Startupnews week 7 - 2024

VivoSensMedical and BKK Linde cooperate for fertility treatment. Dr. Henner Schwarz and Evamaria Wiest as COO and CFO at celebrate company. IDnow joins crypto regulations consortium with IOTA and partners. TimePlan Group strengthens its position in the WFM market with the acquisition of TimeMap. FreezeM closes Series A financing of 14.2 million US dollars. iDWELL: revenue doubled, 1.2 million apartments managed

Dr. Henner Schwarz and Evamaria Wiest as COO and CFO at celebrate company

celebrate company has announced changes to its management board with the appointment of Dr. Henner Schwarz as Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Managing Director and Evamaria Wiest as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Dr. Schwarz, with experience in indoor farming and as former CEO of Planet Sports, will drive the further development of the company. Evamaria Wiest, formerly in senior positions at Check24 and Banovo, will report directly to Dr. Schwarz as CFO. The reorganization of the Management Board also includes the return of Christoph Behn as CEO and Steffen Behn as Chief Product Officer (CPO). Together they form the celebrate company's new management team. Christoph Behn emphasizes the quality of the new appointments and highlights the company's successes despite the economic crises. The celebrate company, a major European player in the field of personalized paper products, plans to tap further sources of revenue and gain market share in 2024 by diversifying its product portfolio.

IDnow joins crypto-regulatory consortium with IOTA and partners

IDnow joins a consortium with partners including the IOTA Foundation to develop a system that brings Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) and self-hosted wallets into compliance with new EU anti-money laundering (AML) and transfer of funds (TFR) regulations. The consortium plans to enable compliance by tokenizing the identification process using soul-bound tokens (SBTs) on an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible IOTA smart contract chain. The solution also includes the integration of partners such as walt.id, Bloom Labs and SPYCE.5 to improve trust, transparency and efficiency in crypto transactions.

FreezeM closes Series A financing of 14.2 million US dollars

Israeli agri-tech company FreezeM has successfully closed a USD 14.2 million Series A financing. The company focuses on the propagation of the black soldier fly and offers Breeding-as-a-Service (BaaS) for protein factories of this fly species. The financing round was led by industry investors and the European Innovation Council Fund to accelerate the growth of the breeding network and commercialize innovative solutions at scale. FreezeM aims to increase insect protein production with its PauseM product by simplifying BSF breeding and increasing protein yield. The financing is intended to drive the global implementation of the technology and the growth of breeding centers.

Pleo CFO Playbook 2024: German companies optimistic for the year

According to the Pleo CFO Playbook 2024, 48% of German companies expect an easier year than 2023. The study is based on surveys of over 500 financial decision-makers who continue to see challenges such as high costs, inflation and a shortage of skilled workers. Companies are focusing on cautious growth and are planning measures such as investment cutbacks and further training. The study shows that 30% of companies want more control over spending. Jens Leucke from Pleo emphasizes the role of digital tools for spending transparency. This control could have an impact on employees, as 16% are considering salary cuts for remote workers. Curious caution prevails with regard to AI, while 31% expect AI to relieve administrative tasks.

iDWELL: turnover doubled, 1.2 million apartments managed

PropTech company iDWELL can look back on a successful 2023, more than doubling its turnover and now managing more than 1.2 million apartments with its digital ecosystem for property managers. The 60-strong team is planning further expansion steps for the current year through new service offerings and AI-based invoice management. iDWELL has developed a comprehensive ecosystem for the real estate industry and is already used by over 600 B2B customers, including many of the top 10 property management companies in the DACH region. Despite the current crisis in the real estate industry, iDWELL continues to see enormous growth potential and emphasizes the stability of the property management business model. With its solution, iDWELL increases the efficiency of property management companies by up to 30 percent, offers 90 percent more transparency and promotes efficient collaboration with service providers. The planned digitalization of real estate services and AI-based invoice management are expected to drive further improvements and innovations in the industry.

VivoSensMedical and BKK Linde cooperate for fertility treatment

The Leipzig-based medtech company VivoSensMedical is cooperating with BKK Linde to offer insured women free use of the OvulaRing method for precise cycle diagnostics as part of fertility treatment. BKK Linde will cover the costs of OvulaRing diagnostics for one year as an additional service outside of standard care. The method, developed by Prof. Henry Alexander, creates a cyclofertilogram (CFG) by measuring the core body temperature for the telemedical assessment of cycle and fertility health by doctors. Registration is digital, and in addition to BKK Linde, BIG direkt gesund and HEK - Hanseatische Krankenkasse are also participating. Over one million insured persons can already use the service free of charge, and further health insurance companies are to join the selective contract.

TimePlan Group strengthens its position in the WFM market by acquiring TimeMap

TimePlan Group, a Danish workforce management company backed by Main Capital Partners, continues to pursue its buy-and-build strategy. Following the strategic merger with TimeGrip in March 2023, TimePlan has now acquired TimeMap. This acquisition enables TimePlan to expand into new industries and consolidate its position in the Danish market. The merged group will serve more than 1,000 customers across Europe, especially in the Nordic countries with complex labor legislation.

Deutscher Wohnbau Verbund becomes sales partner of TRIQBRIQ AG

TRIQBRIQ AG and Deutsche Wohnbau Verbund (DWV) entered into a partnership at the beginning of the year to promote ecological housing construction in Germany. The DWV, consisting of more than 130 residential construction companies, has become a sales partner for TRIQBRIQ's innovative timber construction system. The cooperation enables TRIQBRIQ to respond to numerous project inquiries by drawing on DWV's strong network. DWV Managing Director Alexander Schroeder emphasizes that the member companies will receive real added value from the cooperation. The Deutsche Wohnbau Verbund is a company of the MHK Group AG and supports medium-sized companies in the private construction industry. TRIQBRIQ AG produces and sells a timber construction system made of micro-modular timber building blocks, which is characterized by circular economy and sustainability.