Happy 2023, as well as a happy Chinese New Year of the Rabbit. 2023 Chris and Joe will again bring you startup news once a month (with a small summer break) wrapping up what was going on — and we found noteworthy — in the GSA / DACH startups scene.

Our Highlights:

WeFox is under fire for growing with acquisitions of insurance broker pools, BioNTech makes largest acquisition in its history, DeepL confirms unicorn status and snipes at Grammarly, Solarisbank in trouble with BaFin, Trade Republic has to disclose numbers and Sono Motors gets longer runway with EU money.

Let’s talk startups:

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Top News

WeFox got some splaining to do 🙂

Extensive, but not favorable coverage of insurtech Wefox came out this month. The main complaints are that the growth is basically driven by acquiring existing pools of insurance brokers (not really what you would associate with an insurtech startup). They made that way 600 million Euros in revenue in 2022. But these pools do not get innovative systems from WeFox, or innovative insurance offers from them, they just keep working. Also, there has been no innovative product that really drove the growth at WeFox as an innovative unicorn

BioNTech makes the largest acquisition to date

BioNTech may be one of Germany’s most successful startup companies. We talked about it in our news before, the company alone is responsible for approximately half a percentage point of Germany’s GDP Growth in 2021 — Keep in mind that Germany is the 4th largest country in the world by nominal GDP.

Here is the new piece: Mainz-based pharma company BioNTech (famous for their corona vaccine) makes the largest acquisition in its history with UK-based AI startup Instadeep

Related: BioNTech’s founder on the future of mRNA technology

Cologne-based DeepL confirms unicorn status and snipes at Grammarly

DeepL takes aim at Grammarly with the launch of Write, to clean up your prose.

Related:

Cologne-based translation tool DeepL confirms unicorn valuation for their 2022 fundraising of 100 mn US$

Solarisbank joins N26 in Troubles with BaFin

Bafin is Germany’s bank oversight body (think FSA or SEC). They have already limited the number of customers N26 can acquire due to lapses in following regulations (especially AML), now Solarisbank is in too: “Solarisbank in Germany can now only get new partners (fintech clients) with permission of German finance oversight BaFin, due to continuing problems. BaFin also sends an “observer”

Trade Republic Updates

Trade Republic generates more than 1 bn Euros inflows of new client money with 2% interest rate offer and a lot of favorable press coverage.

Also, Trade Republic has to publish their numbers: There is a legal requirement in Germany to publish your balance sheet 12 months after your business year

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups - January 2023

Executive Summary

In this episode, we have the privilege to explore fintech and banking in 2023 alongside Paolo, Global Research Leader for Banking and Capital Markets for IBM. He offers his insight into fintech and banking twenty years from now. We examine the strategies important for capital markets, fintech, and banking and the forces shaping their future. Paolo shares with us that these players need to be cognizant of their strategy choices, as well as how different successful platforms will be in the future. Last but not least, he impresses how imperative it is to start reasonably preparing for quantum computing today. It is a must-listen episode that provides tremendous insight into fintech growth and innovation.

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The Expert

Paolo is a fintech entrepreneur and thought leader who stands out from the crowd. He has been at the forefront of innovation in banking and fintech for nearly two decades. He has served as an experienced banker and risk manager, having held senior positions in major firms. In 2008, he founded Capitecs, an innovative startup based in Frankfurt that would eventually be acquired by IBM in 2012. Since then, Sironi has continued to innovate and lead the global research efforts for the IBM consulting institute, particularly in banking, fintech, and capital markets. He has also released five bestselling books on various fintech-related topics that have further established him as an authority figure. Paolo Sironi serves as a testament to success resulting from fintech expertise gained through experience in traditional banking institutions.

His most recent one is "Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies: Contextual and Conscious Banking (The Wiley Finance Series)" you can buy it and learn more here: https://amzn.to/3XC3OIU (AL)

His other books are:

 * FinTech Innovation: From Robo-Advisors to Goal-Based Investing and Gamification https://amzn.to/3IOHqrM (AL)
 * MiFID II: Value-Generation for Investors https://amzn.to/3iFtQML (AL)
 * Modern Portfolio Management: From Markowitz to Probabilistic Scenario Optimisation https://amzn.to/3iFtQML (AL)
 * Financial Market Transparency: Essay on Financial Markets Theory https://amzn.to/3Wi7z5j (AL)
 * 金融科技创新 (Fintech Innovation Mandarin Edition): https://amzn.to/3Wi7z5j (AL)




Thoughts To Ponder

Paolo, a fintech entrepreneur, banker, and thought leader in risk management, believes that banks are unable to compete on the level of volume needed to match that of tech giants. In order to stay competitive and provide value for their customers, fintech must set their sights on delivering superior service rather than chasing the same levels of scale. With his books and writing, Paolo has created a framework through which bankers and fintech entrepreneurs alike can better target value-based services in order to gain an

Fintech and Banking 2023 and Beyond | Strategy

Executive Summary

In this bonus episode of our expert interview series, Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics at INSEAD, joins us to provide insights into the current situation with FTX. We've gathered a good deal of information about the collapse so far but there is still much that remains unknown. We delved into some of the known facts surrounding FTX and pondered together on what could happen in the future. It's clear from our discussion that FTX was not a regulated financial institution, and also had its own unique challenges. We'll be keeping an eye out for more developments related to FTX as time goes on to see what other lessons we can learn.

I do believe there are other places where entities are insolvent, we just have not seen it yet.Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics 

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FTX suffered from bad management and likely fraud as wellAntonio Fatas, Professor of Economics

Background

As crypto continues to grow into a new and important market, the digital asset industry has been rocked by the sudden collapse of one of its biggest crypto exchanges - FTX. Led by crypto personality Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX had previously been ranked as the world’s third-biggest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, so its downfall came as quite a shock to crypto investors. This news is sure to cause ripples throughout the crypto industry for a long time, and it serves as another reminder that despite its rising popularity, crypto remains an unpredictable and high-risk gamble.

 Regulators may now have a different view on the risks and regulations of crypto. Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics



This event echoed Mt Gox’s downfall although the underlying problem was quite different. Unlike Mt. Gox which fell victim to hack, FTX merely could not keep up with the sudden demand for withdrawals caused by investors who were losing faith in the platform. The resulting effect sent FTT, their native token, tumbling and kicked off a domino effect causing customers to rush out of the exchange and further crippling its ability to sustain itself, leading inevitably to its demise.

I find it very revealing that these tokens that are supposed to work with high inflation, because the central banks are all crazy but this is the way to hold on to your purchasing power. Now that we have inflation, they are collapsing. That to me is a really red flag.Antonio Fatas, Professor of Economics

Bitcoin crashed, Ethereum crashed, and almost every other major token did the same. Then Binance stepped in, with the world’s number one exchange announcing it would buy FTX and ensure everyone gets repaid. But just as soon as the market settled, Binance announced a U-turn, saying the situation at FTX was beyond recovery. 



The implications from the complase of FTX will be felt for crypto for the coming years in more an thougher regulations. That is why we will follow the story. We start with a discussion of the situation with our guest. Professor Fatas.



The Expert

Antonio is an influential professor of economics with an impressive set of credentials. With a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University and a research fellowship at the C

Bonus: What We Know About the FTX Collapse?

Management Summary

Welcome to a Startuprad.io tradition, airing on December 25th. A review of the most important events in Fintech from the perspective of our guests for the 8th year in a row right now. The most important development in the fintech world was for most guests the FTX collapse. During the recordings agreed that fintech investments have seen a peak — there will be a valley behind it, but there will be new investment records achieved after the expected recession. As next hot topics emerged embedded finance and crypto. Not all crypto will be hot again, only with a sustainable business model, there is a future according to our guests. Actually, some guests welcomed a shakeout of the market — albeit it should not have been that violent and long.

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Introduction to our Fintech Review

For years Startuprad.io makes an annual fintech review, where practitioners, investors, and fintech folks get to wrap up their year. The focus is on GSA, but it seems to be more and more the case that markets get more interconnected and trends follow each other in much shorter time spans. It is also a tradition that we publish it on December 25th. 

Keep in mind that since the first fintech review the field has changed and broadened a lot! Really a lot. Where it used to be only payment apps, now there are fintechs in insurance, crypto, proptech, banking, SME banking, capital markets, and much much more. So we thought we would invite guests from a diverse range of backgrounds to give you their perspective on the time of corona, the year 2022, and the outlook for next year.

Our guest this year:

 * Meeri Savolainen, CEO and Co-Founder of Insurtech INZMO
 * Luca Frignani, CEO and Co-Founder of Credit Platform Exaloan
 * Henrik Gebbing, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Crypto Custody Bank Finoa
 * Frank Schwab, Co-Founder of the Fintech Forum and multiple supervisory board member


Our questions to the guests:

 * What was the most important development in the fintech world in 2022?
 * Do you think fintech has peaked in terms of investments — as some data suggests?
 * What is the next hot topic in fintech? Is crypto making a comeback or are we all focusing on API tools for embedding finance functions?
 * If you have one: What was the most interesting fintech development for you during corona?
 * If you have one: What was the most important piece of news in 2022?


Thank you very much for your valuable time and insights. We wish you much success in 2023 and happy holidays!

Blog Post With Links and Show Notes

https://medium.com/startuprad-io/fintech-review-germany-switzerland-and-austria-gsa-2022-97b12122e34b

#startup #germany #austria #switzerland #fintechreview #startupradio #entrepreneur #entrepreneurship #investing #venturecapital #crypto #embedded #custody

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Fintech Review 2022 - Germany, Austria, and Switzerland

Welcome to This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups, our startup news wrap-up for December 2022 by Startuprad.io with Chris from New York City and Joe from Frankfurt. We recorded this news episode on December 19th, 2022. Keep in mind, this news episode covers everything since our last news episode.

As always: All news not yet included here will be published in our next news episode, which will be January 2023, the first news for 2023. Guys, another year is over! Find all links to the quoted news on our Medium blog, link below

Our Highlights:

Enpal makes huge fundraising in the current environment, more than 800 mn €. Sennder doubles its valuation in the next funding round to 2 bn US$ and has already 60 mn commitments. The funding environment may be bleak, but investors announced new funds for VC and PE investments worth 3.1 bn US$ targeting startups and scaleups in GSA or Europe. One blog asks if the time of Rocket Internet is over, Matter Labs raises 200 mn, a big heist drives a startup into insolvency and Getir buys Gorillas for 1,2 bn US$, a far cry from Gorillas' former 3 bn US$ valuation.

Let's talk startups:

Top News 

Enpal Fundraising

Enpal could double its valuation in the new funding round. Berlin-based unicorn Enpal closes €855 million in debt funding to accelerate the adoption of solar energy.

Sennder Raises New Funds At Double Valuation

Digital forwarder unicorn Sennder is raising new money, at a  2 bn US$ valuation. According to the report, they already have  60m commitments.



Fundraising For VCs Went Quite Well - More Than 3.1 bn Euros Worth of New Investment Funds Have Been Closed

The largest is EQT Ventures. It has Money if your startup needs it: EQT Ventures III closes Europe's largest venture capital fund committed to early-stage tech startups. The money will go to early-stage startups in Europe and North America. For more funds, wait for our later section with new fund announcements.

A service for our audience: Learn more and send in pitches here: https://eqtgroup.com/current-portfolio/funds/eqt-ventures-iii 



Has Rocket Internet Already Seen Its Best Years?

"Mucho trouble over at Rocket Internet," wrote Robin Wauters in his readworthy newsletter for Tech.eu. The article asks if their era is over. Staff cuts and investment stop point in that direction.



Startup Brand Ranking

Jung von Matt publishes their annual  GERMAN STARTUP BRAND RANKING

Some of the top 50 startup brands are known from our news: About You, Flink, Numa Group, getquin, Vivid, Flaschenpost, Tier Mobility, Zolar, Enpal, Sono Motors, Trade Republic



Matter Labs raises 200 mn US$

Matter Labs, the Berlin, Germany-based developer of zkSync, a solution that reduces the cost of Ethereum transactions, raised $200M in Series C funding https://buff.ly/3UorChp



Not Oceans Eleven, But Still BIG

Berlin-based luxury watch marketplace Watchmaster was one of the largest marketplaces of its kind. After a spectacular robbery where 10 m € worth of watches have been stolen the company has to file for insolvency https://buff.ly/3Fi3qsG 



Getir Buys Gorillas And It Is Not Going Well For the Gorillas Founder

First, this kind of news appeared: Getir will take over Gorillas soon - according to press reports. The negotiations have been dragging on for some time now.

Then, we got the confirmation: Getir acquires German competitor Gorillas in $1.2 billion deal - where Gorillas was once valued at 3 bn US$

This Month in German, Swiss, and Austrian (GSA) Startups - December 2022

Executive Summary

9am.works is a startup platform explicitly designed for freelancers. Founded by Marc, a serial entrepreneur formerly with Team Europe Ventures and the founder of Sommelier Prive, Huus, code control, and 9am.works. The platform makes it easy for freelancers to find jobs, invoice clients, and get paid quickly and securely — most for free! It also helps companies work with freelancers, from searching and hiring to payment processing. Bootstrapped since its launch in 2016, 9am.works is transforming how freelance work is being done.

We take a lot of the pain points from companies that work with many freelancers.Marc Clemens, Founder and CEO 9am.works

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We worked with a law firm to build a compliance hub for working with freelancers.Marc Clemens, Founder and CEO 9am.works

Executive Summary

9am.works is a startup platform explicitly designed for freelancers. Founded by Marc, a serial entrepreneur formerly with Team Europe Ventures and the founder of Sommelier Prive, Huus, code control, and 9am.works. The platform makes it easy for freelancers to find jobs, invoice clients, and get paid quickly and securely - most for free! It also helps companies work with freelancers, from searching and hiring to payment processing. Bootstrapped since its launch in 2016, 9am.works is transforming how freelance work is being done.

The Founder

Marc is originally from Schwaben (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia), an area rich in entrepreneurial culture and home to some of the most iconic German companies, like Bosch and Benz. The Würth family is also from this same region, famous for their products related to screws, nails, and other construction items. He chose to pursue higher education abroad by studying at St. Gallen in Switzerland, UC San Diego, and later HEC in Paris. This exposure helped equip him with the skills needed to be a successful startup founder - something he has since become known for. His roots may have provided him with an initial spark of inspiration, but Marc's hard work has allowed him to carve out his own place in the business world.

A serial entrepreneur, he has a wealth of experience not only with Team Europe Ventures (now team global, founded by Lukasz Gadowski https://teamglobal.net/) and also in founding his own startups. Unfortunately, his venture Sommieler Prive did not succeed, leading to a period of tiredness and burnout. Thankfully, this entrepreneur is sharing his learnings from this experience in interviews to help others avoid the pitfalls of a similar situation. His advice provides powerful insights into how to navigate entrepreneurism without suffering excessively from burnout.

After this, he was freelancing for some time. This leads him to the idea of Code Control (which he still runs), a community for IT freelancers. This again developed into the idea of 9am.works, for all freelancers, not only for IT talent.

In between, he co-founded with his wife the HUUS soundproof phone booths startup (you may have seen them in a coworking space before) https://en.huus.io/.



The Startup

If you are a freelancer in need of assistance with the various steps of working with a company, 9am.works is the perfect platform for you! They provide sales solutions, and project management services free of charge for all freelancers and offer to work along any other steps needed for s

9am.works Is The "Operating System" for Freelancers

Executive Summary

Jochen Engert won the German Startup Award 2022 as German Entrepreneur of the Year. He is the co-founder of Munich-based Flix a unicorn recently valued at 3 bn US$ and the owner of Greyhound Lines. He shares in this interview his entrepreneurial journey, and his experience in winning 90% of the local long-distance bus market in less than a decade, without owning even one bus. We talk about the rough times during COVID when the service was shut down for 8 weeks, their expansion into different countries, acquisitions, and investments. He also shares some experience from his business angel investments.

“We are getting to profitability pretty soon”Jochen Engert Co-Founder Flix

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“Our families, even our girlfriends thought we were crazy leaving our consulting jobs to start this ‘bus thing’.”Jochen Engert Co-Founder Flix

German Startup Awards 2022

This interview is in media partnership with the German startup association (Bundesverband Deutscher Startups https://deutschestartups.org/). Their German Startup Awards #GSA22 honor each year outstanding female and male founders and investors in special categories. You can learn more about the winners in our interviews and on this website: https://germanstartupawards.de/rueckblick/rueckblick-2022

You can also have a look at our history, we also interviewed many winners of the German Startup Awards 2021 already.

“Our initial hypothesis was that you need one central player to orchestrate in order to put up a national network.”Jochen Engert Co-Founder Flix

The Founder

Our guest today is Jochen, the Supervisory Board Director (formerly CEO) and Co-Founder of Munich-based mobility unicorn startup Flix (formerly Flixbus). Jochen studied at the University of Ottawa, Canada, as well as at Stuttgart University and in Koblenz at WHU. He has also been a consultant at Boston Consulting Group for 5 years, prior to starting Flix.

“If you want to be a founder, you are always on sales, to clients, investors, and also people you want to hire”Jochen Engert Co-Founder Flix

The trigger of Flix was the 2009 coalition government contract, where the ruling parties stated they wanted to de-regulate the bus service in Germany, for the first time permitting long-distance buses. Before the de-regulation there was a law in force forbidding long-distance bus connections, competing with train service. So they founded GoBus, later re-branded to FlixBus, then to Flix.

“ … for all operational complex businesses: Operational excellence, passion for detail and laser focus on customer centricity and ultimately customer technology … that is something that compounds, …. Building ultimately a competitive advantage, that is very hard to impossible to replicate ”Jochen Engert Co-Founder Flix

The Startup

Flix started as GoBus, later FlixBus (https://global.flixbus.com/). Today they operate FlixBus, FlixTrain, FlixCar, Kâmil Koç in Turkey, and Greyhound Lines in the

Meet the German Entrepreneur of the Year - Co-founder of Flix, which now owns Greyhound #GSA22

Executive Summary

UniApp is an ed-tech startup from Germany, that helps international students to prepare for their study abroad and helps in the application process, both on their platform. They help students to find the right place to study for undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as online-only programs. Their portfolio includes now universities and colleges in 27 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, and Canada. The tool also works as a CRM for universities and colleges to streamline their international applicants.

“We bootstrapped in less than 2 months to more than 20.000 users”Fahed Jaarah, Founder and CEO UniApp

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“We created a search engine for education that is not manipulated by ads.”Fahed Jaarah, Founder and CEO UniApp

The Founder

Our guest today, founder and CEO of UniApp Fahed, brings a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship to the table. Having studied at universities across Europe (Cologne, Paris, Buckinghamshire outside of London), he has worked on various projects with notable organizations such as private rating agencies and investment advisers a small investment boutique. After 3 years working within this sector, he decided to take his newfound knowledge and apply it to the world of ed-tech by founding UniApp — creating a modern platform to support students during the process of looking for study abroad by matching students with mentors at universities around the world. With his expertise in launching successful businesses aiding college and university students, Fahed is quickly becoming a prominent figure in the international education community.

The Startup

UniApp (https://uni-app.com/), started out as Udrus.com and was initially designed to enable Arabic-speaking students to study abroad. However, the team soon expanded its vision to provide study-abroad opportunities for international students from all over the world, under the new name of UniApp. Using a unique application process that takes into account 600+ data points for each individual student, UniApp has become a leader in ed-tech by making the complex college application process easier and smoother for its users. With a platform that eliminates language barriers, UniApp is paving the way for study abroad programs around the globe. By focusing on the needs of the study seeker and their future potential, UniApp is playing a huge role in making study abroad accessible to everyone — whether it's internationally or from within their own region. UniApp also can match you with institutions for an undergraduate degree, advanced degree, or even an online degree.

For institutions of higher learning, the application helps them to get matched with better-fitting students and don’t have to click through many ads on search engines. The tool works as a kind of CRM program and communication tool for the institutions.

Venture Capital Funding

UniApp raised 1 mn Euros in Seed Funding in Q2 2022. They are also currently in fundraising mode again.

UniApp is Hiring

You can learn more about them on their website here: https://uni-app.com/about-us/ and reach out via the website.

All Links and Show Notes

Here is our blog post:

UNIAPP Helps Students to Find the Best International University for Them

Executive Summary

Filip is a founding partner of Cherry Ventures, one of Germany’s most important seed investors. Their portfolio includes unicorns like Flixbus, Auto1 Group, Forto, Infarm, and well-known startups like Amorelie, Kitchen Stories, Flaschenpost, Spryker, and Superlist. Their portfolio also includes our former guests: Qualifyze, Sanity Group, and Rows. Filip has a background as an entrepreneur himself, so he and Cherry approach startup investing differently. Tune in to learn more about him and the VC.

“We have software helping us to find good startups, for example, if you are head of product at a good startup and change your title to ‘working on something new’ we get notified.”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry Ventures

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“I really believe an investor should be stage focused”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry Ventures

The Founder

Filip Dames has had an accomplished career, starting out as an intern in Malaysia with DaimlerChrysler, at BCG, and Sony BMG in New York City. Following his venture into the corporate world, he then founded a collectible marketplace called Tamundo. There he went on to oversee the international expansion of Zalando and become the founder and CEO of Zalando Lounge (Zalando’s shopping club). The venture was a success, helping Zalando to go public in 2014. He decided to leave the company, making his 30th birthday also his Zalando farewell party.

From there Filip decided to venture off and focus on venture capital; so it came as no surprise when he started Cherry Ventures in 2013 in Berlin as business angel and startup investor. With tickets of 10.000–50.000€ they are dedicated to helping Germany, Europe, and beyond with investments for entrepreneurs wanting to make their visions reality.

“We invest almost exclusively in Europe”Filip Dames, Founding Partner Cherry Ventures

Cherry Ventures

Cherry Ventures (https://www.cherry.vc/) is an early-stage venture capital fund founded and led by former entrepreneurs. They are focusing on European seed-stage companies in the B2B and B2C space. Cherry invests there at the pre-seed- and seed stage with initial tickets between €500k and €5M.

“Founders first and investors second” is the motto of Cherry Ventures

They started out with their first fund with their own money and the money of close friends, much less than 10 m €. From there they build a portfolio of 30 companies, of which some did really well. This in turn enabled them to raise an institutional fund, worth 150 m Euros. In the second fund, successful entrepreneurs from the first fund invested like the founder of Amorelie or the founders of Flixbus.

Their portfolio is already pretty impressive and includes names our frequent followers will recognize, unicorns like Flixbus, Auto1 Group, Forto, Infarm. But they are also investors in well-known startups like Amorelie, Kitchen Stories, Flaschenpost, Spryker, and Superlist. 

Their portfolio also includes former guests, Qualifyze, Sanity Group, and Rows, for which you can find the interview link in the show notes.

Further Readings / Additional Resources

Qualifyze (audio only) 

https://player.ca [https://player.captivate.fm/episode/220f49cc-2ef1-471a-bd5b-504d9235e892]

Meet Filip, One of Germany's Most Successful Early Stage VCs from Cherry Ventures #GSA22

Executive Summary

Milan graduated in 2022 from Highschool and is the founder of QiTech, a company that recycles bottle caps to create the plastic filament used in 3D printers. He was recently awarded the Newcomer of the Year at the German Startup Awards 2022. Milan has been working hard to grow QiTech into a successful business. In addition to selling the ink for 3d printers call filament, QiTech also sells the machines they use to produce the filament. This innovative approach to recycling has earned Milan recognition as an outstanding young entrepreneur. With his creative solution to the problem of plastic waste, Milan is positively impacting the environment and paving the way for a more sustainable future.

In plastic recycling you have to get down to the details, there is a lot of ‘greenwashing.’

Milan von dem Bussche, Founder QiTech

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“We produce (next to recycled filament) lab scale machines, where you can throw in the right kind of plastic on top and get 3d printing filament out at the end.”

Milan von dem Bussche, Founder QiTech

German Startup Awards 2022

This interview is in media partnership with the German startup association (Bundesverband Deutscher Startups https://deutschestartups.org/). Their German Startup Awards #GSA22 honor each year outstanding female and male founders and investors in special categories. You can learn more about the winners in our interviews and on this website: https://germanstartupawards.de/rueckblick/rueckblick-2022  

You can also have a look at our history, we also interviewed many winners of the German Startup Awards 2021 already. 

 “What we do is really recycling, not downcycling.”

Milan von dem Bussche, Founder QiTech



The Founder

Milan is a young entrepreneur who is already making waves in the business world. In March 2022, he won the German Startup Award, and in the summer of the same year, he graduated from high school. Von dem Bussche started his career at the age of 16 with 3d printing phone cases. He soon realized that there was more potential in recycling phone cases and turning them into 3d printing filament. The filament is the ink of a plastic 3d printer; it is a type of plastic that is heated and then layered on to create a 3d shape. Von dem Bussche and his team soon recognized that the filament business held much more potential than the phone case business, so they pivoted their focus. Their hard work has paid off; today, their company is one of the leading producers of 3d printing filament in Germany. von dem Bussche is proof that with a great idea and a lot of determination, anyone can succeed. As of December 2022, the team has not taken in outside investors, but they funded their startup with award money and a government stipend. 



The Startup

Milan von dem Bussche is a young entrepreneur who founded the startup QiTech. The company started out by 3d printing cell phone cases but later realized that there was a much bigger market in recycling plastics to 3d printing filament. So they pivoted. After being asked to sell their machines for sorting and recycling, QiTech also offers these mac

QiTech Recycles Plastic Waste in 3D Printing Filament #GSA22

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