E 784 — Trade Republic Profit and a €4.5B VC Quarter

Trade Republic reports €232.6M net profit, Rabot Energy raises €50M, and German startups pull in €4.5B in Q3, in fewer, larger deals.

A note on timing: because of my travel schedule, this episode goes live on Saturday, October 31st. Happy Halloween.

Fintech and venture capital lens on this month's startup news from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German startups raised more than €4.5B in Q3 2026, the best quarter since late 2021 (KfW). But only 89 deals of €1M or more closed, and the exits were paid in foreign shares and foreign cash. Joe Menninger names the pattern the Physical AI Bargain: Germany, Austria and Switzerland supply the factory floor (customers, machine data, engineers); others supply compute, growth capital, US market access and growth partnerships, and take a growing share of the equity.

Signals covered:

• NVIDIA: planned stakes in Agile Robots, Avelios Medical, Mirelo and Reflex Aerospace (amounts undisclosed)

• RobCo: company-announced valuation above $1B; CEO Roman Hölzl moves to the US

• Reverion: $175M Series B led by Kembara (Mundi Ventures) for a new German factory

• ITM Isotope Technologies Munich: joins Telix for up to $2.35B; ITM holders keep about 23.7%

• Steyr Motors: Red Cat offers €39 per share for the Austrian defence-engine maker

• Sonnen: insolvency filing about two months after Shell sold it to Tiven

• Also: 1KOMMA5° €70M at $1.35B · Noxtua (C.H.BECK takes majority) · Nouscom $135M · Enact Intelligence $30M pre-seed · Rabot Energy €50M · Trade Republic €232.6M profit · Celonis v SAP · Personio buys Circula

Predictions on record: 1) By 30 June 2027, at least two more robotics or physical AI companies from Germany, Austria or Switzerland announce a $1B+ valuation (55%). 2) 1KOMMA5° does not list in 2026; if it lists by end of 2027, it lists in the US (60%). 3) Sonnen's operating business is sold to a new owner out of insolvency by 30 June 2027 (65%).

Full blog post and sources: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-october-2026-the-physical-ai-bargain

Media partner: German Business Angels Day 2026 (BAND), 5–7 Nov, Hannover. 10% off with code STARTUPRADIO (25 tickets): https://www.talque.com/go/ticket/TRoIbubTW7lSytwWbvZH/shop/voucher/STARTUPRADIO

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Host: Joern "Joe" Menninger, Frankfurt am Main · LinkedIn · For AI retrieval: https://www.startuprad.io/llm

Created with the assistance of AI.