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 $1.2 billion deal - where Gorillas was once valued at 3 bn US$
