Which startups particularly interested Munich Startup readers this month? We explore this question in our "Startups of the Month" feature and select the top five.
1st place:Loyalift offers AI-based market and brand analysis in real time. This concept was Pre-seed financing round 750,000 euros – and first place in our December Startups of the Month. Investors include Bayern Kapital, Superangels, Marc Schuler of Scrape Ventures, Scholl Venture Partner, and other private investors. The funding is intended to help the Munich-based startup further develop its platform and meet the growing demand for innovative analytics tools. (Photo: Loyalift)
2nd place:Planet A Foods has closed one of the largest foodtech funding rounds of the year to scale its cocoa-free chocolate alternative globally. A total of 28 million euros (30 million dollars) will go to the account of the Munich startupThe financing round was led by Burda Principal Investments and Zintinus. Other investors included World Fund, Bayern Kapital, Cherry Ventures, Tengelmann Ventures, AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, and Omnes Capital. The company plans to use the fresh funding to accelerate its international expansion and scale production capacities nationally and internationally. (Photo: Maria Boger / Planet A Foods)
3rd place: How can AI and data analytics revolutionize quality assurance in industry? Datagon AI has specialized in precisely this and develops innovative solutions for predictive quality. In an interview, Co-Founder and CEO Nathan Gruber explainsHow the Munich-based startup supports industrial customers, what challenges it faces, and what vision it has for the future. (Photo: Datagon AI)
4th place: Once a year, the initiative hosts the Science4Life business plan competition for the life sciences, chemicals, and energy sectors. A Munich-based startup is among the top five teams in the idea phase of the Science4Life Venture Cup 2025: Epicure develops a novel drug for cancer therapy, which is based on epigenetic processes. These processes influence which genes are active in cells without altering the DNA itself. These mechanisms are of great importance in cancer research, as they contribute to better understanding, diagnosing, and treating cancer. Epicure's initial focus is on treating leukemia. (Photo: Science4Life)
5th place: The Munich startup Roundpeg is developing an environment-sensing technology for cobots. This enables new types of interaction between robots and humans that were previously impossible or only possible to a very limited extent. Thanks to the Munich-based company's systems, the cobots can detect obstacles and actively avoid collisions and thus accidents – even at high working speeds. In this way, Roundpeg aims to revolutionize production and drastically reduce the costs of using automated solutions on the assembly line. Update interview Founders Oliver Krieg and Etienne Eichstaedt talk about their successful market launch, current challenges, and their grand vision of human-robot interaction. (Photo: Roundpeg Technologies)