Startupnews of the week - week 42

Sage and ePages enter into partnership. Sven Schneider becomes COO at PAIR Finance. Factorial acquires Fuell. Jes Hennig becomes CCO at Forget Finance. Complete success at the Heilbronn Slush'D 2023

More than 1,000 visitors at Heilbronn Slush'D 2023

The second edition of Heilbronn Slush'D has just taken place and, with over 1,000 participants, including founders, investors and corporate decision-makers, has seen a considerable increase compared to last year's premiere. The event, organized by Campus Founders, offered a platform for networking and collaboration between startups and investors. Topics such as cooperation between start-ups and SMEs and the use of artificial intelligence were the focus of the event. Ventus secured the main prize in the form of a 100,000 euro investment. The Heilbronn region is also positioning itself as an up-and-coming AI hotspot. The festival also honored promising startups and promoted exchange between various players in order to strengthen the regional startup ecosystem. Campus Founders is already planning to continue the festival next year and, as a startup & co-innovation hub, is committed to promoting startups and innovation in Heilbronn.

Jes Hennig becomes Chief Commercial Officer at Forget Finance

Berlin - Fintech company Forget Finance has appointed Jes Hennig as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) to support the company's growth. Jes Hennig brings extensive experience in innovation and growth in traditional banks and neobanks. He previously founded neobank Ruuky, which attracted 250,000 users during his tenure before being sold earlier this year following a failed funding round. Forget Finance sees Jes Hennig as a valuable addition and expects his arrival to boost the company's growth. Forget Finance was founded in Berlin in 2020 and has received investments from well-known personalities in the finance and tech industry. Its goal is to help people unlock their financial potential.

Factorial acquires Fuell

Factorial has successfully acquired Fuell, a Spanish expense management start-up funded by Y Combinator. This marks the first major acquisition and product expansion for Factorial, which previously specialized in HR. Fuell offers a specialized solution for budget management and back-office tasks such as VAT recovery and expense categorization. With this acquisition, Factorial expands its offering and aims to become an integrated HR and expense management platform in Europe.

Sven Schneider becomes Chief Operating Officer at PAIR Finance

PAIR Finance, a leading European fintech company for customer-centric digital collections, has appointed Sven Schneider as Chief Operating Officer (COO). Schneider, former Head of Collections (Europe) at Riverty, brings 18 years of experience in management roles and will lead PAIR Finance's operations to support the company's expansion in Europe. Schneider emphasizes the importance of PAIR Finance's AI technology for the debt collection industry and its scalable platform. Stephan Stricker, CEO of PAIR Finance, is delighted with Schneider's expertise and expects him to play an important role in the company's continued growth.

Sage and ePages partner up

Sage and ePages have announced a partnership in Frankfurt to launch an all-in-one e-commerce suite for start-ups and SMEs in Germany. The suite will be available in Comfort and Professional versions, priced at 164 and 214 euros respectively, and is designed to make it easier for SMEs to get started in online commerce. This is an extension of their existing partnership. Further details are available on the Sage website.