/glossary-article/NEMAX-50-248782 * Trading Floor https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/trading_floor.asp * SWIFT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_for_Worldwide_Interbank_Financial_Telecommunication

Have a look at the other interview Joe refers to with IT SEAL:

https://www.startuprad.io/blog/it-seal-helps-companies-to-train-their-employees-in-cyber-security/

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

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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)

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

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

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The Video Interview is set to go live on Thursday, June 25th 2020https://youtu.be/xRNMoOSm28Y

The Audio Interview is set to go live on June 30th, 2020The Audio Podcast will be published next week. Subscribe to our podcasts here

Housekeeping - Time to brag Now it is official, Startuprad.io passed several milestones.

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

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

Coronavirus / Covid19 * 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

Aachen* Aachen-based UZE Mobility nabs €7.2 million for its responsive vehicle adtech https://buff.ly/2Y2SE2C

Munich* We have a new unicorn: German Flying Taxi Startup Joins Unicorn Club With New Funding https://buff.ly/2YiD1Et

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

Companies * Researchers find exposed data on millions of users of #Berlin-based quiz app, TVSmiles – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/36ZotgX * Klarna partners with Raisin to open savings accounts in Germany https://buff.ly/2BWujEy + 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

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This Month in German Startups - May 2020If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

Reach out to us* 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)

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

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

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

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Video Recording - YouTube (the video will premiere on Thursday, May 28th 19.00 CET / 1 pm Eastern)https://youtu.be/Yu_rojiz9mw

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

Coronavirus / Covid19 German government approves the corona aid package for startups. A two billion fund will add to private funding from the package (30% private, 70% public) this is called „Corona-Matching-Fazilität“ (CMF). The package was put together quite fast since the first announcement has been in mid-April. https://buff.ly/2zFr4jL There will be another pillar, called “Startup-Schutzschild” (startup shield), which will assist the instruments of Germany’s 16 states for startups, who have no backing by investors yet. + Related we found news about two of the measures of single states: + Bavaria: LfA sets up a new loan program for small and very small enterprises - Munich Startup https://buff.ly/3c3MBkp + Hamburg: They call their program InnoStartup - Hamburg Startups https://buff.ly/2zPOLpp (some more information in the Hamburg Hub section) * Corona cases in Amazon logistics center in Winsen, Germany: Verdi demands to close the location https://buff.ly/3dipDGb * German unicorns like Dreamlines, Flixbus, Getyourguide, Homelike, Hometogo, Omio, Tourlane and Trivago write an open letter to Google to get 75 mn € advertisement money back https://buff.ly/3f2rFMF the letter is also signed by the head of German startup association * 50% of startups have 6 months to live & other insights from our COVID-19 survey - Slush https://buff.ly/2Z6J0hG + Highlights: + Startups will need to raise funds at any cost* - The importance of networks at a new high - Recruitment at a halt, but existing staff is largely kept on - Remote work is taking a toll “ Working from home has put a strain on startup employees.” - As sales drop, new winners are emerging “B2C startups are doing better than those selling B2B, and pure D2C companies have actually experienced a net increase in sales.”Good news: (Chris) * KML Vision is an #AI startup from Graz, Austria. It claims, it's software could recognize Covid-19 on x-ray pictures https://buff.ly/2SA3MT3 * In a podcast, Marc Cuban “Why Coming Out of The Pandemic Will Be The Best Time In The History of Mankind To Start A Business” https://buff.ly/2A5ujBd * He was also guest on the show of our friends at “Remote Daily”, a format building a nice business community via daily Zoom calls. There he spoke about leadership in times of crisis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcO-HmOZpv4 * German online grocery store food.de sees the big impact of #COVID19 on its business. They signup increased 25fold https://buff.ly/2yDt8sg

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

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

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

Frankfurt (Rhine-Main)* The app Aliah supports communications in the hospital and takes away some of the burdens of the medical personal https://buff.ly/2KCssG2

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

Also Rhine-Main Area: Mainz* There is still business going on during Corona. Mainz-based Mailtastic (a GDPR conform marketing platform) completes exit ("seven digits") to New York-based Cognism https://buff.ly/2X5DpWl

Munich* Seven digit Venture Capital investment for Erium, which helps to minimize errors in #manufacturing processes - Munich Startup https://buff.ly/2W20o5r

  • Wikimedia Germany starts an accelerator program called Unlock in #Munich. All startups working towards an "open knowledge society" can apply https://buff.ly/2zQ2Cw8

Hamburg* Hamburg-based YogaEasy is booming like Netflix - Hamburg Startups https://buff.ly/35vGNO1

  • Hamburger Corona Soforthilfe (HCS) is seen as a great success. Of the program 25 mn € are earmarked for startups (HCS InnoStartup), which already approved 2.3 mn Euros https://buff.ly/2Xe1079

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

Göppingen (close to Stuttgart) * Permira sells TeamViewer shares worth $1.1 billion - Reuters

The PE investor bought the German startup outright and listed them later at the Frankfurt stock exchange. Now they sold approx 20% of their stake https://buff.ly/36dV5Dd

Düsseldorf* Dr. Sam, a digital veterinarian raises “seven-digit amount” venture capital https://buff.ly/2LJgqLz

Zürich* Swiss fintech Numbrs axes 50% of their workforce, after venture capital financing round fell through, even as they claim they had signed contracts from investors, that did not want to proceed https://buff.ly/2YGalaq Numbrs is backed by investors like the former CEO of Deutsche Bank Josef Ackermann (https://www.crunchbase.com/person/josef-ackermann#section-personal-investments)

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

Nürnberg* Successful #IPO despite #covid19, Nuernberg based #database company #Exasol list at Frankfurt Stock Exchange and jumps 50% during first trading https://buff.ly/2XwdDdY

Companies * EIT Digital Challenge is looking for fast-growing European 'deep-tech' companies, handing out 350k in prizes https://buff.ly/2wJwAKR * N26, #Berlin-based #fintech unicorn

  • felt first impact (lower transactions) in march

  • in April they sent 150 employees in government-backed Kurzarbeit (10% of their global workforce)

    • now they raise 100 mn US$, with a "steady" valuation of 3.5 bn US$. https://buff.ly/3b9dEtm

    The news comes from the Vienna / Austria-based blog DerBrutkasten.at, they are usually very good, since both remaining founders are natives of Vienna (Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal) and moved with N26 from there to Berlin. The blog further speculates that the increase of their Series D (now 570 mn US$) - 1 ½ years after their initial Series D round - suggests a short term need for the money. - Related: N26 extends Series D to $570M | PitchBook https://buff.ly/2WC1ROR * One of the former founders of #Berlin-based #todolist darling Wunderlist announces a new productivity app called Superlist https://buff.ly/3c8mE31 * Soundcloud founders start with a new mobility startup https://buff.ly/2YnMfB1 * Porsche Invests in Berlin-based Blockchain Startup to develop Platform for Vehicle Management https://buff.ly/2WglSvr * Jumia (started by #Berlin-based Rocket Internet): The e-commerce start-up that fell from grace via BBC Africa

A year after its much-heralded debut on the New York Stock Exchange, e-commerce start-up Jumia has shut down in three African states, struggled to turn a profit and got dumped by its original owners, https://buff.ly/2VNqclA?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0- * #Berlin-based "B2B Food Group" with brands like Caterwings, Lemoncat, Monbanquet, and OrderIn retreats from the German home market as a consequence of #Covid19, to focus on other markets https://buff.ly/3d4kVw4

Stay Ahead of the Curve How Not to Get Your Time Wasted by VCs — This is going to be BIG https://buff.ly/3geYPcs * Know your investor, it'll be worth your while | Sifted https://buff.ly/2WRnZ8f“Investor due diligence cuts both ways; here’s how to ensure you don’t take money you’ll later regret.”* * How to demonstrate calm and optimism in a crisis https://buff.ly/3bQceoF * How to Handle Video Negotiations https://buff.ly/2KTA7ji * While Lime is certainly interested in the cash infusion, it comes at a significant cost: a valuation of just $510 million. That’s down 79% from Lime’s $2.4 billion valuation in February of last year. https://buff.ly/2xFXlGL * Can I fundraise in COVID times? — the “New” Fundraising Matrix via @creandum https://buff.ly/3cKJT3B * Mapping the Institutional Digital Asset Infrastructure space - The Block https://buff.ly/3buryWQ * 5 Things No One Tells You About VC Firms | SaaStr https://www.saastr.com/5-things-no-one-tells-you-about-vc-firms/

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Learn from an Indian-born entrepreneur, who raised 35 mn Euros Venture Capital in Germany

***"Hessen is the natural home for startups and entrepreneurs"

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

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

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

  • Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

The Startup FounderOur interview partner is again Gunjan Bhardwaj (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunjan-bhardwaj-b321a32/), not the actor. He is a former EY and BCG consultant, as well as a TED speaker. He likes to work a lot, so he is also the author of the book “Inside the Cockpit: Navigating the Complexity of Drug Development with AI and Blockchain” (https://amzn.to/2QYI1eL).

***“Frankfurt … it is the center of Europe, it is so super connected.”

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

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

***"Everybody has to chart his or her own course. I am a deep believer in instinct."

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Affiliate LinksIs your startup in need of a bank account in Germany? Try our partner affiliate Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d

Looking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

Interview Part 1This is part two of a series of interviews with Gunjan. You find part one of our interview here:

https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-innoplexus-the-startup-which-fights-all-diseases/

***“… but I also have to say that investors in this part of the world look at the long term picture … but once they are convinced, they are partners for the long term”

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

One Day Commute to New YorkOne of the things Gunjan likes about Frankfurt is its great connectivity. With the connections of Frankfurt Airport (IATA Code FRA, therefore know as Fraport) you can get on a plane, meet in New York in the afternoon and be back in Frankfurt early the next morning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraport

***Germany is one of the best places to start a company.

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Advice in FundraisingInnoplexus counts among its investors HCS (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/hcs-beteiligungsgesellschaft), as well as Christian Angermayer of Aperion (https://www.crunchbase.com/person/christian-angermayer), as well as EOS VC (https://vc.eos.io/partners/finlab/), the venture capital arm of Block.one. According to a report by FAZ they have already raised 35 mn Euros and are looking for 40 million more (https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/unternehmen/start-up-innoplexus-ein-google-der-pharmabranche-16473990.html).

***"No funding event is easy, but what is easy in life?"

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Gunjan strongly recommends doing your due diligence, he likes to quote one of his teachers who said that assuming means "making an ass of you and me” 😊. He recommends you agree with your investor on a vision for the future of the company. The personal chemistry between an investor and a founder is especially important as well. It is especially important to have a heart to heart conversations with your investors because there will always be difficult times. A founder requires a very honest conversation in difficult times and a common vision and good personal chemistry help.

***"You should be very factual; you should question everything."

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

The Video Interview is set to go live on May 21st 19.00 CET (1 PM Eastern, 18.00 London)https://youtu.be/gE7hjWy-7pU

May 21st is in 2020 also a public holiday in Germany - Ascension Day. This is also the day, where in Germany Father's Day is celebrated. So happy Fathersday to all Fathers out there!

Note on German customs: Ascension day is calculated according to the moon calendar and therefore not on a fixed date, but rather a Thursday in May.

***There is a very serious startup culture here in Frankfurt

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Further Readings / Resources* Articles by Gunjan on the Innoplexus website: https://www.innoplexus.com/blog/author/gunjan/ * TED Talk Gunjan https://www.ted.com/talks/gunjan_bhardwaj_how_blockchain_and_ai_can_help_us_decipher_medicine_s_big_data * Gunjan’s presentation at Frankfurt’s Data Science Meetup https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyypFDlXuYQ * Eschborn, the small city, which is home to Innoplexus’ headquarter: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschborn * Monaco, the 2nd smallest state in the world (it is approx. 2 square kilometers, which is even smaller than New York’s Central Park that encompasses 3.42 square kilometers) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monaco * Here is a link to the discussed Apfelwein (apple wine) http://saltandwind.com/stories/339-what-is-apfelwein-frankfurt-germany * Fundraising and financing documents form Y-Combinator. Keep in mind Y-Combinator is US based and the documents will not apply outside the US. Nonetheless, they can give you ideas and insights: https://www.ycombinator.com/documents/

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

View Details

This Month in German Startups - April 2020 If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

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

Find the hosts here:

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

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

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

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

  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

Housekeeping - Time to bragA tiny bit of hope is back, so we do a bit a of bragging again:

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

You can subscribe to Startuprad.io here:

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  • Spotify http://spoti.fi/2DfIt1O

Our Sub-Podcasts:

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Housekeeping - tracking startups we interviewed InvestSuite snaps up €2 million to grow its investment tools for banks and brokers https://buff.ly/3dQLGoy

Learn more about them in the Startuprad.io interview here: https://buff.ly/2X960cG (the interview was published on 18th of December 2018)

The video will go live on Thursday, April 30th, 19.00 CEThttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpGddRwUqoo

Coronavirus / Covid19__________________

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

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

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

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

__________________

Funding in times of Corona#Government aid and direct loans* Germany Announces €2 Billion Startup "Booster" to Combat Coronavirus Impact https://buff.ly/345wsaM

Related:

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

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

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

    • N26 Says Bank Closures May Drive Mobile Banking Adoption https://buff.ly/3bDdsTO writes Bloomberg on March 23rd - “We assume that many people will open an online account because more and more bank branches are closing due to the corona crisis. Online banking will become much more important,” Chief Financial Officer Maximilian Tayenthal said in a telephone interview on Monday.
    • “Digital bank signups dive in lockdown” https://buff.ly/2VEcdOU writes Sifted on the other hand, but on April 27th.
  • “Europe’s top challenger banks saw a drop in digital downloads last month in a sign that the coronavirus lockdown may be negatively impacting business.

  • Monzo, Revolut, Starling and N26 saw their growth rate drop by between 18% and 36% in their native markets*, according to an analysis by Priori Data commissioned by Sifted.”

Additional resources, related to funding in times of corona* + Lessons from 2008: How the downturn impacted funding two to four years out - Tech.eu https://buff.ly/2vYtNDg

  • “Investors then–and now–quickly turned inward to assess their existing portfolio companies’ health to create strategies for those who have shorter runways and would need to cut back. Today, as then, companies are advised to plan for two years without raising new funding. All startups have to throw out previous business plans, reassess expenses, sales projections and risks.”
  • We found this article since we screen the blog on a regular basis. But it is also mentioned in the post above:

What Could the Venture Market Look Like in the Coronavirus Era https://buff.ly/2W6EgqP “Let’s break down the trends by series. The earlier the stage the company, the less it was impacted.”

    • Useful: How (not) to pitch to an investor over video call | Siftedeu https://buff.ly/33N5nsQ - … “re-read: Don’t jump on the call without sending the presentation in advance. ... - Questions in advance: One primarily for the investors. Help the founders set the agenda by taking the time to go through the deck and tell them the areas you want to focus on and key questions you want to cover in the meeting. ... - Agenda: Don’t wing it! Always set an agenda and manage the time allocated for the meeting (the previous tip really helps on this front). - …”
    • Investor wisdom for startups to get through coronavirus | Sifted https://buff.ly/2QURRhG
  • *“Tip number 3: Rule of three

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

Positive news

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

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

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

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

Fintech could be hit especially hard. We found two articles on the topic

Fintech in a downturn: Why some sectors are vulnerable | Sifted https://buff.ly/2UzrVJl

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Related:

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://buff.ly/2SbVb8A

Note our special blog post on the whole story here:

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

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

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

Online groceries getting real boos with Covid19Picnic opens a second fulfillment center in Germany https://buff.ly/2UFKXPJ

There are still some fundraisings and exits:Germany’s Xpension pension platform raises €25M in a Series C growth round – TechCrunch https://buff.ly/34a5uPe

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

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

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

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

Revenue implications:

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

Staff cost implications:

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

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

_____________________________

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

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

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

View Details

Meet Innoplexus the startup which fights ALL diseases

***Despite the commonly held belief, I grew here faster in Germany than in the US or in the UK

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Important information upfront – the Fight against Corona Virus / Covid19

***For the corona virus, we not only have to flatten the curve, we have to flatten the disease.

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

Innoplexus grants free access to the research platform “Acceleration of Covid19 research:” https://coronavirus.ontosight.ai/

Here is the COVID19 Dashboard of Innoplexus: https://covid19.innoplexus.de/news

***We are working on a completely new molecule to address the current and future coronavirus. The current problem with Corona will not stop. There will be further strains coming in.

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

The EnablerThis is a video interview from our podcast Tech Startups Germany. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Invest in Hessen (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home).

***We fight all diseases. Right from the start, we wanted to provide an AI platform to solve all relevant problems in drug discovery and development.

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

The PodcastsWe will post this interview and all others as podcast(s) next Tuesday night Central European Time. Subscribe here and have them on our device when you wake up:

💢 Audio only - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl

Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl

TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn

Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO

💢 Video - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

The founderGunjan Bhardwaj (https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunjan-bhardwaj-b321a32/), not to be confused with the actor with the same name. His first enterprise was selling bean bags during university. He is a former consultant and a graduate of IIT Bombay, as well as a TED speaker. He enjoys a lot of work since he is also the author of the book “Inside the Cockpit: Navigating the Complexity of Drug Development with AI and Blockchain” (https://amzn.to/2QYI1eL). Surprisingly Gunjan is not a physician. He changed careers after one of his mentors became sick with cancer because he wanted to know about alternatives for treatments.

***Medical Data doubles every 73 days. Medical data at the end of the year is more than 32 times at the beginning of the year.

Gunjan Bhardwaj – Founder and CEO Innoplexus***

________________________________________________________

Affiliate LinksWhy not learn from entrepreneurs and executives who are open to share their favorite books. We skimmed through some recommendations and that is what we found.

  • Recommended by: Bill Gates

“Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker” https://amzn.to/2XAENlB * Recommended by: Jeff Bezos

“Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras” https://amzn.to/2RGKGKe * Recommended by: Elon Musk

“Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel” https://amzn.to/2REbHhw * Recommended by: Tony Hsieh

“Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization by Dave Logan” https://amzn.to/34KgraQ * Recommended by: Warren Buffet

“Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales From the World of Wall Street by John Brooks” https://amzn.to/2K92z06 * Recommended by: Tim Cook

“Competing Against Time by George Stalk and Thomas Hout” https://amzn.to/3cjMMYn

___________________________________ Links, Video and Show NotesFind all of them here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/meet-innoplexus-the-startup-which-fights-all-diseases/

View Details

This Month in German Startups - March 2020If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recordings and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

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

Find the hosts here:Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io / Twitter / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018)

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

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

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

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

  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

______________________________________ Our affiliate partners:Startup in need of a bank account? Try our partner Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d

Looking for a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala: http://bit.ly/2w01Zye

Need office space? Co-Working at WeWork https://we.co/2GYbxvS

Need something done fast? SEO / Graphics / Sounds / Transcript look at Fiverr: http://bit.ly/2S0f2YF

You can listen to many of the books from our recommendations with an audible subscription: https://amzn.to/2pGzseh

______________________________________HousekeepingNo bragging this time.

Now there is

  • 💢 Fintech Germany by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: http://apple.co/2lLRlpG
    • Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2m8HWsb
  • 💢 Security Sutra by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2K0qLlH
    • Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33rrlAD
  • 💢 Deeptech Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2oWO3Sl
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8
  • 💢 Blockchain Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2O2jwLx
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8
  • German Startup News (Video)
    • iTunes https://apple.co/3agUim9
  • German Startup News (Audio)
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Jg2fMw
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2UeZ3ah

Coronavirus / Covid19We will bring you weekly short updates, called Corona Flash. This is meant to keep you updated on the most recent developments, relevant for startups.

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

Related

Covid19 response by the German Government

50 bn € aid for freelancers and SMEs

400 bn € guarantees and 100 bn € for equity stakes

100 bn € for liquidity aid via KfW

DER SPIEGEL https://buff.ly/3bnrc54

Important Knowledge Sources for Startups on Covid19 and policy responses* SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19: Collected Best Practices of the German Startup Scene - German Startups Association - The only English source we could find:

They launched a specific website”The Startup Corona Handbook” https://buff.ly/2J4UOI0 * There is a German only checklist by the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce to make sure you don’t forget anything https://twitter.com/IHK_FFM/status/1240975669695315969 * Corona Information for Companies by Technologieland Hessen https://buff.ly/395yqsA Links to updates, sources for short term financing and FAQ lists. * There is also a great collection by our friends of Penta, the Berlin-based challenger bank https://buff.ly/3b6HyPl * FastBill’s Link list, in German only and focusing on freelancers: https://blog.fastbill.com/corona-pandemie/

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

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

This video is set to go live on Thursday, March 26th 16.00 CET (11 am EDT (New York, Boston), 15.00 GMT (London))https://youtu.be/xX_l2Qth3NA

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

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

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

….

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

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

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

….

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

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

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

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

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

Hubs#Frankfurt / Rhine-MainCovid19* This German biotech startup that's working on a coronavirus cure has captured the world's attention https://buff.ly/2ITg6Zi + Related: CureVac’s Ingmar Hoerr tells us why he returned to take on a pandemic; NGM loses a president https://buff.ly/2QvlPIR * Fosun and BioNTech launch $135m vaccine hunt for coronavirus https://buff.ly/39ejGHW + Pfizer, and Rhine-Main-based BioNTech to co-develop potential coronavirus vaccine - Reuters https://buff.ly/3dcjsEI + Search for Corona vaccine, German company ahead of the pack - WELT https://buff.ly/3bkD9Z2 * You can find here an overview of how #startups from #Hesse help to combat #Covid19 - Technologieland Hessen https://buff.ly/3doy5oo

Drones in RheinMain* Bruchsal-based Volocopter extends its Series C to €87 million to pioneer air taxi services | EU-Startups https://buff.ly/2PpfpdJ

  • Drone startup Wingcopter secures a further seven-digit investment from Corecam https://buff.ly/3aBD7f7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Companies#Penta* Penta raises EUR18.5 million; widens investor network https://buff.ly/2Wxt4E9 * The founder team of Penta was included in Forbes 30 under 30 2020 in Finance (Europe). https://www.forbes.com/30-under-30/2020/europe/finance/#4a62b330144a * You can learn more about Luka in our interviews here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/finleap-bought-penta-but-we-kept-track-of-them-since-2016/

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

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

Lanes & Planes (10 mn US$)

Limehome (21 mn Euros)

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

Sanity Group (20 mn Euros)

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

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

Volocopter (Series C recently extended to 87 mn Euros)

S/MDAXHellofresh ascents from small caps (SDAX) to medium caps index (MDAX) https://buff.ly/2TSwbU7

They used to be a Rocket Internet startup, but Rocket sold their 29% stake in 2019 (we talked about it https://buff.ly/2PYGncx)

Related:

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

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

Scooter wars* Tier Mobility extends Series B to $100M+ | PitchBook https://buff.ly/32nGFOY

  • Scooterwars Berlin-based @tierscooters buys 5.000 motor scooter from busted competitor Coup https://buff.ly/2w5DFuF

New Funding Sources:* Target Global launches €120 million Early-Stage Fund II to back tech founders across Europe | EU-Startups https://buff.ly/2SUETBR

  • Zurich-based #VentureCapital investor Lakestar raises $735 mln for Europe bets "will invest one-third of the commitments to its Early Stage fund and two thirds to its Growth Stage fund " https://buff.ly/2T76UoA

  • RTP Global (known for investments like Delivery Hero) announcing new €581M early-stage fund to back tech startups | Silicon Canals https://buff.ly/39hWPMB?utm_source=-custom-by-source-0-

Unicorn watch* N26 raises fees, in some cases whopping 66 percent https://buff.ly/32Ph55Z

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

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

  • TrustBills
  • dwins
  • vermietet
  • ImmoBeratung
  • Deposit Solution

Exits* VC arm of German TV station ProSiebenSat1 and General Atlantic buy (as expected) with their joint venture NuCom Group – The Meet Group, an online dating and social entertainment company https://buff.ly/2TMuRSH

  • Former CFO of online sex shop Amorelie build #Berlin-based sex toy company Wow Tech and sold it to PE fund CDH from Singapur https://buff.ly/2IJwo70 #TechNews #startup #startups #startupnews #entrepreneur #business #TechnologyNews

Stay ahead of the curveThe impact of COVID-19 on investment management | Deloitte Insights https://buff.ly/2Wq4Awn

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

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

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Acomodeo helps companies to find serviced apartments worldwideThe EnablerThis is a video interview from our podcast Tech Startups Germany. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Invest in Hessen (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home).

***Our first clients know us and trust us, and they do these bookings [28.000 – 35.000 Euros] on a cell phone.

Eric-Jan Krausch during his Startuprad.io interview***

The PodcastsWe will post this interview and all others as podcast(s) next Tuesday night Central European Time. Subscribe here and have them on our device when you wake up:

💢 Audio only - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl

Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl

TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn

Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO

💢 Video - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

***We see that there are a lot of professional suppliers in the market and we digitize them. We make them online bookable.

Eric-Jan Krausch during his Startuprad.io interview***

The FounderIn this interview for Invest-in-hessen.com we are talking to Eric-Jan Krausch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejkrausch/), Founder and CEO of Frankfurt-based proptech and business travel startup ACOMODEO (https://www.acomodeo.com/en-us/). Eric is born in Frankfurt and originally worked in a radio station. He even studied music business in Mannheim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popakademie_Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg). He also worked for innovation departments at large and established companies. After that Eric became a freelancer, working as consultant for several companies.

***Our global footprint is supported by our location in Frankfurt.

Eric-Jan Krausch during his Startuprad.io interview***

| Our affiliate partners:Startup in need of a bank account? Try our partner Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d Looking for a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala: http://bit.ly/2w01Zye Need office space? Co-Working at WeWork https://we.co/2GYbxvS Need something done fast? SEO / Graphics / Sounds / Transcript look at Fiverr: http://bit.ly/2S0f2YF You can listen to many of the books from our recommendations with an audible subscription: https://amzn.to/2pGzseh |

The StoryEric developed the idea of Acomodeo together with his roommate, during his graduate studies. The company provides on its platform multinational companies with apartments all around the world. This is a great service for multinationals since they must provide housing for their employees on international assignments. One can book apartments on Acomodeo from four days to two years. The goal is to get the client a seamless travel experience, so the startup sees itself more like a startup in the travel industry (traveltech), rather than a property startup (proptech).

***For a B2B startup this [Frankfurt] is a better location.

Eric-Jan Krausch during his Startuprad.io interview***

Acomodeo vets the suppliers before they get on their platform. They focus on other points that a hotel platform would like the question: Is there a fully equipped kitchen, including a toaster?

| Joe’s Tip (AL)The hard thing about hard things https://amzn.to/2Tjx4pt |

The Video Interview (this interview will go live on Thursday, March 19th 15.00 CET, 14.00 UK, 10 am ET)https://youtu.be/s25u8VrKw6Y

Further ReadingsCity of Mannheim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannheim

Napster (in case you never have heard of it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzbrVpG90yc

Deutsche Telekom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Telekom

German Accelerator Program (helped Acomodeo to start their New York Office): https://www.germanaccelerator.com/

View Details

The EnablerThis is a video interview from our podcast Tech Startups Germany. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Invest in Hessen (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home).

The PodcastsWe will post this interview and all others as podcast(s) next Tuesday night Central European Time. Subscribe here and have them on our device when you wake up:

💢 Audio only - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl

Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl

TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn

Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO

💢 Video - Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io

iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

***We come to love the work ethics here. Frankfurt is a work minded city.

Peter Hart during his Startuprad.io interview***

The FounderIn this interview for Invest-in-hessen.com we are talking to Peter Hart (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-hart-94373435/), a serial entrepreneur, based in Frankfurt. Despite being just 28 years old, Peter already launched 12 ventures. He started out back in 2015 with his consumer product brand Dr. Severin (https://drseverin.com/). During his first venture launch, Joe interviewed Peter in German back in 2015. We talk to him about his newest venture Pythia AI (https://www.pythia-ai.com/)

***I don’t divide between business books and private books. If you grow personally, you grow as a leader.

Peter Hart during his Startuprad.io interview***

The StoryWe talk to him to learn more about his 12th venture, called Pythia AI (https://www.pythia-ai.de/). Pythia was started when Peter followed his data-driven approach to launch new consumer products and he got approached by Rossmann (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rossmann_(company)), Germany’s 2nd largest chain of drug stores. The drug store chain invested in the startup (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/pythia#section-funding-rounds) to help them with forecasting trends for product development.

In case you are wondering: The venture is named after the priest, founding and serving the Oracle of Delphi in Greek mythology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythia).

Peter looks a bit tired in the interview, since he just returned from opening an office in Sunny Vale, in the Silicon Valley.

***We are very happy with the talent pool here (in Frankfurt), especially the engineers.

Peter Hart during his Startuprad.io interview***

The Silicon Valley JourneyDuring his time in Silicon Valley, Peter wanted to reach out to venture capital investors. He went along the two main streets where they are headquartered and knocked on their doors. Surprisingly this was very successful, and it appears no one has done this before.

Series A Venture Capital RoundDespite knocking on many doors in Silicon Valley, Pythia is not done with their fundraising and they are looking for additional investors for their Series A fundraising.

***I think philosophy goes really well with business. You formulate a more concrete business philosophy.

Peter Hart during his Startuprad.io interview***

Find the video interview here:https://www.startuprad.io/blog/pythia-forecasts-the-next-trend-in-consumer-products/

Peter’s Top Book PicksPrinciples by Ray Dalio https://amzn.to/38ZgmB7

The man who solved the market https://amzn.to/2SZ6Jgw

What You Do Is Who You Are: How to Create Your Business Culture https://amzn.to/2SYi00x

The little prince https://amzn.to/3c6hWDm

Friedrich Nietzsche’s Books:

  • Ecce Homo: How One Becomes What One is https://amzn.to/2HSuAYD
  • Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None https://amzn.to/37W2qGL

Herman Hesse’s Books

  • https://amzn.to/2PpJzO3
  • Steppenwolf https://amzn.to/32pSPqI

Before the Top Book List, we talked about “The hard thing about hard things” https://amzn.to/32symSb

Wikipedia links for further readingHerman Hesse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Hesse

Friedrich Nietzsche https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche

Arthur Schopenhauer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Schopenhauer

And maybe you want to have a look at the often quoted VC Ben Horowitz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Horowitz

View Details

This Month in German Startups - February 2020If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recording and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

Find the hosts here:

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

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

This February our news is quite short. This is due to the fact that we try to shrink them, as well as that we had only approx. 3 weeks since the last news.

Affiliated Links

| The hard thing about hard things https://amzn.to/2S62X30 | Ben Horowitz tells his story from an employee, afraid to loose his job to CEO of a company caught in the dotcom bubble to VC investor | | Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future https://amzn.to/37H2MSp | Peter Thiels, the famous investor tells you his mental framework to think about innovation | | Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies https://amzn.to/2Ob0xyS | Reid Hoffmans, the founder of LinkedIn, advice on scale fast | | Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything https://amzn.to/2v97KZG | Read worthy book to familiarize yourself with economic theory, or learn more about how to apply it. | | Need a bank account? Try our partner Penta | http://bit.ly/3bdHX3d | | Need space to work? Try our partner WeWork | https://we.co/2GYbxvS | | Looking for someone to design a logo, do a transcript or a voice-over? Find all of it and more at our partner Fiverr | http://bit.ly/2S0f2YF | | You can listen to Venture Capital books or entertainment on your way to work with an audible subscription – you get the first month for free https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00NTQ6K7E?tag=startupradi0e-21 |

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

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

  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

Find all the links to our sources on our Blog here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-february-2020-video/

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Find all the links to our source articles and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-january-2020/ This Month in German Startups - January 2020 - by Startuprad.ioIf you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recording and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

Find the hosts here:

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

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

Affiliated Links

| The hard thing about hard things https://amzn.to/2S62X30 | Ben Horowitz tells his story from an employee, afraid to loose his job to CEO of a company caught in the dotcom bubble to VC investor | | Zero to One: Notes on Start Ups, or How to Build the Future https://amzn.to/37H2MSp | Peter Thiels, the famous investor tells you his mental framework to think about innovation | | Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies https://amzn.to/2Ob0xyS | Reid Hoffmans, the founder of LinkedIn, advice on scale fast | | You can listen to Venture Capital books or entertainment on your way to work with an audible subscription – you get the first month for free https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00NTQ6K7E?tag=startupradi0e-21 |

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

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

  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

https://youtu.be/aIngva0lCWo

Housekeeping - Time to brag South Korea is Country No 26 which welcomed us to their iTunes podcast (tech) charts! Thank you very much!

Now there is

  • 💢 Fintech Germany by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: http://apple.co/2lLRlpG
    • Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2m8HWsb
  • 💢 Security Sutra by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2K0qLlH
    • Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33rrlAD
  • 💢 Deeptech Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2oWO3Sl
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8
  • 💢 Blockchain Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2O2jwLx
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8

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The EnablerThis is a video interview from our podcast Tech Startups Germany. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Invest in Hessen (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home).

**The digitalization game is never ever a game won by a single company

Marc Gille, Founder and CEO THING TECHNOLOGIES during his Startuprad.io interview**

The FounderIn this interview, we talk to the serial entrepreneur Marc Gille (https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-gille-2165946/), Founder and CEO of THING TECHNOLOGIES.

Marc founded his first startup, a business process management platform, in Frankfurt in 2000. He sold this startup in 2006 to SunGard, now part of FIS (https://www.fisglobal.com/about-us). Marc went on to work for FIS in New York as Senior Vice President for more a decade, before founding his current startup THING TECHNOLOGIES (https://www.thing-it.com/) in Brooklyn. He later moved with his startup’s headquarter from Brooklyn to Frankfurt, leaving some operations in New York.

***If you want something more hip, certain places in Offenbach will do

Marc Gille, Founder and CEO THING TECHNOLOGIES during his Startuprad.io interview***

The StartupTHING TECHNOLOGIES is a proptech startup, owner of the Thing-it platform. The Thing-it Platform allows configuring digitalization solutions for all participants (real estate developers, tenants, co-workers, residents, guests, properties managers, facilities managers, service providers) using and operating a building.

Venture CapitalTHING TECHNOLOGIES already raised a Series A venture capital round with coparion and PropTech 1 Ventures (https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/thing-technologies-llc#section-lists-featuring-this-company). They are still looking to raise more money, in a second closing of their Series A round.

They are also looking for international investors for a Series B Round since THING has a good footprint in the US (founded in New York, still has a team in Birmingham Alabama).

If you want to get in, feel free to reach out, we get you connected.

Building Technology 1988As recommended by Marc, here is the trailer of Die Hard 1 (Stirb Langsam 1) from 1988 to familiarize yourself with the capabilities of large buildings already in the 1980s. Please note the buildings explosion resistance in the movie may be exaggerated 😊 https://youtu.be/gYWvwkXreaI

Further ReadingsGmbH (a German version of an Ltd): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Companies_with_limited_liability_in_German_speaking_countries

Marc’s example of the Cube in Berlin http://www.cube-berlin.de/en/

Nebenkostenabrechnung (Utilities Statement, which is tightly regulated in Germany, especially which costs a landlord can pass on to it’s tenants) https://www.iamexpat.de/housing/german-housing-market/home-utilities

Marc is hinting at the BER Airport towards the end of the interview (https://www.dw.com/en/new-berlin-airport-to-finally-open-next-october/a-51471371), as opposed to the well-functioning, international connected airport Frankfurt (https://www.aviation24.be/airports/frankfurt-fra/fraport-traffic-figures-2019-frankfurt-airport-serves-more-than-70-5-million-passengers-1-5/). This is more a joke for Germans. Yes, you Americans viewing this, now you know how this feels if you are not getting a cultural reference 😉 …

Frankfurt Railway connectivity to Vienna, Paris, Zurich, Lyon, Amsterdam, Brussels, even (via Paris) to London, and many more: https://www.raileurope.com/place/frankfurt-hauptbahnhof

Frankfurt is home to the busiest internet knot in the world: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/dynasite.cfm?dsmid=506534

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This Month in German Startups - Review 2019 and 2020 OutlookIf you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recording and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

Find the hosts here:

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

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

Publication ScheduleThis episode will … substitute the June News. This year startuprad.io’s news wrap-ups will have a summer break from the May News until the end of September. We are sorry, but there is no other way to fit the podcast around Chris and Joe's busy lives.

About this OutlookNonetheless, we are now giving you the review of a decade and the preview of a decade! We mostly stick to top-level stuff, especially since the deeper you dig, the more material we would have to cover.

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

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

  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio only
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl
    • Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl
    • TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn
    • Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO
  • 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Video
    • iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

Housekeeping - Time to brag We had more than 165.000 unique listeners to our audio podcast(s), keep in mind, most of them are only live since Q3. We had almost 350.000 views on Youtube and more than 2 mn impressions on social media.

You can find our top videos here on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B7GcEC6IZd7/

Thank you very much for sticking with us, we greatly appreciate you guys!

Our sub-podcasts

  • 💢 Fintech Germany by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: http://apple.co/2lLRlpG
    • Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2m8HWsb
  • 💢 Security Sutra by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2K0qLlH
    • Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33rrlAD
  • 💢 Deeptech Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2oWO3Sl
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8
  • 💢 Blockchain Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2O2jwLx
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8

Tadadadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

2020 will be the year of Beethoven, which is a safe bet!

There will be a lot going on since Beethoven turns 250 this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ZrMEjktsA

Ode to Joy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdWyYn0E4Ys

He made it in pop culture some time ago e.g. Two and a Half Men:

https://youtu.be/EE6V3hoIZj8

Find all further links and show notes here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/german-startups-2019-review-2020-outlook/

View Details

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

Talk to the hosts:

Jörn “Joe” Menninger joe@startuprad.io

Chris Fahrenbach chris@startuprad.io

Enabler

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

Together with our enabler we are running a podcast called “Tech Startups Germany”, which will focus on startups at a Serie A stage or even more mature. You will also find all the videos we produce for this podcast on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/startupradio. This podcast is available directly on our device as audio and video podcast, yes, Startuprad.io makes the first downloadable video podcast. Find all options to subscribe here: * 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io – Audio only * iTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bfl * Deezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rl * TuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpzn * Stitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO * 💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io – Video * iTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJ

Find all the links here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-december-2019-by-startuprad-io/

| Recommended Holiday Readings (Affiliated Links) |

| The Fire Starter Sessions by Danielle LaPorte | https://amzn.to/38Ug3rU | | The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey | https://amzn.to/2sGDy78 | | The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness by Stephen R. Covey | https://amzn.to/34DYbOC | | The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau | https://amzn.to/2PEoFet | | Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell | https://amzn.to/36U41g6 | | Grit – The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth | https://amzn.to/2SbuEcj |

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Find more content here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/2019-fintech-review-germany-talkshow-by-startuprad-io-video/ The traditionThis is a Startuprad.io tradition. Every year close to Christmas Joe gets together with smart people from the German fintech scene and talks about what was going on. Usually, the discussion drifts fast in a talk show and does not stick to the usual news format. None the less it is very informative and there are great ideas for fintech entrepreneurs and investors here.

Trust is repeated positive experience – Frank Schwab during Startuprad.io’s 2019 Fintech Review

This episode was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest, learn more at www.invest-in-hessen.de

Find the video and more content here: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/2019-fintech-review-germany-talkshow-by-startuprad-io-video/

The traditionThis is a Startuprad.io tradition. Every year close to Christmas Joe gets together with smart people from the German fintech scene and talks about what was going on. Usually, the discussion drifts fast in a talk show and does not stick to the usual news format. None the less it is very informative and there are great ideas for fintech entrepreneurs and investors here.

Trust is repeated positive experience – Frank Schwab during Startuprad.io’s 2019 Fintech Review

This episode was made possible by Hessen Trade and Invest, learn more at www.invest-in-hessen.de

To digitize the relationship with clients in banking, that will be the unicorn – Paolo Sironi during Startuprad.io’s 2019 Fintech Review

Our Guests(in alphabetic order)

Mario Hachemer, CTO Fastbill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahachemer/)

Luka Ivicevic, Co-Founder / Chief of Staff at Penta (https://www.linkedin.com/in/luka-ivicevic/)

Frank Schwab, Co-Founder Fintech Forum (https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankschwab/)

Paolo Sironi , Author and Thought Leader IBM (https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepsironi/)

Host:

Jörn “Joe” Menninger, Founder and Host Startuprad.io

joe@startuprad.io / Twitter / LinkedIn / Video Interview (2018)

To succeed in Fintech you need to digitize the client relationship – Paolo Sironi during Startuprad.io’s 2019 Fintech Review

Further ReadingDuring the discussion we are touching:

Challenger Bank / Neo Bank https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challenger_bank

Share of Wallet https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/share-of-wallet.asp

Tiktok https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQEGJMmqBTw

Mortgage: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mortgage.asp

related:

Mortgage market shares in Germany. Statista has only numbers for 2015, but online banks had a 40% market share: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/661264/umfrage/entwicklung-der-marktanteile-der-vertriebskanaele-in-der-deutschen-baufinanzierung/

Goldman Sachs’ Marcus: https://www.marcus.com/us/en

Related:

https://www.fool.com/investing/2019/12/09/why-is-goldman-sachs-investing-in-marcus.aspx

Having a good user experience is ok, but it will not lead to a transformation people will do banking – Paolo Sironi during Startuprad.io’s 2019 Fintech Review

https://youtu.be/fFxCiGsnD48

View Details

Find all the links we are talking about, as well as the show notes on our website https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-november-2019/ If you are new to our podcast(s), we are wrapping up the startup news of the German-speaking area in a monthly recording from Frankfurt and New York. Have a look at our website www.startuprad.io or www.startup.radio and you will find all the links to our recording and the articles we are quoting from there. Some of the source articles are in English, some are in German.

EnablerThis recording was made possible by Invest in Hessen. Learn more about our enabler here: https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home

Housekeeping - Time to brag We set up sub-podcast for special interest and our Fintech Germany made it up to No 72 in the iTunes Business Charts of Qatar. Thank you!

Now there is

  • 💢 Fintech Germany by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: http://apple.co/2lLRlpG
    • Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2m8HWsb
  • 💢 Security Sutra by Startuprad.io
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2K0qLlH
    • Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33rrlAD
  • 💢 Deeptech Germany
    • iTunes: https://apple.co/2oWO3Sl
    • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8
  • 💢 Blockchain Germany
  • iTunes: https://apple.co/2O2jwLx
  • Spotify https://spoti.fi/2qucve8

Find all the links we are talking about, as well as the show notes on our website https://www.startuprad.io/blog/this-month-in-german-startups-november-2019/

View Details

Tech Startups Germany - By Startuprad.ioThis is the first video of our new podcast Tech Startups Germany. All the recordings on this channel are made possible by Invest in Hessen (learn more here https://www.invest-in-hessen.com/home).

You can find this specific channel here as audio and video stand-alone podcast or via all channels of Startuprad.io.

Frankfurt as a location is good from an international recruiting standpoint, since Frankfurt has a really really great reputation.

VC FundingIn this interview, Joe from Startuprad.io is talking to Florian Brokamp (https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-brokamp-5a329876/), CEO of Thinksurance (https://thinksurance.de/en/start/), a Frankfurt-based insurtech startup. The fintech just raised 13 mn venture capital (https://www.policendirekt.com/en/thinksurance-raises-e13m-in-series-b-funding/) so Startuprad.io took the opportunity and stop by on short notice to ask one of the founders what they will do with all the money.

Startup is not about the events, it is not about “raising big”… its more important to believe in yourself, be happy and create your vision.

ThinksuranceFirst some information on the startup: Thinksurance is the leading commercial insurance distribution platform in Germany. Its technology connects insurers, distributors from all sales channels and business customers on its intelligent analytics and distribution platform. The company was founded in Frankfurt, Germany, first entered the market in 2016 under the brand “Gewerbeversicherung24” and was rebranded in 2019. By now, the insurtech has almost 50 employees and is led by its two founders Florian Brokamp and Christopher Leifeld as well as Vasil Vasilev and Timm Weitzel.

The insurtech is looking to increase headcount considerably and expand to other countries like France, Belgium and the Netherlands. As second priority they are looking to the USA and Asia.

Tune in the interview to learn more.

We would hope that in Germany in general and Frankfurt in specific there would be more support from the Government …

Learn more here:

https://www.startuprad.io/blog/thinksurance-connects-brokers-and-insurance-companies-on-their-platform/