DACH News May 2026: $3.67B Funding & Helsing's $1.2B

DACH News May 2026: $3.67B Funding & Helsing's $1.2B

Author: Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth May 29, 2026 Duration: 23:32
Germany raised 3.67 billion dollars across 166 equity rounds through May 2026, up 11.61 per cent year-over-year. The headline signals: Helsing is raising 1.2 billion dollars at an eighteen-billion-dollar valuation, led by Dragoneer and Lightspeed, making it Germany's most valuable startup; SAP is acquiring Prior Labs of Freiburg with a commitment of more than one billion euros to build a frontier AI lab for structured data; Isar Aerospace's second orbital launch attempt has a window of May 18 to 24 from Andoya Spaceport; Bitpanda's Frankfurt IPO is approaching its H1 deadline with MiCA compliance due June 30; SPREAD AI raised 30 million dollars with In-Q-Tel on the cap table; and ATMOS Space Cargo secured 25.7 million euros to build Europe's first orbital return infrastructure. Germany recorded 142 acquisitions through May, up from 108 through April. Enjoy the show? - Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-may-2026-helsing-sap-and-the-orbit-question - Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TDQCdXIBBQ0 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 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_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io

Tune in to Blockchain Germany-Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™ for an authentic, ground-level view of how decentralized technologies are reshaping business across Europe. Host Joe Menninger connects you directly with the people building this new frontier, moving beyond the hype to explore the real work happening from Berlin and Frankfurt to Zug and Vienna. Each conversation in this podcast pulls back the curtain, offering a mix of founder experiences, practical investor perspectives, and nuanced analysis you won't find in headlines. It’s about understanding the strategies, challenges, and unexpected opportunities defining Web3 and crypto ventures right now. As part of the Startuprad.io™ network, this series focuses squarely on the European ecosystem, serving as a vital resource for entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone curious about the practical merger of technology and capital. You'll hear detailed discussions on navigating regulation, building sustainable token economies, and where smart venture funding is flowing. Forget abstract theory; here, you get the operational intelligence and personal narratives from those at the beating heart of the continent's decentralized shift. This is where the future of European tech is being debated and built, one episode at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™
Podcast Episodes
German Startups 2025: When AI Becomes Infrastructure [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:00
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 thre…
European Tech Sovereignty: The 2025 DACH Theme [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 0:00
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 definin…
October 2025 DACH Deep-Dive: AI, VC & Fintech [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:56
🏁 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…
Europe's AI Supercluster: DeepL, Black Forest Labs & n8n [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:35
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 A…
Xaver Lehmann (e-bot7) on Burnout After a $60M Exit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:53
He sold his AI startup for $60 million — and fell apart. In this raw and powerful conversation, Xaver Lehmann, co-founder and former CEO of e-bot7, opens up about burnout, loss, and recovery after one of Europe’s biggest…
Flow-State Rituals for Founders: Deep Work & Focus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:44
What if your daily rituals could unlock peak founder focus — without hustle culture or burnout? In this episode, Steven Puri, CEO of The Sukha Company and former Hollywood VFX executive (Independence Day, Godzilla, Trans…
Steven Puri (Sukha): Deep Work That Ships [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:13
Steven Puri, co-founder/CEO of Sukha, shares the flow state for startup founders playbook: body doubling, the coffee-shop effect, chronotype time-blocking, demo-first standups, and outcome-based leadership. You’ll learn…
DACH News Sept 2025: Deep Tech, VC Surge & Fintech [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:47
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…
DACH News Sept 2025: $2.3B AI Unicorn & N26 Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:32
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 Eu…
Jennifer Grün (AWS) on Agentic AI for SaaS [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:21
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…