Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™
Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth
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Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth
▶ WebplayerBlockchain Germany is Startuprad.io™’s podcast on Web3 startups, crypto innovation, tokenization, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, and venture capital in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the broader European startup ecosystem. Hosted by Joe Menninger, the show provides regular analysis and founder interviews on how blockchain, digital assets, smart contracts, tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, crypto regulation, and decentralized infrastructure are reshaping European startups, fintech, venture capital, and digital finance. Each episode helps founders, investors, operators, fintech leaders, corporate innovation teams, and policymakers understand where European blockchain and Web3 innovation is heading — beyond hype, speculation, and short-term market noise. Topics regularly covered include: • Blockcha...
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Nov 13, 2026 · 30:15
Gnosis, Safe, CoW Protocol and Gnosis Chain: co-founder Friederike Ernst on building Ethereum infrastructure since 2015, why decentralization is a means and not a value, and how…
Nov 5, 2026 · 30:53
Europe is adding growth capital faster than it is removing the barriers to scaling. In Part 8 of The European Scale-Up Question, Jörn “Joe” Menninger asks whether Europe’s best…
Oct 30, 2026 · 26:29
No crypto deal led the month in Germany, Austria and Switzerland; capital went to physical AI. €4.5B in Q3, NVIDIA stakes in four German startups. A note on timing: because of my…
Oct 8, 2026 · 23:58
European venture capital is spread across strong hubs that do not connect well. Jörn "Joe" Menninger reads three EU datasets on regions, national startup conditions and…
Oct 1, 2026 · 27:17
The Q3 2026 DACH review — ecosystem-wide, with the threads that matter for blockchain builders: regulated infrastructure as the fintech lane that prices, BaFin credibility as a…
Sep 24, 2026 · 19:38
E 778 — Sovereign AI, Ownership and Europe's Money No blockchain round made our verified September list — this feed gets our monthly news because the ownership question is the…
Sep 11, 2026 · 40:31
MiCA gave digital-asset companies a European passport for their licence. Company law never followed. Jörn "Joe" Menninger examines what the European Investment Bank and the Joint…
Sep 7, 2026 · 31:16
BaFin calls a MiCAR crypto-authorization license a "seal of quality." Germany positions itself as Europe's crypto-services hub. Stripe acquired OpenRouter for over $7 billion.…
Sep 3, 2026 · 29:02
July 2026 was the month Germany's venture capital market completed its structural rotation from software to hardware. Helsing raised $1.8 billion at an $18 billion valuation,…
Aug 13, 2026 · 31:48
E 769 · Part 5 of The European Scale-Up Question, recorded solo by Joe Menninger in Frankfurt am Main. The standard story about why Europe does not produce enough giant…
Jul 30, 2026 · 34:42
Hello and welcome everybody. This is E 767 of Startuprad.io, recorded solo by Joe Menninger from Frankfurt am Main. This is the first entry in a new series — the Unicorn Atlas.…
Jul 28, 2026 · 24:24
Germany's new Startup and Scaleup Strategy: 152 measures, DefenceTech, procurement reform, DeepTech financing. Why this is really about the European scaleup gap — and whether…
Jul 16, 2026 · 27:23
Europe's startup ecosystem isn't in a traditional recovery. In this special H1 2026 review, Jörn “Joe” Menninger analyzes why venture capital has undergone a structural rotation…
Jul 2, 2026 · 25:55
More than €1.7 billion of defence-linked capital moved through Europe in a single month. Host Jörn “Joe” Menninger makes the case that defence technology has become a dominant…
May 29, 2026 · 23:32
Germany raised $3.67B across 166 equity rounds through May 2026, up 11.61% year-over-year, while Helsing's $1.2B raise at an $18B valuation made it the country's most valuable…
May 1, 2026 · 24:57
DACH venture capital is rotating out of generic SaaS toward defense, space, industrial AI, procurement, tokenized finance, and physical infrastructure. In this April 2026 news…
Apr 9, 2026 · 20:40
This Q1 2026 quarterly review reads Germany's startup market as a selection event: capital concentrating into fewer, more defensible companies. Jörn “Joe” Menninger analyzes…
Mar 26, 2026 · 27:26
Robotics, defence, and a state-backed fusion commitment defined March 2026 — including the largest single robotics round in German venture history. Jörn “Joe” Menninger runs the…
Mar 20, 2026 · 1:18:35
AI agents may force a structural reset in software — weakening seat-based SaaS and shifting value toward outcomes, infrastructure, and regulated workflows. Ventech partner…
Feb 26, 2026 · 16:19
January and February 2026 reveal a disciplined expansion across DACH — capital concentrating in enterprise AI, ESG/CSRD compliance, defense and dual-use tech, industrial…
Feb 23, 2026
Tomasz Mazuryk, Co-Founder & CEO of FundingBox, explains why US-style SAFE instruments fail within Europe’s fragmented legal and public funding ecosystem. He introduces EU Scale,…
Jan 22, 2026 · 26:50
AI employees are neither chatbots nor fully autonomous agents. Dr. Oliver Dlugosch, Managing Director at ADA AI, frames deploying them as a design decision, not a hiring one,…
Jan 21, 2026 · 39:19
Dr. Oliver Dlugosch, Managing Director at ADA AI, argues that 'AI employees' are viable now for bounded back-office workflows — executing defined work end-to-end rather than just…
Jan 20, 2026 · 50:17
Adrien Treccani — CEO of Supervised and founder of crypto-custody firm Metaco — argues that management fails not from a lack of intent or talent, but because information…
Dec 23, 2025 · 23:55
A decision-grade map of DACH execution signals for 2026: where regulation creates demand, where AI credibility is earned, and which business models are being repriced. Hosts Jörn…
Dec 18, 2025 · 19:54
The DACH startup ecosystem closed 2025 with unusually clear signals for 2026: AI mega-rounds, defense-grade dual use, and a restructuring of Europe's venture capital stack. Hosts…
Dec 17, 2025 · 0:45
A short update on our publishing schedule: a technical issue caused a brief pause. All content is safe, and Startuprad.io is back to regular releases from here. 📖 Full archive:…
Dec 6, 2025 · 34:00
When AI stops being a feature and becomes infrastructure, the whole ecosystem reprices. This German Startup Ecosystem 2025 review with Jörn “Joe” Menninger reads that shift and…
Nov 27, 2025
Europe's startup narrative is shifting from apps and valuations to sovereignty, infrastructure, and resilience. This November 2025 DACH briefing with Jörn “Joe” Menninger makes…
Nov 3, 2025 · 25:56
In this October 2025 deep dive, the DACH headline isn't who raised the biggest check — it's who's building the most defensible foundation. Hosts Jörn “Joe” Menninger and Chris…
Oct 30, 2025 · 26:35
DeepL, Black Forest Labs, and n8n anchor what this October 2025 news episode calls Europe's AI Supercluster — the case that Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, not Silicon Valley,…
Oct 23, 2025 · 58:53
Xaver Lehmann, co-founder and former CEO of e-bot7, talks openly about burnout, loss, and recovery after one of Europe's larger AI exits — and what it means when achieving the…
Oct 14, 2025 · 47:44
A flow-state playbook for founders — deep work, AI-assisted focus, and the rituals that protect it — in conversation with Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article, links, and sources:…
Oct 9, 2025 · 51:13
Steven Puri, co-founder and CEO of Sukha, shares a deep-work playbook for founders: body doubling, the coffee-shop effect, chronotype time-blocking, demo-first standups, and…
Oct 6, 2025 · 28:47
A September 2025 deep dive for B2B operators: where capital is flowing, how deep tech is commercializing, and what shifting regulatory winds mean for product, go-to-market, and…
Oct 2, 2025 · 21:32
A Berlin AI unicorn jumped from $350M to $2.3B in months, N26 faced its most severe governance crisis yet as its co-founder CEO stepped down, and Europe's climate-tech sector…
Sep 18, 2025 · 56:21
Jennifer Grün, Senior Specialist for Generative AI & ML at AWS, argues that SaaS is moving from static dashboards to agents that reason, plan, and act — delivering outcomes like…
Sep 11, 2025 · 1:00:14
How do you take AI from proof-of-concept to proof-of-value? Jennifer Grün of AWS joins Jörn “Joe” Menninger to unpack AI monetization: hybrid pricing models, proving ROI, and…
Sep 4, 2025 · 29:00
September 2025's DACH deals, deep-tech breakthroughs, and green-innovation stories, mapped for founders, VCs, and ecosystem insiders across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.…
Sep 1, 2025 · 21:33
A Berlin AI company jumped from a $350M to a $2.3B valuation, Switzerland locked in €825M of hydrogen funding, and N26 faced its toughest governance test yet — this summer…
Aug 21, 2025 · 57:15
Getting generative AI from prototype to production is where most startups stall. AWS AI Engineering Specialist Dennis Traub breaks down what it takes to scale, secure, and…
Aug 14, 2025 · 48:11
Dennis Traub, AI Engineering Specialist at AWS, lays out how startups can adopt generative AI without leaking customer data, breaking GDPR, or eroding user trust. A conversation…
Jul 31, 2025 · 29:20
Every second leadership hire in a startup fails — costing up to €250,000. This episode with Jörn “Joe” Menninger digs into why executive hires flop and how diagnostic hiring…
Jul 24, 2025 · 25:34
Voltfang gives retired EV batteries a second life as grid-scale storage — infrastructure that can stabilize power grids and displace coal across Europe, backed by a €15M round.…
Jul 18, 2025 · 48:41
Moss CEO Ante Spittler explains how his Berlin fintech turns finance from a bottleneck into a growth weapon for SMEs — scaling a regulated fintech that now serves over 5,000 SMEs…
Jul 10, 2025 · 29:30
A startup often fails not on tech or funding but because people don't feel its brand. This episode with Jörn “Joe” Menninger makes the case for emotional branding as a founder's…
Jul 3, 2025 · 38:06
Helsing becomes Germany's most valuable startup and the EU commits €10B to scale founders in this red-hot 2025 DACH funding roundup spanning deep tech, biotech, fintech, and…
Jun 5, 2025 · 42:41
Storytelling strategist Ehud Dror, founder of Tailoring Your Story, shows how the best founders turn a pitch from information into belief. A conversation with Jörn “Joe”…
May 29, 2025 · 31:19
The May 2025 DACH startup roundup with Jörn “Joe” Menninger covers the month's biggest raises and moves across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Full article, links, and…
May 27, 2025 · 46:42
Crisis negotiation expert Matthias Bullmahn — a former Accenture executive and storytelling coach — brings FBI-trained sales psychology into the startup world, showing founders…
May 22, 2025 · 40:06
Andy Goldstein — Managing Director Europe at VU Venture Partners and a German Accelerator co-founder — argues Europe's venture capital scene needs a mindset reboot to close the…
May 13, 2025 · 19:49
Leadership coach Christian Conrad makes the case for trust-based leadership as the foundation of a startup culture that scales. A conversation with Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full…
May 8, 2025 · 48:29
Leadership coach Christian Conrad argues that company culture is a measurable growth engine, not a soft nice-to-have. Part one of a two-part conversation with Jörn “Joe”…
Apr 30, 2025 · 41:53
DACH startups raised over €1.3B in April 2025 even as one of Europe's top fintechs spiraled into crisis. This investor-grade briefing pairs the region's biggest raises with Trade…
Apr 24, 2025 · 51:38
Psychotherapist Imre Marton Remenyi joins Jörn “Joe” Menninger for a masterclass on preventing founder and team burnout — going past surface-level work-life balance to the real…
Apr 18, 2025 · 29:35
The Spring 2025 DACH Unicorn Tracker maps Germany, Austria, and Switzerland's billion-euro startups across deep tech, logistics, mobility, and biotech — built for founders,…
Mar 27, 2025 · 38:54
A $226B stablecoin surge, fintech M&A, and a €1.8B European VC fund define this March 2025 DACH roundup on AI, VC, and fintech. Recorded with Chris Fahrenbach in New York, with…
Feb 27, 2025 · 24:31
Finn's €1B raise for car subscriptions and Cherry Ventures' new €500M AI fund headline a blockbuster February 2025 — paired with Lilium's second insolvency and the fallout from…
Jan 30, 2025 · 33:55
An acquisition wave across hardware, cybersecurity, and life science drives this January 2025 GSA roundup on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Host Jörn “Joe” Menninger maps how…
Dec 19, 2024 · 48:36
Karlsruhe's Black Forest Labs joins the billion-dollar club and Upvest lands Germany's largest 2024 fintech round in this December roundup closing out the year's GSA deals and…
Nov 28, 2024 · 38:09
Crypto exchange Bitpanda's Frankfurt IPO plans and Atomico's data on 35,000+ European early-stage startups frame this November 2024 GSA roundup, connecting DACH exits and IPOs to…
Oct 31, 2024 · 21:40
Two new unicorns and Lilium's slide into self-administered bankruptcy define this October 2024 GSA roundup — capturing both sides of the deep-tech coin: breakout software winners…
Oct 3, 2024 · 48:20
Intel pausing its €30B Magdeburg chip fab headlines this September 2024 roundup on Europe's tech ambitions and setbacks — weighed against fresh momentum in European AI, including…
Sep 2, 2024 · 49:14
Munich defense-AI startup Helsing hits a €4.9B valuation on a €450M Series C, leading a Summer 2024 DACH roundup on funding and AI trends. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full…
Aug 8, 2024 · 39:56
Annelise Osborne, Chief Business Officer at blockchain platform Kadena, explains how tokenization and on-chain finance attack the inefficiencies buried inside traditional capital…
Jun 27, 2024 · 35:45
Amazon's additional €10B German investment and Check24's €100M jersey giveaway anchor this June 2024 GSA roundup on marketing, aviation, and insurtech. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger.…
May 30, 2024 · 35:04
Over $7.5B in new VC funds and Amazon's €7.8B European cloud build headline a May 2024 GSA scene the hosts call roaring back — covering air taxis, big-tech infrastructure, and…
May 28, 2024 · 42:38
Alireza Siadat, Head of Digital Assets at law firm Annerton, breaks down the EU's MiCA regulation and what it means for stablecoin and crypto-asset service providers across…
Apr 25, 2024 · 32:32
Novo Nordisk's €1.025B deal headlines this April 2024 GSA roundup spanning fintech and flying taxis across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full…
Mar 28, 2024 · 29:20
Green energy dominates this March 2024 GSA roundup, from Northvolt's €4.5B gigafactory to billion-euro raises reshaping Europe's clean-tech backbone. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger.…
Feb 29, 2024 · 34:41
Microsoft's €3.3B German data-center investment headlines this February 2024 GSA roundup, underscoring how central AI and cloud have become to the region's economy. With Jörn…
Feb 29, 2024 · 34:41
BioNTech's court win and Monta's €80M EV-charging raise anchor this February 2024 GSA roundup across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article,…
Jan 25, 2024 · 27:04
Almost 2,500 new German startups were founded in a tough year, alongside nine-figure raises that defied the downturn — this January 2024 GSA roundup with Jörn “Joe” Menninger…
Jan 23, 2024 · 17:42
A deep dive recapping German startup valuations and investment trends across 2023, focused on Berlin, Hamburg, and other leading hubs — stepping back from the monthly cycle to…
Dec 25, 2023 · 2:03
A festive year-end message from host Joe Menninger, thanking the Startuprad.io community of listeners and guests and wishing them a joyful holiday season and an inspiring new…
Dec 21, 2023 · 23:18
Capital beat insolvencies to close out 2023 in this December GSA roundup on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article, links, and sources: Read…
Nov 30, 2023 · 20:16
AI champion Aleph Alpha raises half a billion dollars, CMBlu lands €100M for energy storage, and Wefox secures $55M from Deutsche Bank and UniCredit in this November 2023 GSA…
Nov 16, 2023 · 32:29
Michael Duttlinger, CEO of Cashlink, on building one of Germany's leading registrars for tokenized securities — and why on-chain transparency reshapes the shareholder…
Oct 26, 2023 · 20:29
Katalin Karikó's Nobel moment headlines this October 2023 GSA roundup — episode 400 — spanning the month's deals and milestones across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With…
Sep 28, 2023 · 26:10
Close to €500M in newly announced investments, Berlin producing its first defense-tech unicorn, and greentech delivering good news across Germany define this September 2023 GSA…
Sep 4, 2023 · 34:35
Germany sets a new founder record, crypto exchange Bitpanda passes 1 million German customers, Nextwind raises $750M, and SAP confirms it will invest in AI champion Aleph Alpha —…
Jun 29, 2023 · 22:39
1Komma5°'s record unicorn sprint headlines this June 2023 GSA roundup on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article, links, and sources: Read the…
Jun 15, 2023 · 32:35
Philip Jonitz, co-founder of Klink Finance, on driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies through a simple, rewards-driven investment wallet — and how Klink lowers the…
Jun 1, 2023 · 31:11
Germany is officially in recession, yet with barely any unemployment and an improving startup picture backed by at least €3.4bn in newly raised funds — this May 2023 GSA roundup…
Apr 27, 2023 · 22:08
Capital returns with more than €600M in headline funding across this April 2023 GSA roundup on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article, links,…
Mar 30, 2023 · 31:16
Mixed fortunes for fintech as Raisin regains unicorn status amid mounting BaFin complaints, and N26 posts €200M in 2021 revenue while facing a senior-employee uprising — this…
Feb 23, 2023 · 22:44
Rising interest rates spark a rate war among neobrokers, e-commerce veteran Windeln.de is liquidated, and Moonfare extends its Series C beyond $130M in this February 2023 GSA…
Jan 26, 2023 · 25:58
DeepL reaches unicorn status and BioNTech makes a big acquisition in this January 2023 GSA roundup opening the year across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe”…
Dec 26, 2022 · 35:30
Antonio Fatás, Professor of Economics at INSEAD, makes sense of the FTX collapse and what it exposed about trust, leverage, and governance in crypto markets — a macroeconomist's…
Dec 22, 2022 · 26:06
Solar financier Enpal raises more than €800M and freight platform Sennder doubles its valuation to $2bn — proving big rounds were still possible in a bleak December 2022 funding…
Nov 24, 2022 · 24:38
FTX may have collapsed in the US, but the fallout rippled straight into Europe. This November 2022 GSA news wrap-up with Jörn “Joe” Menninger tracks the contagion alongside the…
Oct 26, 2022 · 25:41
Quick-delivery player Gorillas looks to sell to rival Getir, Grover adds €270m in venture debt to approach a €2bn valuation, and Nuri (formerly Bitwala) makes news in this…
Sep 28, 2022 · 25:53
A market that isn't all doom and gloom: continued layoffs offset by significant new fundraises and strong M&A activity totalling around $55bn across Europe over the summer — this…
Sep 23, 2022 · 28:59
Central Bank Digital Currencies could reshape payments and money across Europe. In Part 1 of this series, Jörn “Joe” Menninger explores the fintech opportunities CBDCs open up.…
Sep 4, 2022 · 38:45
Insurtech Wefox raises €400m even as downturn signals mount, and B2B neobank consolidation heats up as Qonto acquires Penta — this Summer 2022 GSA wrap-up with Jörn “Joe”…
Jun 30, 2022 · 29:12
The downturn bites as startups — including recently funded unicorns — shed headcount and extend runway ahead of a recession, even as a few like Wefox push to nearly double their…
Jun 1, 2022 · 29:53
FQX issues corporate debt on-chain using blockchain-native eNotes. Co-founder Benedikt Schuppli explains how programmable debt instruments could rebuild how companies fund…
May 25, 2022 · 29:56
Two new unicorns as Taxfix (No. 29) and Onefootball (No. 30) join the league, while Raisin loses its unicorn valuation and BMW and Mercedes wind down their car-sharing joint…
May 11, 2022 · 30:28
Exaloan wants to close the SME financing gap: co-founder and CEO Luca Fignani explains how the company evolved into a global loan-as-a-service platform connecting crowdlending…
Apr 29, 2022 · 28:54
DACH keeps minting unicorns even as global venture capital softens in this April 2022 GSA roundup on Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. With Jörn “Joe” Menninger. Full article,…
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