Women Who Rock GSA – Female Founders, Startups & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™

More than €1.7 billion of defence-linked capital moved through Europe in a single month. This episode examines why defence technology has become the dominant venture asset class, how STARK reached a €3.5 billion valuation only two years after founding, why KNDS is preparing Europe's largest defence IPO, and what Isar Aerospace's funding reveals about sovereign launch capability. Jörn "Joe" Menning...

The March 2026 DACH startup news roundup covers the month's most significant funding rounds, acquisitions, IPO developments and ecosystem shifts across Germany, Austria and Switzerland — tracking the structural capital movements, sector dynamics and policy signals shaping the startup landscape heading into Q2 2026. The March 2026 DACH startup roundup covers major funding developments including the...

January and February 2026 reveal a disciplined expansion across the DACH startup ecosystem. After reviewing more than 15,000 funding announcements, we identify structural capital concentration in enterprise AI, ESG/CSRD compliance platforms, defense and dual-use technologies, industrial robotics, and milestone-driven biotech — with visible institutional participation from EIB, KfW, and major Germa...

ArtNight runs more than 1,000 creative events per month across Germany — with minimal central headcount. In this episode, Chris Fahrenbach speaks with Aimie-Sarah Carstensen, Founder of ArtNight, about building a tech-enabled offline platform, navigating hypergrowth, surviving COVID-driven disruption, and restoring operational focus after structural complexity nearly overwhelmed the business. This...

Polarsteps scaled from roughly 10M to 18M+ users by building a travel product that people love enough to share privately with the few people who matter most. In this episode, Clare Jones (CEO, Polarsteps) explains why intimate sharing beats broadcast virality, how Polarsteps accelerated growth by focusing on France, and why the company deliberately delayed subscription monetization despite travel...

A decision-grade map of DACH execution signals for 2026: where regulation creates demand, where AI credibility is earned, and which business models are being repriced. This episode breaks down what actually changed in the DACH startup ecosystem heading into 2026. - Europe's AI advantage in regulated and industrial applications - Why integration and distribution are now the AI ​​moat - Fintech repr...

The DACH startup ecosystem closed 2025 with unusually clear signals for 2026 — AI mega-rounds, defense-grade dual use, and a restructuring of Europe’s venture capital stack. What you’ll learn in this episode: – Why €3B AI valuations change Europe’s startup narrative – How dual use moved from story to category – What founders must understand about capital, compute, and procurement – Where Germany,...

A short update on our publishing schedule. A technical issue caused a brief pause — all content is safe, and we’re back to regular releases from here. 🚪 Connect with Us Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FO...

What if the tools we use to test cancer drugs don’t behave like human tumors at all? That’s the question that pushed Ghazaleh Madani , CEO and co-founder of CanChips , to build one of the most compelling innovations in oncology today: tumor-on-a-chip platforms that replicate human tumor biology with unprecedented accuracy. In this episode, we explore how microfluidics, 3D co-cultures, endothelial...

AI is no longer the shiny object. It’s becoming infrastructure . And that single shift is transforming the German startup ecosystem in 2025 faster than most founders expected. This month, the DACH region crossed a new threshold: AI is moving from hype into the industrial backbone of Europe — compute scarcity is now strategic, sovereign cloud has become political, and robotics, automation, and vert...

Europe's startup narrative is changing fast — from apps and valuations to sovereignty, infrastructure and resilience. In this month's DACH Startup News, we unpack the moves that made European tech sovereignty the defining theme of 2025. What you’ll learn: – Why sovereign cloud is becoming foundational for startups and enterprise buyers – How AI, robotics, defense, and climate infrastructure shape...

Can “screen time” actually make kids smarter? That’s the question Irene Klemm , Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Edurino , set out to answer — and in doing so, built one of Europe’s fastest-growing edtech startups . From lockdown chaos to scaling across the DACH region and the UK, Irene shares how Edurino redefined hybrid learning for kids by combining physical play with digital apps that teach real skill...

🏁 The Deep Dive is here. Germany, Austria and Switzerland enter a new startup cycle where the headline isn’t “Who raised the biggest check?” but “Who’s building the most defensible foundation?” Hosts Jörn ‘Joe’ Menninger and Chris Fahrenbach break down October 2025’s most important stories in AI, fintech, venture capital, and climate tech. 🔎 What You’ll Learn The €735 B 🇩🇪 Made for Germany plan...

What if Europe — not Silicon Valley — defined the future of AI? In this October 2025 episode of Startuprad.io Startup News , hosts Jörn “Joe” Menninger and Chris Fahrenbach break down the latest stories shaping Europe’s AI Supercluster , led by DeepL , Black Forest Labs , and N8N . From record climate tech funding to biotech breakthroughs and industrial AI, this episode uncovers how Germany, Austr...

In this September 2025 wrap-up, hosts Jörn “Joe” Menninger and Chris Fahrenbach break down the signals that actually matter for B2B operators: where capital is flowing, how deep tech is commercializing, and what shifting regulatory winds mean for product, go-to-market, and hiring. Expect fast, factual coverage of German startups , Swiss and Austrian scaleups , and the European cross-currents drivi...

Berlin’s AI unicorn skyrocketed from $350M to $2.3B in valuation in just months. Meanwhile, fintech giant N26 faces its most severe governance crisis yet , as its co-founder CEO steps down after regulatory pressure. And Europe’s climate tech sector is booming with mega-funding rounds, including a record €825M hydrogen allocation. This is your September 2025 Startup News from Germany, Austria, and...

Dashboards don’t decide. Agents do. In this episode of Startuprad.io, we sit down with Jennifer Grün, Senior Specialist for Generative AI & ML at AWS , to explore how agentic AI is rewriting the rules of SaaS. Instead of static dashboards and brittle automations, SaaS is moving toward agents that reason, plan, and act —delivering outcomes like churn prevention, dynamic pricing, and ticket reso...

POC is dead. Proof of Value is the new standard for AI startups. In this episode, AWS’s Jennifer Grün reveals the AI monetization strategy that separates demos from businesses. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: – Why hybrid pricing models (subscriptions + credits) outperform per-seat SaaS in AI – How to replace Proof of Concept with Proof of Value frameworks that deliver ROI fast – The ROI storyt...

What if the next billion-dollar startup was brewing in Berlin, Munich, or Vienna right now? In this episode, we cover the game-changing deals, deep tech breakthroughs, and green innovation stories shaping the DACH startup scene in September 2025. Whether you’re a founder, VC, or ecosystem insider, this is your shortcut to staying ahead in Europe’s most dynamic market . What You’ll Learn 🚀 The big...

Berlin’s AI just rocketed from $350M to $2.3B. At the same time, Switzerland locked in €825M hydrogen funding , and N26 faced its toughest governance test yet. This is not Silicon Valley news. This is the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) reshaping startup dynamics — and it’s moving fast. In this Startuprad.io Summer Wrap-Up 2025 , we unpack: – How Berlin’s open-source workflow AI became...

Greenwashing is everywhere — from supermarket shelves to corporate ESG reports. But are those “eco-friendly” claims worth anything without data to back them up ? In this episode of Startuprad.io , host Jörn “Joe” Menninger speaks with Irene Rosique-Conesa , CEO & Co-Founder of Nuvio Planet , a climate tech SaaS spun out of BASF. Irene believes the solution to greenwashing isn’t more PR — it’s...

What if your money app actually reduced your anxiety instead of triggering it? In this episode, Laura Cornely shares how she walked away from private equity to build Count — a fintech that’s deeply personal, empathy-led, and built for millennial mental clarity. What You'll Learn: How money anxiety is the unspoken epidemic of our generation — and how Count tackles it Why sales psychology is baked i...

What happens when Germany creates its second decacorn and the EU drops €10B to scale startups? This month’s news episode breaks it all down — from funding explosions in deep tech to the future of biotech, fintech innovation, and defense AI. The DACH startup scene has never been this hot. What You'll Learn Why Helsing dethroned Celonis to become Germany’s top-valued startup How ISA Aerospace , Scal...

Startups in the DACH region are heating up — from AI unicorns to VC mega-funds. In this monthly startup news roundup, we unpack the most important trends in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland’s tech ecosystem. Learn how Parloa became Germany’s second unicorn of the year, how Quantum Systems secured €160M to dominate aerial AI, and how the EIB’s €70B initiative is reshaping venture capital in Europe...

In April 2025, DACH startups raised over €1.3 billion—while one of Europe’s top fintechs spiraled into crisis. This isn’t just another news roundup. This is your investor-grade, startup-founder-relevant, executive-level briefing from the DACH region’s leading podcast. 🚀 This episode is brought to you by Vanta . Automate your SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliance in weeks, not months. Learn more a...