Startup news for the weekend week 50/25

Investments & Venture Capital

Algori receives €3.6 million for international expansion of its AI-based shopper insights platform

Algori, an AI-powered shopper insights platform for the FMCG industry, has raised €3.6 million in fresh capital from new and existing investors, including Red Bull Ventures, Tech Transfer Agrifood and Shilling. The company plans to expand its activities in Europe, starting with markets such as Poland, Germany and France, and later in Latin America. Algori provides FMCG manufacturers and retailers with detailed, near real-time purchase data on a SKU basis, based on around 45,000 active panel participants per week in Spain. The AI-based collection and analysis of till receipts enables faster and more granular insights than traditional household surveys. The funding will support the further development of new insight solutions as the company continues to expand its presence with major retail chains and leading brands.

Seed funding for Dresden-based deep tech startup Last Mile Semiconductor

Last Mile Semiconductor from Dresden has received seven-figure seed financing from TGFS, EIC Fund and MBG Sachsen. Founded in 2022, the company develops energy-efficient IoT high-security chips based on the license-free 5G radio standard NR plus and focuses on the LM10XX chip family, which enables secure and cost-efficient radio connections without traditional mobile networks. The new funds will be used to further develop the technology, expand the software environment and prepare for series production. LMS is thus strengthening its position in the European IoT market and is working with pilot customers and industrial partners to advance applications in areas such as industry, energy, buildings and smart cities.

Emergent receives Google AI Futures Fund to democratize app development

Emergent, the platform for agent-based vibe coding, has received strategic funding from Google's AI Futures Fund. The aim is to enable the development of software for everyone. The platform has already gained over 2.5 million users worldwide and offers entrepreneurs and creatives the opportunity to turn their ideas into production-ready applications. With Google's support, Emergent plans to attract talent, further develop products and expand internationally, significantly lowering the barriers to entry into software development.

Aneli Capital launches €35 million fund for high-growth startups

Aneli Capital has launched a new €35 million fund in Vilnius to support early-stage startups in the Baltic States, Poland and other CEE countries. The focus is particularly on ICT companies and start-ups in the fields of robotics, energy, aerospace, photonics and smart manufacturing. The experienced team is planning around 20 investments in the first five years and focuses on quick decisions, close support and growth-oriented conditions for founders. More than half of the fund volume will be invested in Lithuania. Part of the capital will flow into AI solutions that are already functional or ready for testing. The fund is supported by the Lithuanian state development bank ILTE and an investment fund listed in Warsaw, among others. The aim is to help young technology companies in the region to scale up and strengthen their international competitiveness.

Baden-Württemberg founds BW-Capital GmbH to strengthen start-ups and innovations

The Baden-Württemberg Council of Ministers has decided to establish BW-Capital GmbH, a new wholly-owned state subsidiary that will provide targeted venture capital for technology-oriented start-ups, scale-ups and innovative SMEs. It will be managed by L-Bank, which will gradually transfer its previous venture capital activities to the new company. With a planned start-up capital of 50 million euros from spring 2026, BW-Capital GmbH will promote strategic future fields such as life sciences, artificial intelligence, microelectronics, digitalization and defence/dual use and support technological settlements in order to strengthen innovation in the state.

Awards & Events

Corporate Startup Star 2025 - Google and LBBW honored

Google was recognized at the Corporate Startup Stars 2025 in Paris as the world's leading company in collaboration with startups. The company was awarded first place for its extensive activities in global innovation promotion, including large M&A transactions such as the acquisition of cloud security company Wiz, extensive programs such as Google for Startups with over 58 million US dollars in equity-free funding and extensive support services for founders. The awards also recognized 100 other companies for their commitment to open innovation as well as several special award winners for specific innovation models. We are particularly pleased that our partner LBBW was also honored as part of the Corporate Startup Stars 2025, which shows that their commitment is now reflected not only in their entrepreneurial success but also in external recognition. An accompanying report by Mind the Bridge emphasizes that corporate innovation is in a transformation phase in which the focus is increasingly on measurable results and strategic value.

MUT - The NRW 2025 Start-up Award: the winners have been announced

Three start-up teams from Hürth, Münster and Solingen were honored at MUT - DER GRÜNDUNGSPREIS NRW 2025. The prizes, each worth 20,000 euros, went to Prinoa Dental GmbH, Schreinerwehr GmbH and Glowkitchen Food GmbH. NRW.BANK has been recognizing particularly successful and forward-looking start-ups in North Rhine-Westphalia with this competition since 2012, under the patronage of Economics and Climate Protection Minister Mona Neubaur. The award-winning companies impressed with their innovative nutrition concepts, digitalized dental technology and sustainable façade construction. The competition is one of the most highly endowed start-up prizes in Germany and is overseen by a jury chaired by Prof. Dr. Christine K. Volkmann.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Flyla.com enters growth phase under new management

The booking platform Flyla.com, which specializes in youth and student flights, is entering a growth phase with Vladislav Šulja as its new managing director following the sale of the company. Since 2017, Flyla.com has established itself with 75,000 verified users and partnerships with over 20 airlines. Under Šulja's leadership, the platform will scale internationally and further develop its service offering. The founders Ben Shaw, Frederic Lapatschek and Fabian Höhne will hand over the management and support the transition.

fiskaly acquires InfraSec Sweden and strengthens its European VAT compliance position

fiskaly GmbH, the leading provider of cloud-based fiscalization and VAT compliance solutions in Europe, acquires InfraSec Sweden AB, formerly a subsidiary of Yabie AB. With the acquisition, fiskaly expands its portfolio with a Swedish VAT compliance solution and expands its presence in Sweden and across Europe. InfraSec's expertise in the local market will strengthen existing services and open up new customer segments. Existing customers will continue to benefit from the usual services, complemented by fiskaly's European network. This is the second strategic acquisition in 2025 after DF Deutsche Fiskal GmbH in Germany and underlines fiskaly's focus on scalable growth and innovative VAT compliance solutions in Europe.

Blickfeld becomes part of Senstar

Blickfeld and security provider Senstar Technologies Corporation have entered into a binding agreement under which Blickfeld will become part of Senstar (subject to final closing and regulatory approvals). Both companies plan to work closely together, but will remain largely operationally independent; the existing Blickfeld companies and the management under CEO Dr. Mathias Müller will continue unchanged. Blickfeld will contribute its 3D LiDAR technology developed since 2017 to the merger, while Senstar will expand its market position and product portfolio in the field of security and surveillance solutions.

Osapiens takes over Lucent AI

Osapiens has acquired Berlin-based startup Lucent AI, expanding its portfolio in the areas of financial risk management, compliance automation and AI-based decision support. Lucent AI develops Agentic AI technology that automates central risk and audit processes, merges data from different sources and creates decision templates. The solutions will be fully integrated into the osapiens HUB and will be available from the second quarter of 2026. The founders of Lucent AI are joining osapiens and will be responsible for the further development of the products. The acquisition strengthens osapiens' position as a provider of digital solutions for transparency, efficiency and sustainable growth along the value chain.

Personnel

Storyblok appoints Joe Vranicar as Chief Revenue Officer

Storyblok has taken an important step towards its next phase of growth with the appointment of Joe Vranicar as its new Chief Revenue Officer. The company, which has increased its number of enterprise customers by 40 percent in the past ten months and now serves more than 500 companies, is strengthening its position as a central content platform for modern, AI-enabled digital experiences. Vranicar joins from Kong and brings experience from senior roles at companies such as Datrium, Automation Anywhere, Sprinklr and AWS.

More exciting news

BISON expands crypto portfolio with 16 new coins

BISON, the crypto trading platform of Börse Stuttgart Group, has added 16 new cryptocurrencies to its offering. This brings the total number of coins available to customers for regulated, fee-free trading and MiCAR-compliant custody to 56, including Sui (SUI), Cronos (CRO) and Cosmos (ATOM). The new coins are intended to offer investors more opportunities for portfolio diversification. Custody is provided by the regulated Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody GmbH, while only the standard market spread is charged for trading. BISON is aimed at private investors and currently has over 990,000 active users from 72 countries.

Growth gap in deep tech financing to grow significantly by 2030

A new white paper by UnternehmerTUM and the Joachim Herz Foundation shows a growing funding gap for deep tech scale-ups in Germany. Despite strong research performance, many technology-intensive startups lack sufficient funds for scaling and international expansion, as traditional venture capital, private equity and bank financing structures do not adequately cover the high capital requirements. The volume of German venture capital has fallen significantly since 2021, financing rounds remain small in international comparison and the capital requirement could rise to €20 billion per year by 2030, €14 billion of which is in the growth segment. As a result, the growth gap is likely to widen from 4 billion euros in 2025 to 10 billion euros in 2030. The study sees risks for economic sovereignty in this, as two thirds of capital already comes from abroad, and recommends, among other things, the establishment of large growth funds, the greater involvement of institutional investors, hybrid financing models and the improvement of exit and secondary markets.