Startup News GSA - Summer Wrap-Up (July & August '22)

Women Who Rock GSA a Female Entrepreneurship Podcast

Our Highlights

Startups in GSA did better than expected. We had a few insolvency filings, but also amazing fundraisings like Celonis 1 bn US$ combination of equity and debt funding. Insuftech Wefox raises 400 m. One can already see the signs of a downturn, M&A activity going up, as well as the news about insolvencies or job cuts/ hiring freezes. But — according to a Bikcom survey — 8 out of 10 startups are still hiring. Deal time our recent guest Qonto buys former guest Penta and there was more in a B2B neobank deal week. Even Allianz had to learn, that one can not buy fintech success and there is more news on Wirecard.

We will also bombard you with funding data on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, as well as global numbers. Keep in mind you can read all our news on our blog https://medium.com/@startuprad_io/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-gsa-startups-summer-2022-wrap-up-603e2c1939ae

Top News

Celonis Secures 1 bn US$ Funding

Celonis remains a success story with a 400 million Series D extension and a 600 mn US$ credit facility, at a valuation of nearly 13 bn US$. They are cementing their spot as Germany’s most valuable startup as well as its only decacorn. They do process mining and help to identify unrealized efficiencies. Right now, they’re helping with supply chain issues, for example.

Despite Market Conditions, WeFox Closes 400 m US$ Funding

Wefox, the Berlin-based insurtech, closes USD 400 million Series D round at 4.5 bn Dollar valuation

One Former Guest Has to File for Insolvency

• German crypto startup Nuri had a streak of bad luck. First, they announce to cut almost 20% of their headcount, then millions of their client’s money is frozen with Celsius and now a blog claimed it all hit during fundraising
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• Eventually followed by an insolvency filing https://medium.com/startuprad-io/berlin-based-crypto-bank-nuri-formerly-known-as-bitwala-with-500-000-b4953e15dbfa
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• Berlin-based crypto neoborker Nuri had to file for insolvency. Now the insolvency administrator says there are parties interested in buying the company
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Neobrokers Facing Headwinds

• Neobrokers close to the edge: No good news from the SEC report on the poster child of all neo-brokers. Unfortunately, there is no report for Germany mentioning e.g. Trade Republic
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• Robinhood almost imploded during GameStop meme stock chaos — TechCrunch
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• Bankman-Fried’s FTX Is Seeking a Path to Buy Robinhood — BloombergWhat does this mean for BitPanda, Trade Republic, Scalable Capital, and N26? Do they also need to look for a strategic buyer rather than an IPO?
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B2B Neobanks Had a pretty big Deal Week

Qonto Announces Plan to Acquire Penta https://buff.ly/3zwPCI3 as we have predicted two weeks before https://buff.ly/3zxUSeH we have extensive coverage of Penta from the past linked in the article, as well as an interview with Qonto’s head of Germany. Also Kontist was selling itself at a pretty hefty discount https://buff.ly/3c9pmuF

Viability of Quick Delivery Business Model still Questioned

• After only one year:...