Startupnews week 11 - 2024

NeoTaste secures €15.1 million in Series A extension round- Upway continues expansion in Europe. limehome opens new location in Basel. QMware announces strategic partnership with NVIDIA and Oracle. Planergy: New tool for energy-efficient refurbishment. SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator among the top startup hubs in Europe. Frankfurt's TechQuartier launches TQ Accelerator: Digital Finance.

NeoTaste secures 15.1 million euros in Series A extension round

NeoTaste, a platform for digital interaction between restaurants and customers, has successfully raised 15.1 million euros in a Series A extension financing round led by Earlybird. Burda Principal Investments also participated in the round. The app, which creates a win-win situation for restaurateurs and consumers, is experiencing strong growth with now 750,000 users in 27 German cities and the start of internationalization in Amsterdam. With the fresh capital, NeoTaste is aiming for further expansion and is planning new features, including the ability to make reservations directly via the app. The investment signals BPI's and Earlybird's confidence in NeoTaste's potential and impressive growth.

Upway continues expansion in Europe

Upway, a company specializing in the remanufacturing of e-bikes, has continued its expansion in Europe and opened a new location in Belgium. At the same time, Upway has entered the Austrian market, bringing its total presence to five European markets. A third workshop with 2,400 square meters was opened in Mechelen, Belgium, to meet the increased demand for reconditioned e-bikes. At the same time, the company has doubled its workshop space in Paris. The expansion and workshop extensions were made possible by a financing round of 30 million dollars in November 2023. The market entry in Austria will take place at the start of the cycling season in a country with high e-bike demand. Upway plans to expand into other markets in the future and offer affordable mobility solutions.

limehome with new location in Basel

Munich-based company limehome is continuing its expansion in Switzerland and opening a new location in Basel. The first project in the city will comprise 67 high-quality furnished units in Basel's old town, with a planned opening in summer 2024. limehome is thus emphasizing its ambition to continue growing rapidly in the Swiss market. The property's central location in the old town provides optimal access to the city's famous museum landscape. The building, which has been used as a conventional hotel since the 1970s, is being extensively renovated as a mixed-use concept. The opening of limehome Basel is planned for the beginning of the third quarter of 2024. With this project, the company is demonstrating its expertise as a reliable partner in the real estate sector and reaffirming its commitment to high-quality and sustainable accommodation concepts.

Planergy: New tool for energy-efficient refurbishment

Doozer Real Estate Systems GmbH is expanding its range of services with the new "Planergy" tool, which focuses on the energy-efficient refurbishment of private homes. The tool enables homeowners to plan measures such as new windows, façade insulation and heating conversions more quickly and easily. A free online calculator provides users with an energy efficiency class and a regionally adapted cost overview. With the extended version "Planergy+", renovation costs can be calculated, measures compared and an optimum cost-benefit ratio identified. Planergy also offers access to certified energy advisors from the federal quality agency dena. The company plans to develop Planergy into the central platform for recording the current energy status and is planning further relief for homeowners and energy efficiency experts.

QMware announces strategic partnership with NVIDIA and Oracle

Swiss company QMware announces a strategic partnership with NVIDIA and Oracle to advance the development and application of hybrid quantum computing services in the industry. As a leading provider of hybrid quantum computing cloud services, QMware leverages the powerful Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), powered by NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPU clusters, and the NVIDIA Cuda Quantum hybrid open-source quantum computing platform. Through this collaboration, QMware is developing an innovative hybrid quantum computing service that will be showcased at Oracle CloudWorld London in March. The collaboration reflects the increasing use of quantum technologies in various industries and positions QMware as a pioneer in this emerging field. CEO Markus Pflitsch emphasizes the importance of this partnership to explore and integrate the immense potential of quantum computing to solve real-world problems.

SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator among the top startup hubs in Europe

According to the current ranking "Europe's Leading Startup - Hubs 2024" by the Financial Times and Statista, the Leipzig startup center SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator has been named one of the leading startup hubs in Europe. SpinLab is ranked 2nd in Germany and 12th in Europe out of a total of 125 startup hubs from 19 countries. The ranking is mainly based on alumni evaluations, which take into account aspects such as mentoring, business development, infrastructure, legal support, funding and networking opportunities. The award is seen as confirmation of the successful work of the team in Leipzig and Hanover, and the strategic focus on sustainably improving startup ecosystems is to be further intensified. The ranking includes startup hubs physically located in Europe that have been active since at least 2019 and offer at least one incubator or accelerator program. The study is based on an analysis of around 2,000 potential organizations and took place between July and October 2023.

Frankfurt's TechQuartier launches TQ Accelerator: Digital Finance

Frankfurt's TechQuartier announces the launch of its new accelerator program "TQ Accelerator: Digital Finance", which aims to foster collaboration between companies and start-ups and strengthen the financial scene in Frankfurt. The seven-week program offers tailored mentoring and consulting services for participating start-ups to improve their visibility and investment opportunities. By integrating start-ups and established companies, the aim is to drive innovation in the financial sector and strengthen Frankfurt as an innovative financial location. Interested European start-ups can apply until April 7, and the program will be officially launched on May 28. Partners of the TQ Accelerator: Digital Finance include Visa, neosfer, the ALH Group, GFT, VR Payment and InnoPay, with Deutsche Bundesbank acting as an institutional partner.

Nethone receives FinTech Breakthrough Award for fraud prevention

Nethone, a subsidiary of Mangopay, has been awarded the FinTech Breakthrough Award in the fraud prevention category. The award was given after a careful evaluation by a jury, in which Nethone prevailed against a large number of global nominations. Nethone's cybersecurity solution is based on AI technology and provides protection against various types of fraud for financial institutions and marketplaces. This recognition emphasizes the importance of effective fraud prevention measures in the face of increasing fraud damage worldwide. Mangopay acquired Nethone in 2023 to add cybersecurity solutions to its payment services offering and provide comprehensive protection to its customers.

Partnership between Aware and Sunday Natural

Berlin-based healthtech company Aware and nutrition brand Sunday Natural have joined forces to offer their users personalized and active healthcare solutions. The partnership will allow Aware users to use their supplements more effectively by customizing them based on their blood tests and tracking their progress. This collaboration demonstrates the potential for new partnerships in the healthcare sector and responds to the increasing demand for personalized healthcare solutions.