Startup News for the Weekend - Week 28/26

Funding

Finto Raises $3.4 Million for AI in Accounting

The Munich-based fintech startup Finto has closed a funding round of $3.4 million. Investors include Y Combinator, Gradient, and Lightspeed, as well as several experienced financial managers. With the new capital, Finto plans to further develop its AI-powered accounting agents, which automatically review incoming invoices, assign them to the correct accounts, reconcile them with purchase orders, and prepare them for posting in ERP systems such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, or DATEV. According to the company, most invoices are already being processed fully automatically for its first customers.

ValueGrain Receives Seed Investment from Bernhard Schadeberg

The food tech startup ValueGrain has closed its seed financing round with an investment of up to three million euros from Bernhard Schadeberg. The financing is supplemented by a follow-on investment of 300,000 euros from Joachim Friedsch. The new capital will be used to expand the team, fund research and development, and scale up logistics in order to make the raw material derived from brewery spent grain available for further applications in the food industry. In addition, ValueGrain plans to utilize spent grain from the Krombacher Group in the future. Together with existing partners, the company aims to gain access to approximately 10 percent of the spent grain produced in Germany, according to its own statements.

FENKA Robotics Secures Three Million Euros in Debt Financing for Robot Fleet

The Munich-based robotics company FENKA Robotics has secured three million euros in debt financing. The funds, provided by a regional savings bank in southern Germany, are to be used entirely to expand the robot fleet. This marks the fourth round of financing for the company’s Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model, bringing the total debt raised to a high seven-figure amount. According to FENKA, an improved credit rating enabled a lower equity ratio for the first time, which is seen as a sign of banks’ growing confidence in the business model. The company plans to use the financing to expand its fleet and accelerate its entry into new industries. According to FENKA Robotics, the company has already installed more than 1,000 robot systems and serves customers in the fields of facility management, healthcare, retail, and logistics.

Awards & Events

Käpsele Innovation Festival 2026 in Freiburg – Ideas That Shape the Future

On July 16, 2026, the Käpsele Innovation Festival will take place for the third time and has quickly established itself as the largest innovation festival in southwestern Germany. In a particularly dynamic region with a strong startup scene and innovation-driven small and medium-sized businesses, the festival creates a space where startups and established companies can come together, exchange ideas, and jointly develop solutions for the future. High-profile keynote speakers—including, this year, Joe Kaeser, Aya Jaff, and Robin Rombach—will be joined by interactive stations where attendees can experience the latest technologies from science and business firsthand. The program is complemented by interactive masterclasses, where participants acquire practical methods and skills they can immediately apply in their own companies. We’re thrilled to be on board as a media partner! All other details & tickets in our event calendar.

Nanolope Wins the 2026 Energy Startup Cup

The startup Nanolope has won the “Energy Startup Cup 2026” at the Future Energy Lab in Berlin. In the finals, ten startups presented their solutions for the energy, heating, and mobility transitions to representatives from business, science, and the energy sector. Nanolope impressed the jury and the audience with a technology that transforms indoor spaces into invisible energy storage units, thereby reducing heating costs and the need for air conditioning. Second place went to Avori Energy with software for the digital planning of charging stations. The competition was organized by the energy accelerator AXEL, run by fokus.energie e.V., in collaboration with the German Energy Agency, and offered young companies a platform to showcase innovative energy technologies.

BIG UP Startup Summit Seeks Startups for Pitch Competitions

Startups have until July 15, 2026, to apply for the pitch contests at the BIG UP Startup Summit 2026, which will be hosted for the third time by Braunschweig Zukunft GmbH on September 2. The event is seeking young companies in need of capital in the fields of Deep Tech & High-Tech, Clean Tech & Green Mobility, and Dual Use. The winners of the three pitch categories will each receive prize money of 5,000 euros. In addition to the competitions, the Startup Summit offers meetings with investors and networking opportunities with potential investors and partners. The event will take place at westand in Braunschweig.

Cologne Startup Summer Night Brings Together Cologne’s Startup Ecosystem

Around 650 representatives from Cologne’s startup scene gathered at the Stadtgarten for the Cologne Startup Summer Night 2026. During the event, KölnBusiness Economic Development presented its mid-year report: In the first half of 2026, 76 new startups were founded in Cologne, while 26 funding rounds with a total volume of 31.1 million euros were announced. This marked an increase in the number of new startups compared to the same period last year, though the funding volume was significantly lower. Among the largest funding rounds were those led by Foodforecast, Eternal, and UMH System. In addition to presentations by NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur and Mayor Torsten Burmester, the event featured a Startup Village with ten companies as well as an investor lounge for networking between founders and investors.

Cooperation & Partnership

Prime Vector Technologies Licenses Vaccine Platform to Boehringer Ingelheim

The Tübingen-based biotech startup Prime Vector Technologies GmbH has entered into a licensing agreement with Boehringer Ingelheim for its ORFV vector platform to develop novel cancer vaccines. The agreement includes the transfer of certain patents as well as an exclusive license to use the technology in oncology. In return, Prime Vector Technologies will receive an upfront payment, as well as potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestones and revenue shares. Boehringer Ingelheim intends to evaluate the platform both for standalone cancer vaccines and in combination with existing drug candidates from its oncology pipeline. For the company—founded in 2019 as a spin-off from the University of Tübingen—the agreement represents an important step toward further expanding the potential applications of its vaccine technology through partnerships.

Satispay and Upvest Bring Stock and ETF Trading to Italy and Luxembourg

The Italian payment service Satispay is partnering with the Berlin-based fintech Upvest to enable users in Italy and Luxembourg to trade fractional shares and ETFs directly within the Satispay app. Through Upvest’s investment API, users can make investments starting at just one euro and manage savings plans and portfolios. Upvest handles the technical processing, including order execution, custody, and regulatory processes. For Satispay, the partnership marks another step on its journey from a payment app to a comprehensive financial platform, while Upvest is expanding its presence in Italy and Luxembourg. According to the company, more than 6.5 million people use the Satispay app in Europe.

Personnel News

Wakeline Appoints Marius Kremeyer as Founding CRO

The Düsseldorf-based AI startup Wakeline has appointed Marius Kremeyer as its founding Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). Kremeyer, who previously worked at companies including SoSafe and Optimizely, is tasked with driving the market entry of the company’s AI technology and building out sales following the recently completed pre-seed funding round of over 2.1 million euros. Initially, his focus will be on refining the target customer profile and product marketing before scaling the go-to-market process. Wakeline develops AI systems that, according to the company, continuously learn and adapt to new conditions during operation.

Mergers & Acquisitions

LOGEX Acquires Hospital Software Provider Tiplu

The healthcare analytics provider LOGEX Healthcare Analytics AG is acquiring Tiplu GmbH and will become its sole shareholder. With this transaction, which is still subject to regulatory approvals, both companies aim to combine their expertise in the areas of health data, AI, and hospital management. The goal is to offer hospitals an integrated platform for data-driven decision-making that brings together costs, revenues, process quality, and clinical outcomes. According to the companies, LOGEX processes more than 2.5 million patient records annually, while Tiplu draws on a machine-learning network comprising over 130 hospitals. Once the acquisition is complete, the company will operate under the name “Tiplu – a LOGEX Company.”

Besins Healthcare Acquires UniD Manufacturing

The pharmaceutical group Besins Healthcare is acquiring the Belgian drug developer UniD Manufacturing, thereby expanding its expertise in the field of long-acting medications. UniD develops and manufactures polymer-based delivery systems such as implants and vaginal rings and will operate as an innovation center within the company under the name “Besins Healthcare PharmTech.” The facility in Seraing, Belgium, along with 52 employees, will be acquired. The goal of the acquisition is to combine Besins’ expertise in hormonal health with UniD’s technologies and to drive the development of innovative therapeutic approaches. According to the company, UniD will continue to serve its existing customers as before.