Start-ups Investment Report

Much has happened within the entrepreneurship ecosystem at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management during the second quarter of 2022. Numerous start-ups were able to conclude their funding rounds with millions in funding or were bought out by large firms, including Shop Apotheke Europe and Flaschenpost. As mentioned in a recent article (in German) published by Gründerszene, WHU has proven itself yet again an excellent place for potential founders to start their companies. The following list offers an overall look at the funding rounds, IPOs, exits, and acquisitions happening at the start-ups linked to WHU.

April 2022<o:p></o:p>

Blue Water Vaccines, Inc., founded by WHU alumnus Joseph Hernandez, secured US$8M in a financial round after its IPO. The company is listed in the Nasdaq since February.

- WHU-affiliated founders Fabian Sedlmayr, Nico Szeli, and Nils Aschmann collected €10M for their start-up Warehousing1.

- In a series A funding round, ExpressSteuer, co-founded by WHU graduate Maximilian Lambsdorff, secured €25M.

- Founded by Oliver Mickler, Tillhub, which offers a cloud-based point-of-sale system, was purchased by Unzer.

- Ciara, founded by WHU alumnus Martin Heibel, has merged with Unique.

- FIRST A, co-founded by WHU alumni Florian Swoboda and Antonie Jo Nissen, was purchased by Shop Apotheke Europe.

- Founded by Silas Kneussel, Sarah Pohle, and Daniel Sennewald, foodable has been acquired by Flaschenpost, another WHU start-up.

May 2022<o:p></o:p>

- yoffix, started by WHU alumna Anke Erler, is a platform designed for hybrid working modes and has secured €500K in a seed funding round.

- In a series A funding round, PowerUs, co-founded by Konrad Geiger and Julian Lindinger, secured US$10M.

- Alloy, co-founded by WHU graduate Tim Wagner, was able to collect €2.6M in a pre-seed funding round.

- During a funding round, WHU-affiliated founders Hendrik Matthies and Justus Garbe were able to secure a seven-figure sum of funds for their company Honic.

- Patronus Group, which seeks to modernize senior care through the use of technology, secured US$7M in funding. The co-founders of the company are Ben Staudt and Tim Wagner.

- In a seed funding round, Virtex, co-founded by Christoph Ortlepp, collected US$3.2M.

June 2022<o:p></o:p>

- SumUp, a company started by WHU-affiliated co-founders Daniel Klein and Jan Deepen, collected €590M in a funding round.

- Enpal, a lessor of photovoltaic systems, secured €70M in capital in its most recent external funding round. The company was co-founded by Jochen Ziervogel, Mario Kohle, and Viktor Wingert.

- Adrian Raidt concluded a successful series B funding round for his start-up Laserhub.

- Real estate financing company Exporo, founded in part by WHU alumnus Bjoern Maronde, was able to secure funding from HV Capital and Infinitas Capital.

- Prematch, a soccer tracker, collected €1.7M in a seed funding round. The company was co-founded by WHU graduate Niklas Brackmann.

- During a seed funding round, Element Ventures and Global Founders Capital made capital available to getmomo, which was partially founded by WHU alumnus Marcel Meitza.

- Empion, a data-based job recruitment platform outfitted with an AI-supported “Robo Advisor,” collected €2.4M in a pre-seed funding round. The founders of the company are WHU alumnae Dr. Annika von Mutius and Dr. Larissa Leitner.

-Start-up VATION, founded by WHU alumni Marius Klages, Tobias Weiper, and Marik Hermann, was purchased by BEAT81.