#StartupTicker
+++ #StartupTicker +++ Live in STARTUPLAND: André Jonker (Mozart Bett) +++ On the way to becoming a unicorn: cylib +++ Switzerland: Investments are rising rapidly +++ This is what happens at the Nato Innovation Fund +++ CDTM: Unicorn statuses are bred here +++
What’s up New? In ours #StartupTicker we provide a compact overview of the most important startup news of the day (Friday, February 6th).
#STARTUPLAND
STARTUPLAND: Founders, VCs, and visionaries in one place
+++ Our third STARTUPLAND Conference will take place on March 18th at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne. A fascinating journey into the startup scene awaits you again – with lectures from successful founders, educational interviews and pitches that inspire. More about STARTUPLAND
Live at STARTUPLAND: André Jonker (Mozart Bed)
+++ The Nordhorn-based e-commerce company Mozart Bett, which was founded in 2021 and relies on box spring beds, increased its sales to an impressive 37.5 million euros in the generally difficult e-commerce year of 2025. In 2024, sales were just 25 million euros. The company’s goal, which is fully bootstrapped, for 2025 was 35 million. The team did significantly better than planned – and this in a year of crisis. His topic in STARTUPLAND: Bootstrapping – but properly!
#STARTUPTICKER
Soonicorn: cylib
+++ Soonicorn: Cylib is one of the German startups that could soon become a unicorn (valuation: 1 billion). The young company, founded in Aachen in 2022 by Lilian Schwich, Paul Sabarny and Gideon Schwich, is dedicated to recycling lithium-ion batteries. World Fund, Porsche Ventures, the venture arm of the sports car manufacturer Porsche, Bosch Ventures, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, NRW.Venture as well as the existing investors Vsquared Ventures, Speedinvest and 10x Founders recently invested 55 million euros in the company. In total, the startup has already collected around 66 million. More about cylib
Switzerland
+++ Things are looking up massively in Switzerland! According to the Swiss Venture Capital Report (SVCR), the Swiss venture capital market recovered last year. Investors invested a total of 2.95 billion francs in Swiss startups – an increase of 23.9% compared to the previous year. “A historical comparison illustrates how much the total has risen: more than 27.1% higher than that
pre-pandemic year of 2019 and more than three times as high as in 2016. However, it is still a long way off the record of 2022, when the total was a third more,” says the report, which is worth reading. (Swiss Venture Capital Report)
NATO Innovation Fund
+++ New start at the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF)! The inventory in the Handelsblatt reads: “So far, constant changes in personnel at the top, high costs and reports of conflicts of interest by the former chairman of the supervisory board, Klaus Hommels, have put a strain on the work of the fund.” Erin Hallock, formerly of BP Ventures, is now working on the DefenseTech investor’s restart. The best news is that the billionaire lender is planning a new fund. NIF is currently involved in 17 startups and 9 funds. (Handelsblatt) More about NATO Innovation Fund
CDTM
+++ Worth reading! CDTM alumni founded almost 20% of German unicorns. “Numerous valuable German young companies come from Munich. Whether Trade Republic, Tier Mobility, Egym, Forto or Foodora – the founders and CEOs of all of these successful startups have one thing in common: they are alumni of the Munich universities and attended the Center for Digital Technology and Management (CDTM),” analyzes Gründerszene. The founding company recently even launched the CDTM Venture Fund, a fund that invests exclusively in startups founded by former CDTM graduates. (founder scene) More about the CDTM Venture Fund
Sales
+++ Good sales is and remains a craft! But without the right software solution, nothing works anymore. In sales, 2026 will be all about AI-supported efficiency, better buyer experience and legally compliant digitalization. More in the guest article by Marvin Müller
Cologne
+++ There are now around 890 startups active in the cathedral city of Cologne. The start-up scene is growing significantly again on the Rhine. The year before there were around 800 startups. The number of new businesses rose by 53% in 2025. At the same time, around 380 million flowed into Cologne startups. More in our special
#DEALMONITOR
Investments & Exits
+++ Twaice receives 24 million +++ Robotics startup R3 Robotics receives 20 million +++ AI startup Qontext collects 2.7 million +++ Financial injection for Solarize +++ Banyan Software buys Gini +++. More in the deal monitor
What else happened recently? That’s always in the #StartupTicker
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