What’s up New? In ours #StartupTicker we provide a compact overview of the most important startup news of the day (Thursday, January 29th).
#STARTUPLAND
STARTUPLAND – Founders. VCs. Visionaries. 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: Björn Keune (Invincible Brands)
Growth, reach, exit – with Invincible Brands, Björn Keune achieved what drives many founders. But behind the success a personal state of emergency developed. On our stage, Keune speaks openly about the downside of entrepreneurial high-performance mode: about pressure, loss of control and the moment when it became clear that his own system was no longer sustainable. His topic in STARTUPLAND: The dark side of success.
#STARTUPTICKER
seed + speed ventures
+++ Millions for AI startups! The Berlin early-stage investor seed+speed Ventures is launching its third fund (90 million euros). The good news: “The original plan and target size for this third fund was 30 million. The target size, the hard cap, was increased twice with the consent of the investors.” The team around Carsten Maschmeyer and Alexander Kölpin would like to use the new fund to specifically invest in the “safe introduction and use of AI in everyday company life”. Thematically, it covers topics such as security, data protection, governance, quality, cost control and productivity. With the first two funds, seed+speed Ventures focused on the German-speaking region. With the new fund, the financier is “opening up to European startups outside the DACH region for the first time”. seed+speed Ventures initially invests between 500,000 euros and 1.5 million euros. In the past few months, the team has already invested in 13 startups with the new fund – including Orq.ai, RIIICO, Optimuse and Eleven Dynamics. The early-stage investor’s portfolio also includes companies such as Enginsight, Finanzguru, Kertos, Orderlion, pliant and Prewave. More about seed+speed Ventures
Voyager Ventures
+++ Valley donor comes to Germany! The American early-stage investor Voyager Ventures, founded in 2021 and backed by Sarah Sclarsic and Sierra Peterson, announces the final closing of its second fund (US$275 million). The San Francisco-based financier has already invested in German startups in recent years Anna (digital twins of wind turbines and solar systems) and Enapi (Transaction broker for the EV charging industry). Further investments in this country are now expected to follow quickly. A Voyager office in Munich is already being planned. The investor is particularly interested in topics such as “energy production and distribution, advanced industrial manufacturing, critical materials, physical AI and computing.” Voyager Ventures currently has $475 million under management across three funds. More about Voyager Ventures
ZOHO.VC
+++ An exciting new fund! The new Nuremberg investor ZOHO.VC, the investment arm of the ZOLLHOF – Tech Incubator (Startup Factory: ZOHO Factory), announces the first closing of its first fund (10 million euros). “With subscribed capital of 70% of the targeted fund volume ten months before the final closing, ZOHO.VC is making a clear statement in the current market environment,” announces the team around Dennis Kirpensteijn, Benjamin Bauer, Nicolas Sievers and Judit Klein. ZOHO.VC invests in “DeepTech companies and university spin-offs, in both the software and hardware sectors”. The young financier has already invested in five startups – including Merge Labs by Alex Blania and Sam Altman. More about ZOHO.VC
Heidi
+++ Australia is spreading in Berlin! The Australian HealthTech Heidi, an AI system for doctors, is coming to Germany. Hendrik Steenfadt, a trained doctor and most recently working in the HealthTech team of the investor Speedinvest, is responsible for the new Berlin Heidi office. So once again a VC changes sides. Heidi, founded in 2021, has already raised $100 million – notably from Point72, LocalGlobe and Berlin investor Headline. Rating: 465 million. In Germany, doctorly recently built software for medical practices on a large scale. The Berlin team, which was able to collect around 20 million, slid into bankruptcy in the spring of 2025 and was finally rescued by the company FREY, which develops IT solutions for the healthcare market. More about doctorly
Stark Defense
+++ Expansion to the north! The busy DefenseTech Stark Defense is opening a location in Sweden. “The expansion follows directly on from the Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic innovation partnership between Germany and Sweden agreed in November 2025,” the team said. The multi-million dollar DefenseTech was previously active in Germany, Great Britain and Ukraine. The young company, founded in 2024 by Quantum Systems founder Florian Seibel and Sven Kruck, relies on combat drones (Loitering Munition System). Startk Defense, in which Seibel has no active role, is already valued at 500 million euros, according to several media reports. Investors include Project A, Sequoia and the NATO Innovation Fund. More than 350 employees currently work for Stark. More about Stark
Social media
+++ In 2026, it will be important for startups and brands to build their own communities or integrate into existing communities, i.e. to speak and understand their language and codes. More in the guest article by Mirco Gluch (Piggyback)
StartupsToWatch
+++ The current Cologne Masterclass shows once again how diverse the Cologne startup ecosystem is. The range of nominated companies is wide – this is demonstrated by H2ALL, Sizeless, Leadrealizer, Vivalyx and Kumo. Investors should take a close look at these startups. More in StartupsToWatch
#DEALMONITOR
Investments & Exits
+++ Compliance startup heyData raises 16.5 million +++ Co-reactive receives 6.5 million +++ Junction Growth relies on Spot My Energy +++ capacura invests in MetaAIDiagnostic +++ Finanz.net takes over vickii. More in the deal monitor
What else happened recently? That’s always in the #StartupTicker
Startup jobs: Looking for a new challenge? In ours Job exchange You will find job advertisements from startups and companies.
