Billion-dollar deals, scandals and a tenfold unicorn: a review of 2021

From German decacorn to sexist start-ups. The year had a lot to offer. A look back at the biggest success stories and excitement.

We were all so optimistic at the start of the year. 2021 really couldn't be any worse than 2020. Whether this has been confirmed is probably in the eye of the beholder, but the year didn't go particularly well in terms of society as a whole: the coronavirus pandemic including the anti-vaccination problem, the Afghanistan disaster and the flood catastrophe - the year could have done without some events.

At least there was some good news in the German start-up world. One funding record followed the next, and some start-ups were able to secure unicorn status this year. The new federal government, freshly elected in the fall, is also planning to do a lot for the start-up location. The eternal complaints about Germany's lack of entrepreneurial spirit may finally have had their day.

Which is not to say that there is nothing to criticize. Whether it's sexist products on Die Höhle der Löwen, the eternal dispute between Gorillas and its employees and the crowdfunding chaos at Volocopter: the scene is still good for a good scandal, a look back at a turbulent start-up year.

The year of delivery services

Food delivery services clearly experienced the biggest hype this year. Two recently founded companies, Gorillas and Flink, achieved billion-dollar valuations. Other providers such as Getir and Picnic also launched in Germany. For years, the concept was not considered feasible in this country, mainly because the wage level in Germany was too high. To be fair, it should be said that the new providers have generally not been profitable either. Fortunately, there are plenty of prominent investors who believe in the business model in the long term.

These include Delivery Hero. The Berlin-based company, itself active in a similar field, invested money in Gorillas. A nice footnote is that Delivery Hero founder Niklas Östberg once mocked food delivery services as "networked late-night restaurants". This was not the only embarrassing aspect of the year for the DAX-listed company: the comeback on the domestic market with the Foodpanda brand only lasted a few months, with Delivery Hero shutting down the business shortly before Christmas.

But these are probably problems they would like to have at Gorillas. Because the company has been struggling with some of its employees all year. There have been wildcat strikes, blocked warehouses and redundancies, and the atmosphere between management and employees seemed completely poisoned, especially in Berlin. Recently, however, a works council election was held and Gorillas also announced a pay rise . Will this settle everything? 2022 will show.

Brave new fintech world

The neobroker Trade Republic raiseda mega financing round this year. It raised 900 million US dollars in the Series C round - making unicorn status a mere formality. In a year in which people had a lot of time and money to spare, trading apps benefited worldwide. However, the rise of the meme stock movement caused trouble. When investors gathered on the Reddit platform in the spring to get hedge funds into trouble with the help of the Gamestop share, Trade Republic briefly suspended trading in this very share. This resulted in a shitstorm and a Bafin investigation, although the outcome was mild.

Another new fintech unicorn, the neobank N26, was also not without controversy in 2021. The accusations were well-known: The young financial institution's compliance was inadequate, according to regulators. The result was a restriction on new customer business at the end of the year. Nevertheless, N26 can currently call itself "Germany's most valuable fintech".

Silent hero

However, one start-up outperformed them all in terms of valuation. Celonis initially became the first German decacorn this year, i.e. the tenfold unicorn. In the meantime, another billion has already been added. The Munich-based software company has managed all of this in a pleasantly unagitated manner; there have been no major scandals, just a lot of recognition. The start-up also gives reason to hope that, decades after SAP, a German technology giant could emerge once again.

Little nasties

The Pinky Gloves were rather tabloid-esque, but still a big topic. The disposable glove for disposing of tampons was presented in the Lion's Den. Ralf Dümmel wanted to invest, but in the end the shitstorm was so great that the founders quickly gave up. The accusation: sexism, no woman would need such a product.

Whether anyone needs air cabs remains to be seen. Unlike the tampon glove, the topic is not yet dead, but it was dealt a heavy blow when Volocopter canceled its planned IPO. The losers were the small investors who had initially supported the company via crowdfunding. They will now receive significantly less money than if the company had gone public.

To summarize: A turbulent year is coming to an end. Will 2022 be calmer? Probably not. As long as the central banks maintain their ultra-loose monetary policy, large financing rounds will continue to be on the cards. And parts of the German start-up scene are always good for a well-groomed dip in the toilet. Find out what else is coming up in next week's Startbase annual outlook.