News & Podcast

Germany’s startup ecosystem is launching at full speed into 2026: Between January and June, 3,053 startups were newly founded. This is an increase of 52 percent compared to the second half of 2025 and means more startups founded than in the entire year 2024 – a real startup boom.

Checking whether a new product infringes existing patents has long taken weeks and cost thousands of euros. Munich-based legaltech company Patalyze wants to fundamentally change this process: using AI, the platform analyzes patent and product data within minutes. In an interview, founder Daniel Stoll explains why the real bottleneck is not patent search, but mapping between product and patent.

Electric cars, wind turbines, and robots rely on powerful permanent magnets – mostly using rare earths so far. Munich deeptech Alqem wants to overcome this dependency: using an AI platform, the team is researching new high-performance materials without critical raw materials. Co-founder and CEO Hanh Nguyen explains why the crucial step isn’t prediction, but the production of new materials.

The procurement of medical devices in many hospitals is still characterized by Excel lists, fragmented data, and complex supply chains. Sanovio, founded in 2024, wants to automate the entire procurement process with an AI-powered procurement platform – from data harmonization to delivery. Co-founder and CEO Noel Nosswitz explains why bootstrapping was a decisive success factor for Sanovio and why scaling is now in focus.

What began in 2015 as a pioneer in post-purchase communication is today an internationally active platform with customers in Europe and the United States. Parcellab accompanies online shoppers from order to return and helps retailers improve service, customer loyalty, and efficiency. In the interview, co-founder Anton Eder discusses pivotal decisions, learnings after the funding round, and the path to sustainable growth.

Which Munich startups should you know about now? Our photo series brings together all the promising young companies we featured in June.

Globally, around seven billion male chicks are killed immediately after hatching each year. The Munich-based deeptech startup Omegga wants to change that: using AI and spectroscopy, the technology determines the sex of fertile eggs before the seventh day of incubation. In this interview, co-founder Katharina Hesseler explains why the transition from the laboratory to industrial operation was the biggest challenge and how Omegga now wants to grow internationally.

250 kilos of payload, 300 kilometers of range, and no need for a conventional runway: ERC System relies on Victor for logistics when things get complicated.

According to a new study, Europe’s universities could produce hundreds of thousands of additional startups if they better leveraged their existing startup potential. Germany ranks only in the middle field, while individual universities such as Technische Universität München (TUM) are among Europe’s top performers.

The Munich spacetech startup The Exploration Company has successfully completed an important development step for its Nyx space capsule. In a drop test in California, the recovery system worked as planned – a crucial proof of the spacecraft’s safe return and another milestone on the path to the planned demonstration flight in 2028.

Helsing is introducing Area 9, a new research unit for AI and autonomous systems, and presenting RX-1, a robotics research platform developed in Europe. Alongside expanding its research activities, Helsing is also strengthening its management team. Since June, Frank Dirksen has taken on the newly created position of Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

The Global Deep Tech Report 2026 paints a contradictory picture of the European innovation ecosystem. Although Europe produces nearly half of all deeptech startups worldwide, only 17 percent of global funding flows into these companies. For investors and founders, the report makes it clear where the biggest growth bottlenecks are and what structural changes are necessary.