News week 21 - 2024

Videobot appoints Jani Engberg as new CCO. Duck Creek Technologies appoints Bindu Crandall as new Chief Marketing Officer. Miete24 and HP launch Workplace-as-a-Service for HP partners in Germany. Paribus and Wirelane enable investments in German charging infrastructure. Relaunch European Startup Network.Lukka acquires Coinfirm. Porsche and ADS-TEC Energy sign global service agreement. Tencent honors climate technology teams.

Videobot appoints Jani Engberg as new Chief Commercial Officer

Videobot has appointed Jani Engberg as its new Chief Commercial Officer to expand its offering into an enterprise tool for media houses and creative, digital and advertising agencies. Engberg's experience in digital strategy for leading brands will be crucial in driving the Finnish SaaS marketing tech pioneer's next growth target. The company, which has achieved international success in less than two years and has over 200 large and mid-sized clients in almost 20 countries, is looking to further expand its partnerships with agencies. Engberg emphasizes the importance of short videos as the preferred format of digital consumers. Videobot's approach offers an omnichannel solution that is accessible across multiple platforms and creates new opportunities for interactive video advertising.

Miete24 and HP launch Workplace-as-a-Service for HP partners in Germany

Miete24 has launched a new Workplace-as-a-Service concept for HP partners in Germany in cooperation with HP Inc. HP partners can now rent notebooks, PCs, monitors, headsets and video conferencing systems through Miete24, including HP Carepacks and services. This model makes it easier for partners to purchase hardware on a monthly basis, integrate it into their managed services and rent it out to end customers. In addition, the program offers a sale and lease back option that allows HP partners to retain existing procurement processes. Heino Deubner, CEO of Miete24, emphasizes the strategic importance of the collaboration to expand the service offerings of ICT resellers.

Duck Creek Technologies appoints Bindu Crandall as new Chief Marketing Officer

Duck Creek Technologies has appointed Bindu Crandall as its new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Ms. Crandall will be responsible for strategic marketing, branding and driving the company's global expansion. She brings over 20 years of experience in the technology and SaaS space and was previously CMO at Navisite. Duck Creek Technologies, known for its intelligent property and casualty insurance solutions, looks forward to working with Ms. Crandall to further expand its market leadership.

Porsche and ADS-TEC Energy sign worldwide service agreement

ADS-TEC Energy has signed a worldwide service agreement with Porsche, making ADS-TEC Energy the preferred service partner for Porsche dealers in Europe and North America. The partnership includes remote services, diagnostics and on-site visits. The ultrafast charging systems manufactured by ADS-TEC Energy, such as the ChargeBox, are to be continuously improved based on collected experience data to ensure optimum charging performance. Around 500 Porsche dealers in Europe and North America are already using the ChargeBox to provide their customers with convenient fast charging. According to Thomas Speidel, CEO of ADS-TEC Energy, this cooperation is a valuable vote of confidence and promotes the acceptance and attractiveness of electromobility.

Relaunch of the European Startup Network

The European Startup Network (ESN) has relaunched its platform to unite national startup associations in Europe and strengthen the voice of startups and scaleups at European level. This relaunch aims to drive innovation and coordination in the European startup ecosystem to remain competitive in the global technology market. ESN encourages its members to read the latest strategy paper, which provides insights and recommendations to foster a thriving European startup environment.

Paribus and Wirelane enable investment in German charging infrastructure

Paribus and Wirelane have announced a cooperation that enables investments in the German charging infrastructure. With immediate effect, interested parties can purchase charging stations for electric vehicles for EUR 17,000 plus VAT, which are leased for eight years. Buyers receive a fixed monthly rent and an annual variable, performance-based rent, with an expected return of around 7.5% p.a. (IRR). This initiative aims to expand the German charging network and encourage private investment in this growing market. Wirelane, a leading provider of charging solutions, already operates an extensive network and cooperates with numerous cities and municipalities. Further information is available on Wirelane's website. Please note: this is not investment advice from Startbase, it is for information purposes only.

Lukka acquires Coinfirm

Lukka, a provider of data and software solutions for digital assets, has announced the acquisition of Coinfirm, a European blockchain analytics software company. Through this acquisition, Lukka expands its capabilities and now offers a broader range of on-chain analytics for compliance, AML, sanctions screening, corporate due diligence and investigations. Coinfirm's integration with Lukka's platforms enables the use of verified institutional data, which is beneficial at a time when trust in data quality and accuracy is important. Coinfirm brings its expertise in compliance, AML and blockchain analytics to the partnership. This combination strengthens Lukka's position as a crypto data solutions provider and enables a strategic expansion of its offering.

Tencent honors climate technology teams (CarbonX)

Tencent has announced the winners of the first phase of its CarbonX program, which promotes promising climate technologies. From over 300 applications, 13 teams were selected and supported with a total of RMB 100 million (USD 14 million). CarbonX, launched in March 2023, targets low-carbon technologies, especially carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). Tencent has committed RMB 200 million (USD 28 million) over the next three years to bring these technologies to market and support the goals of the Paris Agreement. The jury, consisting of experts from academia, industry and investors, selected projects in the Lab, Accelerator and Infrastructure categories. Tencent is already planning the second phase of CarbonX to drive further innovation.