Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth

From building Jimdo to becoming a green-tech investor — the German Startup Awards 2023 Investor of the Year on moving from founder to funding the climate transition. Full article, links, and transcript: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Founder-turned-investors bring operating scars to the cap table. This one's shift into green tech signals where experienced ca...

Host Jörn "Joe" Menninger interviews Maximilian Wühr, CEO of FINN, on transforming car ownership through subscriptions. Wühr traces the idea back to a frustrating car-buying experience in San Francisco and lays out FINN's vision of balancing freedom and responsibility in mobility. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Car ownership...

The summer 2023 wrap-up covers July and August across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland — a dedicated summer cut created so the September news wouldn't have to carry three months of DACH developments at once. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Even in the quiet months, the ecosystem keeps moving. A focused summer read keeps foun...

In this Startuprad.io episode, the focus is strategic pivoting — how founders decide when to change course and how to make hard business calls without losing momentum. It's a practical look at one of the startup journey's defining skills. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Knowing when and how to pivot separates startups that ad...

Startuprad.io talks with Florian Brokamp, CEO and co-founder of Thinksurance, about the rise of digital insurance. Brokamp discusses the company's strong economic footing and how Thinksurance is reshaping how commercial insurance gets distributed and advised. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Insurance is one of the largest, le...

In part two of the series, guest Kimmo explores purpose-bound money and the potential of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). The conversation weighs the case for government control of the monetary system against the risks of private currencies — and walks through concrete use cases. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: CBDCs...

Startuprad.io talks with Fabian Peltzl, co-founder of KNOWRON, about bringing generative AI to service organisations. KNOWRON focuses on augmenting blue-collar and frontline workers — a group most enterprise software has ignored in favour of white-collar users. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Most AI targets knowledge workers...

The June 2023 GSA wrap-up runs the month's essential startup news across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes — following Startuprad.io's top-down structure, with Chris in New York and Joe in Frankfurt. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: A consistent top-down format makes it easy to see the big DACH stories first, the...

Host Jörn "Joe" Menninger interviews Daniel Alfon on turning LinkedIn into a lead engine. They cover how founders can use a strong profile, evergreen content, and storytelling to build a brand that actually generates business. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: LinkedIn is where B2B trust gets built, yet most founders use it bad...

Joe Menninger interviews Philip Jonitz, co-founder of Klink Finance, on accelerating crypto adoption. Klink offers an easy-to-use investment wallet with an interest-like feature and gamification, aiming to make personal crypto finance approachable for the mainstream. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Mass crypto adoption stalls...

The May 2023 GSA wrap-up covers the month's important startup news across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes — top news first, then a bird's-eye view of the ecosystem, then the standout startups. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: The top-down format keeps founders and investors oriented: the big moves, the broader...

In part two of this European Startup Pulse series, Startuprad.io examines how Munich became a global deep-tech hub — with UnternehmerTUM at its centre — and what other cities can learn about building a thriving startup ecosystem from scratch. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Ecosystems don't happen by accident. Munich's deep-t...

Joe interviews Lukas, co-founder of Minds Medical, and Ingo, senior partner at SYNPULSE, about using AI to structure data from unstructured medical documents. They trace Minds Medical's pivot from serving hospitals to serving fintech and insurtech companies. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Unstructured documents are where mos...

Startuprad.io talks with Peter Hart, founder and CEO of DIPQ and Pythia, about buy-and-build in e-commerce — acquiring companies in the price dip created by expensive financing, inflation, and cautious consumers. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: When financing tightens and consumers pull back, distressed valuations create oppo...

Joe interviews Paulina Jänsch, co-founding partner at Leanox Impact Capital, on her seven-step approach to evaluating startups — and why fundraising is best understood as storytelling backed by a solid financial case. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Founders often treat fundraising as a numbers exercise; Jänsch frames it as n...

Startuprad.io talks with Kilian Kaminski, founder of refurbed, about the company's path toward becoming Austria's next unicorn. Kaminski explains how refurbed built a marketplace for pre-owned electronics — and why refurbishment can be both a business model and a sustainability play. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Refurbishe...

The April 2023 GSA wrap-up leads with money: more than €600 million in funding across the highlights alone. Startuprad.io runs the month's biggest startup stories across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: A €600M+ month is a strong signal of where DACH conviction sits. The wrap-up...

In an exclusive data episode, Startuprad.io works with QuantIP — a patent-analytics company — to read where GSA/DACH startups are heading. QuantIP went through 460 categories and more than 16,000 patent filings to surface where innovation is actually concentrating. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Patent filings are a leading...

Startuprad.io digs into how Creditshelf, a leading German fintech, secured €100 million from Goldman Sachs to lend out via its platform — with Goldman joining backers like the European Investment Fund. The episode unpacks what the deal means for businesses seeking credit. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: SME lending is a huge...

In part one of the European Startup Pulse series, Thomas Kösters of DEEP Ecosystems shares the secrets of building an effective startup ecosystem — using Odense, Denmark as a case study of how a smaller city became a successful hub. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Not every hub needs to be Berlin or London. Odense shows how f...

The March 2023 GSA wrap-up runs the month's important startup news across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in 30 minutes — top news first, then a bird's-eye view of the ecosystem, then the standout stories. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: The top-down structure keeps founders and investors oriented on the big DACH moves and...

Germany has adopted a national startup strategy for the first time — and when Europe's largest economy moves, it matters. Startuprad.io speaks with Digital Commissioner Anna Christmann about the strategy, including the €10 billion Future Fund channelling capital into German and European startups. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matter...

Startuprad.io meets an investor behind the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF) — a €300 million public-private venture fund driving the shift to a bio-based, sustainable economy and underlining the EU's commitment to its Green Deal. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: The green transition needs patient, mission-aligned capit...

In the quarterly European Startup Pulse with DEEP Ecosystems' Munich research team, Startuprad.io asks whether 2022 marked the start of a new VC cycle. Drawing on DEEP Ecosystems' extensive 2022 report, the discussion reads the tentative signs of recovery from the Q4 2022 lows. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Calling the bott...

Startuprad.io talks with Dr. Fritzi Köhler-Geib about the KfW Venture Capital Barometer — one of Europe's broadest, most reliable reads on investor sentiment, built from a quarterly survey of around 450 investors in Germany, Europe's largest economy. Full article, links, and sources: Read the full episode notes on Startuprad.io Why this episode matters: Sentiment leads deployment. The KfW Baromete...