Europe's startup narrative is changing fast — from apps and valuations to sovereignty, infrastructure and resilience. In this month's DACH Startup News, we unpack the moves that made European tech sovereignty the defining theme of 2025.

– Why sovereign cloud is becoming foundational for startups and enterprise buyers
– How AI, robotics, defense, and climate infrastructure shape Europe’s industrial strategy
– Why deep tech is rising while fintech normalizes
– The funding signals behind pre-seed to late-stage capital flows
– How DACH is becoming Europe’s proving ground for strategic innovation
– What European tech sovereignty actually means for your business

If this episode helps you see the DACH ecosystem more clearly, share it with a founder or operator who should hear it. And subscribe so you never miss a briefing.

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• Jörn “Joe” Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Startuprad.io (Frankfurt)

• Chris Fahrenbach, Co-host & Global Analyst (Hanover / New York)

Together, they track the most important startup stories in the DACH ecosystem — AI, deep tech, fintech, and scale-up growth.

Enjoy the show? Follow, review, and share this episode with your team.

- Blog: https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-startups-november-2025-top-news

- YouTube: https://youtu.be/0XtIE695VE4

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What if you could build a startup that survives downturns, grows profitably, and never depends on constant fundraising?
That’s the core of the camel startup strategy — and in this episode, STS Ventures investor Stephan Schubert breaks it down with 25+ years of operator-investor experience. From founding OnVista in the early internet era to backing some of Germany’s most successful exits, Stephan has refined a model built on capital efficiency, high-margin niches, and KPI-driven execution.

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

– Why camel startups outperform hype-driven growth
– How to use high-margin niches to scale from customer revenue
– The KPI playbook STS Ventures uses with every founder
– Why raise when you can, not when you must is a game-changer in DACH
– How to stay capital-efficient without limiting your growth potential
– Why Stephan avoids hype cycles like LLM infrastructure and focuses on AI as a tool for real industries like waste processing
– What founders can learn from exits like Audibene, Emma, JustWatch, and others

Whether you're building in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland, this episode offers one of the clearest explanations of capital-efficient growth, B2B startup scaling, and long-term founder wealth creation.

Guest Spotlight:
Stephan Schubert, Investor & Managing Director, STS Ventures
Founder of OnVista and Ligatus, early investor in Audibene, Emma, JustWatch, and other major DACH success cases.

If this episode helped you, follow the podcast and share it with a founder who needs this playbook.

Enjoy the show?

Follow, review, and share this episode with your team.

- Blog: https://www.startuprad.io/post/camel-startups-in-dach-the-sts-ventures-playbook-with-stephan-schubert

- YouTube: https://youtu.be/BYs50t7oZ14

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🏁 The Deep Dive is here.
Germany, Austria and Switzerland enter a new startup cycle where the headline isn’t “Who raised the biggest check?” but “Who’s building the most defensible foundation?” Hosts Jörn ‘Joe’ Menninger and Chris Fahrenbach break down October 2025’s most important stories in AI, fintech, venture capital, and climate tech.

• The €735 B 🇩🇪 Made for Germany plan and its impact on infrastructure, energy & innovation.

• How Aleph Alpha’s CEO transition reshapes Europe’s AI landscape.

• Why Sequoia and EQT Ventures are doubling down on the DACH region.

• Major funding rounds from Nexus AI, Eco Robotics, DeskBird, and Cartos.

• The rise of female founders in Munich and new hybrid-work innovation.

• What BioNTech + CureVac means for Germany’s biotech future.

• The shift toward defense and dual-use tech in Europe.

• Which startups are pivoting or consolidating (Heidelberg Pharma, FanRight, Casablanca AI).

🚀 Exclusive Black Friday Offer — NordStellar x Startuprad.io

Built by the team behind NordVPN, NordStellar gives startups and scaleups real-time visibility into leaked credentials, dark-web threats, and exposed assets — before attackers can exploit them.

👉 Get 20 percent off your plan with code black friday 20 at nordstellar.com/startupradio

🕒 Offer valid until December 10 th 2025 — protect your business before your data ends up for sale on the dark web.

NordStellar — Know what attackers know. Act first.

• Jörn “Joe” Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief of Startuprad.io (Frankfurt)

• Chris Fahrenbach, Co-host & Global Analyst (Hanover / New York)

Together, they track the most important startup stories in the DACH ecosystem — AI, deep tech, fintech, and scale-up growth.

Enjoy the show? Follow, review, and share this episode with your team.

Blog: https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-dach-startups-october-2025-deep-dive

YouTube: https://youtu.be/tnZx20FpsqA

✉️ Work with us: partnerships@startuprad.io

Subscribe across platforms: https://linktr.ee/startupradio

💬 Feedback: https://forms.gle/Qp53eVuc9P1RMqWj8

💼 Follow Jörn on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger