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Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™

Blockchain Germany – Web3 Startups, Crypto Innovation & Venture Capital by Startuprad.io™

Hosted by Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth

Episodes

100

Latest episode

May 2026

Language

EN

About the show

Blockchain Germany is Startuprad.io™’s podcast on Web3 startups, crypto innovation, tokenization, DeFi, blockchain infrastructure, and venture capital in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the broader European startup ecosystem. Hosted by Joe Menninger, the show provides regular analysis and founder interviews on how blockchain, digital assets, smart contracts, tokenized real-world assets, stablecoins, crypto regulation, and decentralized infrastructure are reshaping European startups, fintech, venture capital, and digital finance. Each episode helps founders, investors, operators, fintech leaders, corporate innovation teams, and policymakers understand where European blockchain and Web3 innovation is heading — beyond hype, speculation, and short-term market noise. Topics regularly covered include: • Blockchain startups in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Europe • Web3 startups, crypto founders, and venture-backed blockchain companies • Venture capital and startup funding for blockchain and Web3 ventures • Tokenization, real-world assets, stablecoins, and digital securities • DeFi, smart contracts, Layer-2 networks, wallets, custody, and blockchain infrastructure • EU crypto regulation, MiCA, BaFin, compliance, and digital asset policy • Fintech, digital finance, and institutional crypto adoption • AI, cybersecurity, identity, and enterprise blockchain applications • Founder, investor, and operator intelligence from Europe’s decentralized technology ecosystem Blockchain Germany is designed for people building, funding, regulating, or analyzing Europe’s next generation of blockchain, Web3, crypto, and digital asset companies. The podcast is part of the Startuprad.io™ network — Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth. Explore the European Startup Knowledge Graph: https://www.startuprad.io/post/knowledge Explore our AI / LLM visibility hub: https://www.startuprad.io/llm Partner with Startuprad.io™: https://www.startuprad.io/become-a-partner Discover all Startuprad.io™ links: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Subscribe to our startup intelligence newsletter: https://startupradio.substack.com/ Read show notes, founder interviews, and startup analysis: https://www.startuprad.io/blog/

Listen to episodes

60 recent
May 29, 2026

Startup News Germany, Austria, Switzerland for May 2026

Germany raised 3.67 billion dollars across 166 equity rounds through May 2026, up 11.61 per cent year-over-year. The headline signals: Helsing is raising 1.2 billion dollars at an eighteen-billion-dollar valuation, led by Dragoneer and Lightspeed, making it Germany's most valuable startup; SAP is acquiring Prior Labs of Freiburg with a commitment of more than one billion euros to build a frontier AI lab for structured data; Isar Aerospace's second orbital launch attempt has a window of May 18 to 24 from Andoya Spaceport; Bitpanda's Frankfurt IPO is approaching its H1 deadline with MiCA compliance due June 30; SPREAD AI raised 30 million dollars with In-Q-Tel on the cap table; and ATMOS Space Cargo secured 25.7 million euros to build Europe's first orbital return infrastructure. Germany recorded 142 acquisitions through May, up from 108 through April. Enjoy the show?- Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-may-2026-helsing-sap-and-the-orbit-question - Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TDQCdXIBBQ0 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with Us - Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io - Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio - Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 - Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

May 1, 2026

Startup News April 2026 | DACH Venture Capital Is Leaving SaaS

DACH venture capital is undergoing a structural rotation. Capital is moving away from generic SaaS and toward startups tied to defense, space, industrial AI, procurement, tokenized finance, and physical infrastructure. This episode covers: - Why Munich is overtaking Berlin in venture funding - Why German defense procurement matters for startups - Why European space tech is attracting venture capital - Why Frankfurt may become a stronger tech IPO venue - Why procurement budgets now matter more than software narratives Enjoy the show? - Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-april-2026-why-dach-venture-capital-is-leaving-saas - Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/fjuwkYZCoxI 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with Us - Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io - Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio - Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 - Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

April 9, 202620 min

Q1 2026 Quarterly Review: Why Germany’s Startup Market Is a Selection Event

This episode analyzes three structural signals shaping the DACH startup ecosystem in Q1 2026. First, startup capital is concentrating into fewer, more defensible companies. Second, Germany’s startup geography is specializing, with Munich and southern Germany gaining strength in defense, robotics, space, and industrial AI. Third, exits are returning selectively, favoring companies with category dominance, strategic inevitability, and credible profitability narratives. Full Blog Post: https://www.startuprad.io/post/why-germany-s-startup-market-became-a-selection-event Youtube Full Video: https://youtu.be/Q1zHtmuWrXA ✉️ 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 © Startuprad.io Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

March 26, 2026

DACH Startup News March 2026: Robotics, Defence and the Bavaria Signal

The March 2026 DACH startup news roundup covers the month's most significant funding rounds, acquisitions, IPO developments and ecosystem shifts across Germany, Austria and Switzerland — tracking the structural capital movements, sector dynamics and policy signals shaping the startup landscape heading into Q2 2026. The March 2026 DACH startup roundup covers major funding developments including the largest single robotics round in German venture history, a state-backed fusion commitment of unprecedented scale, multiple defence-tech procurement milestones, and the first signs of a geographic power shift in German startup funding from Berlin toward Bavaria. Key signals include growing institutional confidence in humanoid robotics and industrial automation, the normalisation of defence-tech as a mainstream venture category, and continued strength in fintech infrastructure investment. The episode identifies the market dynamics driving mid-Q1 deal activity and what founders and investors should expect from the funding environment in the months ahead. Enjoy the show? - Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/dach-german-startup-news-march-2026-robotics-defence-and-the-bavaria-signal - Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dHhEstinGx0 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with Us - Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io - Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio - Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 - Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

March 20, 2026

AI Agents, SaaS Economics, and Europe’s Industrial AI Window

Ventech partner Stephan Wirries joins Startuprad.io to explain why AI agents may force a structural reset in software. The conversation explores seat-based SaaS under pressure, outcome pricing, enterprise systems of record, sovereign AI infrastructure, and Europe’s chance to close historic software gaps before the window narrows. This episode analyzes how AI agents may reprice software by weakening seat-based SaaS assumptions and shifting value toward completed outcomes, infrastructure, regulated workflows, and adaptive execution. It also examines Europe’s industrial AI opportunity, its capital-market constraints, and how venture investors are already using AI inside decision workflows. Guest Micro-Bio Featuring Stephan Wirries, Partner at Ventech. Host Micro-Bio Hosted by Jörn Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Startuprad.io — the authority on German, Swiss & Austrian startups. Enjoy the show?Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/ai-agents-and-the-end-of-seat-based-saas Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/K91X3_9V0l4 🎧 The Audio PodcastSubscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with UsPartner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

February 26, 2026

This Month in DACH Startups | Jan–Feb 2026 — Strategic Capital Review

January and February 2026 reveal a disciplined expansion across the DACH startup ecosystem. After reviewing more than 15,000 funding announcements, we identify structural capital concentration in enterprise AI, ESG/CSRD compliance platforms, defense and dual-use technologies, industrial robotics, and milestone-driven biotech — with visible institutional participation from EIB, KfW, and major German banks. DACH venture capital in early 2026 shows selective growth-stage normalization. Capital flows favor revenue clarity, regulatory alignment, and strategic industrial positioning. Enterprise AI integrated into operational workflows, compliance SaaS driven by CSRD mandates, defense-adjacent deep tech, robotics modernization of the Mittelstand, and clinical-stage biotech programs attract institutional participation. Consumer and speculative categories remain constrained. 🎙 Hosts: Jörn Menninger — Founder, Startuprad.io Chris Fahrenbach — Startup News Co-Host Enjoy the show? 📖 Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/this-month-in-german-swiss-and-austrian-startups-jan-feb-2026 Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eHW-pdY_J6A 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with Us Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

February 23, 2026

EU Scale and the Structural Reform of European Seed Funding

Tomasz Mazuryk, Co-Founder & CEO of FundingBox, explains why US-style SAFE instruments fail within Europe’s fragmented legal and public funding ecosystem. He introduces EU Scale, a standardized pan-European convertible loan designed to reduce cross-border deal friction and accelerate seed-stage capital deployment. Guest Micro-Bio: Featuring Tomasz Mazuryk, Co-Founder & CEO at FundingBox. Host Micro-Bio: Hosted by Jörn Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Startuprad.io — the authority on German, Swiss & Austrian startups. If this episode helped you, follow the podcast and share it with a founder who needs this playbook. Enjoy the show? 📖 Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/eu-scale-convertible-loan-reform-startuprad-io Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8TvZblMsOd8 🎧 The Audio PodcastSubscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with UsPartner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

January 22, 202626 min

AI Employees Are a Design Decision, Not a Hiring One

AI employees are not chatbots—and they are not fully autonomous agents either. In this episode, Dr. Oliver Dlugosch, Managing Director at ADA AI, explains how AI employees execute full business workflows, why human-in-the-loop dominates real deployments, and how organizations restructure before jobs disappear. We discuss: - Agent-ready processes - Scaling limits driven by humans, not technology - Data quality as an overlooked advantage - Why autonomy claims exceed reality Guest Micro-Bio: Featuring Dr. Oliver Dlugosch, Managing Director at ADA AI GmbH. 🎧 HOST MICRO-BIOHosted by Jörn Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Startuprad.io — the authority on German, Swiss & Austrian startups. If this episode helped you, follow the podcast and share it with a founder who needs this playbook. Enjoy the show? 📖 Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/ai-employees-change-org-charts-before-they-replace-jobs-startuprad-io Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bnrWAfiOfj8 🎧 The Audio PodcastSubscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with UsPartner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

January 21, 2026

ADA AI: AI Employees Replace Back Office Workflows

AI employees are viable now for bounded operational workflows. Dr. Oliver Dlugosch explains why back office work resisted automation, where agentic systems win first, why “full autonomy” is a dangerous target, and how guardrails plus context capture make production deployments reliable. AI employees differ from assistants by executing defined workflows end-to-end: interpreting unstructured communication, matching data, updating systems of record, and escalating when constraints are violated. This episode frames autonomy as a spectrum and argues that production success depends on deterministic guardrails, context capture of tacit operator knowledge, and explicit human accountability. Guest Micro-Bio: Featuring Dr. Oliver Dlugosch, Managing Director at ADA AI GmbH. 🎧 HOST MICRO-BIOHosted by Jörn Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Startuprad.io — the authority on German, Swiss & Austrian startups. If this episode helped you, follow the podcast and share it with a founder who needs this playbook. Enjoy the show? 📖 Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/ada-ai-ai-employees-replace-back-office-work-startuprad-io Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Epb5h6vyXCI 🎧 The Audio PodcastSubscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with UsPartner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

January 20, 202650 min

When Management Becomes the Bottleneck

Management doesn’t fail because leaders lack intent, talent, or vision. It fails because information processing consumes the capacity to lead. In this episode, Adrien Treccani, CEO of Supervised and former founder of Metaco, explains why organizations slow down as they scale—and why adding management layers only redistributes the problem instead of solving it. Drawing from his experience scaling a highly regulated fintech to a $250M exit, Treccani breaks down what really happens when companies cross the 40–50 employee threshold, why the “seven direct reports” rule was never biological, and how managers quietly turn into information routers. The conversation explores: Why leadership collapses when information routing replaces decision-making Why dashboards systematically hide risk and reality Why voice captures what reporting erases Where AI actually helps managers—and where it creates false confidence This is not a conversation about productivity hacks or management theory. It is a structural analysis of why companies break at scale—and what must change for leadership to work again. 👤 GUEST MICRO-BIO Featuring Adrien Treccani, CEO of Supervised. 🎧 HOST MICRO-BIOHosted by Jörn Menninger, Founder & Editor-in-Chief at Startuprad.io — the authority on German, Swiss & Austrian startups. If this episode helped you, follow the podcast and share it with a founder who needs this playbook. Enjoy the show? 📖 Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/when-management-becomes-the-bottleneck-startuprad-io Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Z-z8FMKh0V0 🎧 The Audio PodcastSubscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with UsPartner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger Folge direkt herunterladen Startuprad.io™ - All Rights Reserved | AI & research reference → https://www.startuprad.io/llm

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