Many cities in Europe boast a strong startup scene, but over the recent years, Berlin has consistently ranked as one of the very best.
According to Gruenden, a business advisory firm from Berlin, there is a new startup founded in the city every 20 minutes. Some even tip the German capital to, one day, dethrone London as the #1 startup hub of Europe.
There are many reasons why Berlin is such an attractive destination: top-tier infrastructure, strong tech ecosystem, and the community that’s built around it, the city’s open attitude, culture, and quality of life all make it a great place for entrepreneurs and top talent from all around the world.
We’ve screened the startup landscape in Berlin and picked out 10 interesting companies from various sectors.
#1 CoachHub
“First Mobile Coaching Cloud.”
Founded in 2018, one of the youngest companies on the list, CoachHub is a digital coaching solution that enables companies to personalize coaching for employees from all departments, and at all career levels. Instead of traditional methods of training, each employee can pick a coach with whom they’ll hold bi-weekly, 45min meetings during which they’ll work on individual goals, tracking the progress made and reflecting on the process.
CoachHub’s team currently consists of 300+ members, including experienced business coaches, personal development experts, serial digital entrepreneurs, and leading IT engineers.
#2 Billie
“Financing as it should be.”
This fintech startup is focused on revolutionizing the way small business financing is handled. Billie has two core solutions: the first is a financing solution for B2B online stores and the second is a fully automated invoicing platform. In an interview with TechCrunch, one of the company’s co-founders, Dr. Matthias Knecht, has said that there are plans to introduce more solutions targeting the buyer side of B2B transactions.
Founded in 2016, the company experienced consistent growth throughout the last years and currently employs 110+ people.
Billie recently got nominated for this year’s “German Fintech of the Year” award, held by Payment & Banking.
#3 Grover
“Making technology accessible to everyone by breaking the barrier between ownership and usage.”
Grover is an online marketplace where you can rent the latest technology on a monthly subscription basis. At the end of the rental period, the choice is yours whether you want to return the product, prolong the loan or buy and keep it. An alternative like that makes the consumers’ life much easier, and in the long run, will help reduce electronic waste and make the most of each product’s lifecycle. Since being founded in 2015, Grover has recirculated nearly 150 thousand devices.
Grover is also one of Germany’s top-founded scale-ups, raising a total of €296M.
#4 MEDWING
“Solve the global healthcare staffing shortage and improve access to healthcare provision for everyone in the world.”
Voted the top German startup of 2019 by LinkedIn, MEDWING has since grown almost twice in size and is now Europe's leading job matching and career consulting company for all healthcare professions.
MEDWING’s platform uses technology to aid recruitment in the healthcare sector by automatically matching personnel with jobs that fit their needs and lifestyle, making the recruitment process more efficient and better for everyone involved. So far, over 200,000 workers and 2,500 partner employers are using the platform, including 80% of Berlin’s hospital facilities.
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, MEDWING has launched a Pro Bono initiative called “Wir Wollen Helfen” - German for “We want to help”. The initiative has targeted healthcare professionals with additional capacities or those currently working in a different industry, people with some medical qualifications, students, and volunteers in an effort to help facilities fill the growing need for new personnel. The initiative was widely effective and praised, seeing over 10,000+ registrants within the first month.
#5 Plantix
“World’s most downloaded app for farmers - combining artificial intelligence and the expertise of leading research institutions around the globe.”
Founded in 2015, Plantix has since become the most popular mobile app for farmers. The app combines artificial intelligence and uses research from leading institutions and their own data to help farmers detect, diagnose, and treat plant diseases or nutrient deficiencies. Plantix has plenty of other functionalities: it can warn users about a disease striking in the area, provides weather forecasts, and acts as an online farming community.
#6 Penta
“On a mission to disrupt business banking in Europe and worldwide.”
Founded in 2017, Penta is a digital banking platform for small/medium businesses and freelancers, currently used by over 20,000 companies. Germany is the main area where Penta operates, but since October 2019, they also function in Italy as a result of cooperation with solarisBank (Penta is partnered with solarisBank almost from the start, as the company doesn’t hold a banking license itself).
Recently, Penta has announced new partnerships with Fiverr, an online marketplace for freelancers, and WeltSparen by Raisin which gives Penta’s users access to overnight and term deposits from Germany and Europe directly through Penta.
#7 Forto
“Groundbreaking, scalable, digital logistics technology, and services that go beyond transportation from point A to point B.”
Founded in 2016, initially operating under the name FreightHub, Forto is a digital logistics platform utilizing data analytics to help companies make more cost-effective business decisions. The platform is an all-in-one solution, covering the entire process of obtaining offers, booking, document management, and real-time tracking and analysis of the fleet.
Since its inception, Forto has grown its customer base to over 2,000 customers and currently employs 250+ experts in 9 offices based in Germany and China.
#8 Sennder
“Leading digital road freight forwarder in continental Europe.”
Sennder’s solution aims to bring European freight business to another level of efficiency through digitalization and automation of the processes surrounding that market, which has been largely used to the old-school ways of paper, fax, and phone. Sennder provides the truckload-shipping ecosystem with mobile apps for drivers, fleet management tools to carriers, and logistics management solutions to shippers.
Recently the company has announced its acquisition of Uber Freight Europe, a move that will surely strengthen its position as a leading player in the digital freight business.
#9 Moonfare
“Moonfare is on a mission to enable individuals to invest in top-tier private equity funds through a robust, technology platform.”
Moonfare is a FinTech startup, founded in 2016 with a mission to create a technology platform that would allow individuals to invest in top-tier market equity. Based in Germany, the company as of now also has a market presence in Switzerland, United States, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, and also Hong Kong.
Moonfare has been selected by LinkedIn as one of 2020’s top German startups along with other FinTech companies like N26, Lilium, or Personio.
#10 BRYTER
“Enable experts to deliver knowledge.”
Founded in 2018 in Berlin, the company has experienced steady growth since and currently employs around 100 employees. BRYTER’s no-code automation platform allows non-technical professionals from non-technical departments, like accounting, financial, or marketing among for example, to turn their know-how into software and automate and speed up their workflow.
BRYTER’s customer base currently counts over 50 clients and includes the likes of McDonald’s, PwC, or ING.
Conclusion
The companies above are just a small sample of how innovative and diverse Berlin’s startup scene really is. It’s definitely a place to keep an eye on, many very exciting ideas had their start here and it’s only exciting to think about what the future will bring.
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