This Month in German Startups - May 2020

This Month in German Startups - May 2020

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

 

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Enabler

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

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

💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - Audio onlyiTunes https://apple.co/2Z17bflDeezer http://bit.ly/2Qbh1rlTuneIn http://bit.ly/2M8vpznStitcher http://bit.ly/34xTANO💢 Tech Startups Germany by Startuprad.io - VideoiTunes https://apple.co/2M8ZxKJVideo 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 / Covid19German 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/3dipDGbGerman 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 association50% 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 costThe importance of networks at a new highRecruitment at a halt, but existing staff is largely kept onRemote 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 LinksIs your startup in need of a bank account in Germany? Try our partner affiliate Penta http://bit.ly/3bdHX3dLooking to open a bank account to shift between crypto and fiat? Try our partner Bitwala with this affiliate link here http://bit.ly/2w01ZyeEcosystem German Venture Capital Barometer sets a new record low due to #Coronavirus. All indicators in the red. The business climate index for the German VC scene is calculated by the German VC and PE association (BVKAP) and KfW, the government-backed development bank https://buff.ly/2TBBfg5 The quoted specialist finds it likely the VC investors will focus on their portfolio and not make significant new investments VCs in Germany only finance 8% of startups co-founded by women.  That is 17% of their investments https://buff.ly/2YA04MP Startups banking in Germany: According to a recent analysis, approx 5% of startups in Germany have a bank account with neobank Penta. The younger the startup, the more likely they are to bank with a challenger bank. The share of established players with newly founded startups is shrinking fast, especially the share of Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank is holding up well. From the established players the German thrift organizations (Sparkassen) are the leaders in startup banking, but they are 385 institutions. Also, the Volksbanken, cooperative banks, are doing pretty well. The Volksbanken and Sparkassen are usually the only banks of which you will find branches outside of larger cities.  More than 50 companies now have permits to trade in medical cannabis in Germany. This crowding leads to a decline in revenues, from "six-digit a month" to "five-digit a month" https://buff.ly/3ecdB1V Related:More cannabis news: Deutsche-Startups has a list of 13 startups, headquartered in Germany working in the market https://buff.ly/3fMwJoI they only forgot Frankfurt-based cansativa https://buff.ly/2VT3gQT, the startup was the reason for a partial lockdown of the city, as they started out because their super-secure warehouse gave a false alarm. Hubs

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

#Frankfurt (Rhine-Main)The app Aliah supports communications in the hospital and takes away some of the burdens of the medical personal https://buff.ly/2KCssG2 There is a webinar for the STEP program of the German-American Chamber of Commerce in New York City, which enables German startups to make a first “step” to New York. It will take place on June 30th form 14 – 15 CET. You can register here and startups from Hessen can apply for 1.500 Euros funding https://buff.ly/2ADFBg7 Aareal Bank, Wiesbaden-based bank specializes in property financing, wants to sell shares in their IT subsidiary after pressured by an investor https://buff.ly/3dXeJGiAlso Rhine-Main Area: MainzThere 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 #MunichSeven 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 #HamburgHamburg-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  #HannoverThere 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 #DüsseldorfDr. Sam, a digital veterinarian raises “seven-digit amount” venture capital https://buff.ly/2LJgqLz #ZürichSwiss 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)#PotsdamGerman startup Flightright (a startup getting buying passenger compensation claims) sues Lufthansa due to open refunds https://buff.ly/36e5YoP #NürnbergSuccessful #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/2wJwAKRN26, #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/2YnMfB1Porsche 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 CurveHow 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/2KTA7jiWhile 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/2xFXlGLCan I fundraise in COVID times? — the “New” Fundraising Matrix via @creandum https://buff.ly/3cKJT3BMapping the Institutional Digital Asset Infrastructure space - The Block https://buff.ly/3buryWQ5 Things No One Tells You About VC Firms | SaaStr https://www.saastr.com/5-things-no-one-tells-you-about-vc-firms/