These are Germany's new unicorns

In 2021, more startups cracked the billion mark than ever before. An overview of the success stories.

In view of the reports that poured in on interested observers last year, it was quite possible to lose track. Almost weekly, a new start-up announced that it had now achieved unicorn status. It's high time to bring together the newcomers in this exclusive club. Here are Germany's new unicorns from 2021.

Agile Robots funding round: $220 million Investors: Softbank, Chimera Investments, GL Ventures, Sequoia China, Xiamoi Group, Foxconn International Internet.

The Munich-based company is a spin-off of the German Aerospace Center and develops software and hardware products in the robotics sector. So far, the robots are mainly used in medical and industrial environments.

Berlin Brands Group financing round: 700 million US dollars for 40 percent of the shares Investor: Bain Capital

Berlin Brands Group (BBG) brings together more than 45 proprietary and acquired brands and retailers that work online and cover areas of home, electronics and home fitness, among others.

Clark financing round: acquisition of Allianz X's Finanzen Group, in return for which the latter receives shares in Clark Investors: White Star Capital, Tencent and Yabeo.

The Clark app is an insurance manager that organizes everything from cancellations to changes in policies from homeowner's to health insurance.

Commercetools funding round: $140 million Investors: Insight Partners, REWE Group, Accel Valuation: $1.9 billion.

Commercetools sells companies digital infrastructure for their online stores; customers include Porsche, BMW and BASF.

Contentful financing round: 175 million U.S. dollars Investors: Tiger Global, Base10's Advancement Initiative, Tidemark Valuation: three billion U.S. dollars

The Berlin-based company operates a platform that serves as an interface between websites, apps and devices; channels and tools can be integrated in the process.

Enpal funding round: 150 million euros raised, total 280 million euros Investors: Softbank, HV Capital, Solarcity co-founder Peter Rive Valuation: 1.1 billion U.S. dollars

The Berlin-based company rents solar systems on a subscription basis, allowing customers to save on high investment and maintenance costs. Founded in 2017, Enpal says it has 10,000 users who can buy the solar systems at a discount after 20 years.

Flink funding round: $600 million Investors: Doordash, Cherry Ventures, Northzone, Rewe (enters strategic partnership in the deal), Prosus, Target Global, Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund Valuation: $2.1 billion

Flink has existed since 2020 and achieved its unicorn status after just seven months: Like its competitors Gorillas and Grovy, the Berlin-based company delivers food to people's homes within minutes.

Forto funding round: $240 million Investors: Softbank, Citi Ventures, G Squared, Northzone, Inven Capital, Cherry Ventures, Unbound Valuation: $1.2 billion

The logistics start-up's software enables a transparent supply chain in real time for all parties involved, from the carrier to the recipient of the products.

Gorillas funding round: 245 million euros Investors: Tencent, DST Global, Fund Coatue, Atlantic Food Labs.

No one got around Gorillas in 2021: the delivery startup brings groceries to people's homes within ten minutes; since its founding in 2020, the company has expanded to 60 cities worldwide.

Infarm funding round: $200 million Investors: Partners in Equity, Hanaco, Atomico, Lightrock, Bonnier, Qatar Investment Authority.

The startup currently grows 75 varieties of herbs and vegetables via vertical farming, which are then sold in glass boxes in supermarkets such as Edeka and Kaufland.

Mambu financing round: 110 million euros Investors: TCV, Tiger Global, Arena Holding, FT Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Acton Capital, Runa Capital Valuation: 1.7 billion US dollars

Another €235 million was added for the fintech in December 2021, bringing Mambu to a valuation of €4.9 billion. The Berlin-based company offers a SaaS platform for financial service providers such as N26.

Personio funding round: $125 million Investors: Index Ventures, Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Northzone, Global Founders Capital, Picus Capital, Meritech Valuation: 1.4 billion euros.

The Munich-based startup offers HR software for companies that supports and organizes all steps from payroll to recruiting. Today, Personio is worth 5.5 billion euros.

Raisin DS funding round: merger of Raisin and Deposit Solutions.

After the fintechs merged, investor Kinnevik valued the startup at €1.3 billion. It offers interest rate marketplaces through which customers can compare conditions for saving and invest accordingly.

Razor Group funding round: $125 million Investors: Fortress Investment Group, 468 Capital, Blackrock, Jebsen Capital, Redalpine, Global Founders Capital.

Razor Group has been buying successful Amazon retailers and brands since 2020 in order to incorporate them under its own umbrella and continue to operate them successfully.

Scalable Capital funding round: €150 million Investors: Tencent, Blackrock, existing investors Valuation: $1.4 billion

Neobroker offers customers portfolio management, investing in ETFs, funds and stocks.

Sellerx funding round: $500 million Investors: Blackrock, Sofina, Victory Park Capital.

Another startup whose concept is to buy Amazon merchants and the third young company that has become a German unicorn with this principle. In addition to the funding round, Sellerx had also bought competitor KW-Commerce.

Sennder funding round: $160 million Investors: Accel, Lakestar, HV Capital, Project A, Scania.

Founded in 2015, the startup offers software for organizing logistics companies, primarily to facilitate and digitize the work of freight forwarders.

Solarisbank financing round: 190 million euros Investors: Decisive Capital, Pathway Capital Management, Fund Ilavska Vuillermoz, existing investors Valuation: 1.4 billion euros

In addition to its own funding round, July 2021 also saw the acquisition of British competitor Contis for over 100 million euros. The fintech enables financial service providers to process their transactions by providing its SaaS platform.

Tier funding round: $200 million Investors: Softbank, Mubadala Capital, M&G Investments, Mountain Partners Valuation: $2 billion

An e-scooter startup can't be left out of the lineup of unicorns for 2021: Tier has been offering not only scooters, but also bicycles and mopeds since 2018. Today, the start-up's offering can be found in 60 German cities.