Startup News for the Weekend - Week 29/26
Funding
kausable Raises 12 Million Euros in Seed Funding
The Munich-based deep-tech startup kausable has raised 12 million euros in a seed funding round to develop a new generation of causal AI systems. The company’s goal is to create artificial intelligence that can adapt to new situations without the need for extensive retraining. The funding round is led by UVC Partners and Entourage. The startup, which is affiliated with Heidelberg University and Black Forest Labs, plans to use the capital to expand its team and further develop its AI model, which is intended for use particularly in fields such as robotics, the energy sector, and finance.
telli Secures $15 Million in Seed Funding
The Berlin-based AI startup telli has closed a seed funding round of $15 million. The round was led by redalpine, with participants including Cherry Ventures, Y Combinator, and several industry investors. telli develops AI agents for customer service, sales, and support that communicate with customers via channels such as phone, chat, email, or WhatsApp and automate operational processes. The solution is already being used by companies such as Sky, Enpal, and Vaillant and, according to the company, processes millions of customer interactions. With the fresh capital, telli plans to further develop its AI platform and expand its team in the areas of development, sales, and customer operations.
GreenVibe Raises $12 Million for Digital Concrete Monitoring
The Israeli construction tech company GreenVibe has raised a total of $12 million to further expand its technology for real-time concrete monitoring. The company deploys wireless sensors directly within the concrete to continuously measure its strength and curing, thereby supplementing—or eventually replacing—traditional laboratory tests. In light of the earthquake in Venezuela, GreenVibe highlights the importance of reliable quality control in the construction industry. The solution is already in use on numerous construction projects and is designed to make construction processes more efficient, reduce material waste, and increase the safety of structures.
Bavaria Provides 30 Million Euros in Funding for WERK1
The digital startup hub WERK1 in Munich is receiving approximately 30 million euros from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs for the funding period from 2027 to 2032. With this support, WERK1 aims to further expand its role as a central hub for startups, scale-ups, investors, and research, and to strengthen the international visibility of the Bavarian startup ecosystem. The funding is part of the “Gründerland Bayern” initiative, which supports founders throughout the Free State of Bavaria. Bavaria also remains the federal state with the highest number of new startups: In the first half of 2026, 626 startups were founded there—more than in any other federal state.
Passionfroot Raises $15 Million for International Expansion
The Berlin-based creator economy startup Passionfroot has raised $15 million in a Series A funding round. The round was led by Insight Partners, with existing investors such as Creandum, SuperNode, and s16vc also participating. The company offers an AI-powered platform that enables businesses to centrally organize and scale their collaborations with creators. With the fresh capital, Passionfroot plans to accelerate its product development, open a new office in New York, and further expand its international team.
Awards & Events
Startup Week Strengthens Bonn/Rhein-Sieg as a Hub for Innovation
The first Startup Week Bonn/Rhein-Sieg has successfully concluded with a diverse program of workshops, presentations, pitch events, and networking opportunities. Together with partners from business and academia, the initiative offered founders and companies insights into future-oriented topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, sustainability, and financing. Highlights included the PHISH & CHIPS Cybersecurity Conference and the closing event featuring NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Mona Neubaur and Bonn Mayor Gabriel Kunze. Startup Week was organized by DIGITALHUB.DE, which aims to further strengthen the regional innovation ecosystem and collaboration between startups, companies, and research institutions.
TigerShark Science Wins the Northern Bavaria 2026 Business Plan Competition
The Würzburg-based startup TigerShark Science has won the 2026 Northern Bavaria Business Plan Competition organized by BayStartUP. The company develops realistic human skin models for pharmaceutical and cosmetic research, designed to improve development processes and reduce animal testing. Second place went to LIGARO from Ornbau for its sustainable, fossil-free industrial adhesives, while SOLISTIQ from Würzburg took third place with AI-powered software for automated inventory planning. A total of 188 business concepts were submitted this year—more than ever before. BayStartUP supports the participating startup teams in developing market-ready business models and preparing for financing and company growth.
Mergers & Acquisitions
chargecloud Expands Platform Through Acquisition of elvah Products
The Cologne-based software provider chargecloud has acquired parts of the product line from data specialist elvah, thereby further expanding its offerings for charging infrastructure operators. With the elvah Hub and the Charging Market Report, the company will now integrate functions for market analysis, competitive benchmarking, and data-driven price optimization into its platform. The goal is to provide CPOs (Charge Point Operators) with a comprehensive, one-stop solution for market analysis, pricing, and billing. The new market intelligence and smart pricing features are set to be gradually integrated into the chargecloud operating system by 2027.
Aiven Acquires Flow AI and Expands AI Infrastructure
Finnish cloud data platform provider Aiven has acquired the AI infrastructure startup Flow AI. With this acquisition, the company aims to expand its platform with technologies for production-ready AI agents and simplify the development and operation of data-driven AI applications. Flow AI brings expertise in the secure execution of AI agents and the processing of structured data, while Aiven provides the infrastructure for open-source databases and cloud services. This acquisition is already the third in the company’s history and is intended to further strengthen Aiven’s position as a provider of infrastructure for production-ready AI applications.
Personnel Announcements
Upway Appoints Camille Hadjeri as General Manager for the DACH Region
The e-bike scale-up Upway has appointed Camille Hadjeri as General Manager for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The former Chief Revenue Officer of Delivery Hero will take the helm of the company’s most important growth market and is tasked with driving expansion in the DACH region. Upway plans to invest a total of 15 million euros in Germany by the end of 2027. Since entering the market in 2022, the company has already opened three refurbishment centers here and sold more than 45,000 refurbished e-bikes. In the long term, Upway aims to give one million e-bikes worldwide a second life by 2030.
More Exciting News
techfactory is seeking startups for a new innovation hub in Hanover
The Hanover region is leasing additional office and open-space areas to startups and young companies at the techfactory@Hüttenstraße location in Hanover-Vahrenwald. The innovation project is part of the emerging ONE TechCampus Garbsen and is designed to offer founders a networked work environment with space for exchange and collaboration. In addition to favorable rental terms, the companies benefit from being integrated into the sociocultural environment of the Hüttenstraße initiative. Morgenraum, a startup focused on smart downtown development, has already become the first company to set up shop at the new location.
BISON Expands Crypto App with Holding Period Tracker
The BISON crypto trading platform, part of the Boerse Stuttgart Group, has introduced a new holding period tracker. For users with a German tax ID, the feature displays directly in their portfolio which crypto holdings have been held for more than a year and which have not yet reached this threshold. It also displays the current gains or losses on each position. With this new feature, BISON is responding to the ongoing political debate regarding potential changes to the taxation of cryptocurrencies and aims to provide investors with greater transparency regarding their holdings.
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