Speedinvest News

The economic elephant in the room 🐘

#18・ Jul 3, 2022

issues

It’s been impossible to ignore the current state of the economy over the past month. Times have obviously changed. But is it all doom and gloom?

Oliver addresses the economic elephant in the room with The European VC podcast. As our friend and podcast host, Andreas Monk-Holm, shared so eloquently on LinkedIn, “Soooo much BS is being said about the current market 🤦‍♂️ so talking to Oliver on how they’re thinking and navigating inside Speedinvest was quite refreshing.” It’s a good listen!

Despite the downturn, we’re still open for business and actively supporting our portfolio as they recalibrate in light of the changes. Over the past month alone, our awesome founders have managed to raise more than €275M in follow-on funding 💪

What else has been keeping us busy?

Our Fintech team published their thesis on investing in emerging markets
We revealed how self-awareness is key in recession-proofing startups
In collaboration with Slush, we shared what founders can do to ace their pre-seed pitch deck

And much more below 👇

Have you heard?

CoachHub raises $200M Series C

The new round will help the Berlin-based team further expand digital coaching for employees at all career levels –– not just executives –– to the US and beyond.

www.coachhub.com • Share

Upvest raises $42M Series B

Upvest’s API is easy to integrate and allows fintechs to offer customers capital market investment products, from ETFs and stocks to crypto assets.

tech.eu • Share

Flowdesk raises $30M Series A

The French Market-Making as a Service (MMaaS) provider connects 60 cryptocurrency exchanges and can support 10,000 cryptocurrency issuers in providing liquidity and managing their own funds.

www.coindesk.com • Share

Airbank generates a fresh $20M Series A

The Bnext-gen finance platform seamlessly integrates with the banks customers already use, speeding up bookkeeping to save time and money.

tech.eu • Share

Smiler secures €7.4M in Seed

Say goodbye to bad selfies and hello to Smiler’s on-demand photography marketplace.

siliconcanals.com • Share

Stotles raises a $6.5M Seed round

The B2B SaaS startup creates a ‘single source of truth’ to remove the red tape and frustration that forces many to give up on working with governments.

www.stotles.com • Share

Fiat Republic raises $2.5M and becomes a certified EMI in the UK

The Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform that’s bridging the gap between web3 and traditional banks secures additional funding and also acquires Paybase Limited.

fiatrepublic.com • Share

New Investments

Molecule democratizes biopharma R&D

Molecule’s platform and scalable framework for biotech DAOs connects academics and biotech companies with quick and easy funding.

www.molecule.to • Share

Charles.co tackles men's health taboos

The Paris-based digital clinic is the only platform supporting men at every stage of their healthcare journey. From teleconsultations with specialists to personalized treatment plans, digital therapies, and follow-ups.

tech.eu • Share

Planqc builds super quantum computer

Scientists in Munich are building highly scalable quantum computers 1Mx colder than deep space & 1000x colder than Google’s superconducting qubits. T

www.handelsblatt.com • Share

TextCortex uses AI to write 70% of copy

TextCortex’s proprietary, AI-powered natural language generation engine helps marketers and copywriters create high-quality, SEO-optimized text in seconds.

textcortex.com • Share

Autone streamlines predictive decision making for retailers

Audrey Handem of our SasS & Infra team introduces you to Autone and shares why we couldn’t resist leading their €1.7M Seed round.

www.speedinvest.com • Share

Portfolio News

Nine of our portfolio companies make Sifted’s list of 100 B2B startups in Europe on track to unicorn status
nilo.health and Timberhub named Hottest Seed Deals in May by Sifted
Admix merges with LandVault to go “all-in on Web3”

Let's Dive Deeper

Exclusive insights from our sector experts, growth hacks for founders & investors, and personal conversations with our partners.

Doom & gloom or hope for the future?

Our Oliver shares his thoughts on the status of the current market in a conversation with The European VC podcast.

open.spotify.com • Share

Fintech is the foundation of emerging markets

Vanessa Waibel , Enrique Martinez, and Alvaro Perezcano break down our Fintech EM portfolio and share their thesis on our blog.

www.speedinvest.com • Share

HR SaaS tech you need to know about

Frederik Hagenauer of our SaaS & Infra team shares some of the best HR management tools on the market to stay competitive when hiring and retaining talent.

www.speedinvest.com • Share

Being recession-proof starts with self-awareness

Jon Butterfield and Mitchell Bradley from our Platform+ team share tangible tips for recession-proofing your startup NOW so that you’re prepared for whatever may come in the future.

www.speedinvest.com • Share

Want to ace your pre-Seed pitch deck?

In collaboration with Slush, our Philip Specht breaks down the metrics founders should always include in their pre-Seed pitches.

www.slush.org • Share

Startups that stick to the basics can grow no matter the market

Our Marie-Helene Ametsreiter tells the Austrian “Industrie Magazin” that startups can continue to grow sustainably despite uncertain times (German).

industriemagazin.at • Share

The European VC ecosystem is maturing

Daniel Keiper-Knorr tells “VC Magazin” why he’s never been more optimistic about venture capital in Europe (German).

www.vc-magazin.de • Share

Events

Now that we’re finally able to gather together again to network, learn, and have a few drinks, we’ve started attending and hosting in-person events across Europe! Here are just a few places we’ve been this month:

Paris - Investors from our sector-focused teams attended Viva Technology in Paris and we hosted a night of cocktails and networking
Berlin - We partnered with Google & HubSpot for a founders-only event
Vienna - Our investors hit the stage at ViennaUP'22 to discuss all things tech and the strengthening startup ecosystem in our hometown
Helsinki - Andreas Schwarzenbrunner joined Arctic 15 to talk about the future of Climate Tech
Munich - Our Industrial Tech team hosted a sunset BBQ for our founders and friends
London - Marie-Helene Ametsreiter joined London Tech Week to moderate a panel on “Decarbonizing the Supply Chain”

Where are we heading next? We’ll keep you posted on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Careers in Tech

Join the Speedinvest Health team! (all genders) - Paris, Berlin, Munich

With a mission to back the boldest Digital Health founders and help them to succeed, we’re looking for an Associate and Principal to complete our small, but mighty team.

careers.speedinvest.com • Share

Portfolio & Speedinvest Jobs Board

Speedinvest and our portfolio of startups are always hiring exceptional talent! Browse open jobs to find your next career move.

careers.speedinvest.com • Share

Spotlight Open Positions

Tenyks - Senior Full Stack Engineer (all genders) - hybrid remote
nilo - VP Sales (all genders) - hybrid remote

See you next month!

Speedinvest is one of Europe’s most active early-stage investors, with more than €600M+ AUM and offices in Berlin, London, Munich, Paris and Vienna. Our focused investment teams partner with founders building Consumer Tech, Deep Tech, Digital Health, Fintech, Industrial Tech, Marketplaces, and SaaS startups.

Each of our portfolio companies also has full access to our in-house Platform+ team of operational experts who provide tailored growth marketing, people (HR), US business development, and networking support throughout every stage of their journeys.

Did you enjoy this issue?

You can update your details here.
If you don’t want to receive Speedinvest News anymore, unsubscribe here

If you were forwarded Speedinvest News and like it, subscribe here

View this newsletter online

Praterstraße 1 / 3rd floor, space 37, 1020 Vienna, Austria