#StartupTicker
+++ #StartupTicker +++ Live in STARTUPLAND: Jan Dzulko (everphone) +++ Startup of the week: Ficus +++ Enpal grows to 1 billion in sales +++ Aleph Alpha: Bosch is leaving +++ Baller League no longer plays in Germany +++ Kununu sale has fallen through +++
What’s up New? In ours #StartupTicker we provide a compact overview of the most important startup news of the day (Monday, February 2nd).
#STARTUPLAND
If you live and breathe startups – STARTUPLAND is your event
+++ 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: Jan Dzulko (everphone)
+++ The Berlin startup everphone, founded in 2016 by former Check24 board member Jan Dzulko, initially wanted to establish itself as an “all-round, worry-free club” for smartphone owners. Everphone is now a provider of company smartphones. Most recently, around 270 million euros (debt and equity) flowed into everphone. In 2024, the team was profitable for the first time with sales of around 100 million. Dzuolko’s topic in STARTUPLAND: Profitability instead of hypergrowth – what we have learned.
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Ficus
+++ The young company Ficus, by Benjamin Pochhammer and Mario Elstner grounds, is our startup of the week! The HealthTech from Berlin wants to establish itself as an “AI platform for rehabilitation”. The startup’s software “automates central processes, reduces administrative effort and creates more time for patient care,” says the team. There are more new startups in our startup radar
Enpal
+++ Number check! The Berlin GreenTech unicorn Enpal achieves the billion in sales for the first time. “The company now serves more than 115,000 households in Germany and Italy. The operating subgroup’s sales increased by 25% compared to the previous year to a record value of more than 1.1 billion euros (2024: 890 million euros),” the company said. In addition, Enpal, founded in 2017, “achieved positive free cash flow in the operating subgroup over a financial year for the first time in its history”. The company, which once became known for “subscription PV systems”, is now positioning itself as an “integrated solution consisting of a solar system, battery storage, wallbox, smart meter and heat pump”. According to the company, the Enpal offshoot metrify smart metering was also able to grow by 70% in 2025. Enpal is planning “profitable growth in the double-digit percentage range” for the current year. Investors such as TPG Rise Climate, Westly Group and Activate Capital have invested around 800 million in Enpal in recent years. The last known valuation was 2.3 billion euros. More about Enpal
Aleph Alpha
+++ Another water level report for Aleph Alpha! Bosch Ventures, the investment arm of industrial giant Bosch, is selling its Aleph Alpha shares to the Schwarz Group. Bosch justified the exit to Manager Magazin with the startup’s lack of relevance to its own business. Bosch Ventures joined the former AI hopeful Aleph Alpha in 2023. The lender most recently held 6% of the company. (Manager Magazine) More about Aleph Alpha
Baller League
+++ The hype didn’t last long! Two years after its launch, the Baller League, which is supported by EQT Ventures, is discontinued in Germany. The company itself is officially talking about a break. “The operational focus is on other markets. In Great Britain the second season has just ended, in the USA they are planning a start,” says DWDL. The Baller League, founded in 2024 by Mats Hummels, Lukas Podolski, Thomas de Buhr and Co., focuses on dynamic indoor football on a small pitch. The competition primarily includes The Icon League. Behind the Cologne company, founded in 2023, is an indoor football league in which the game is always played 5-on-5. The Munich investor HV Capital and Co. recently invested 15 million euros in The Icon League. (DWDL) More about The Icon League
Kununu
+++ Sale failed! In recent months, the media company Burda tried to sell the employer rating platform Kununu. The target sales price was probably around 500 million euros. As expected, that didn’t work. According to Handelsblatt, the sale has “failed for the time being”. (Handelsblatt) More about Kununu
Voyager Ventures
+++ “We assume that Germany will become significantly more active in the coming years,” says Sara Sclarsic, founder and general partner at Valley investor Voyager Ventures. “Munich in particular is increasingly developing into a central startup location.” More about Voyager Ventures
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Investments & Exits
+++ PropTech PLAN4 raises 4 million +++ STS Ventures invests in video startup mozaik +++ Financial injection for Service4Charger +++ DIY store chain OBI takes over PropTech 42watt. More in the deal monitor
What else happened recently? That’s always in the #StartupTicker
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