Tesla vs Germany 🚗, Unicorns in EU 🦄 and wearables for Industry 4.0 🏭
🗞 What you've missed
Important headlines and their gists.
Tesla Giga Factory in Berlin meets German Bureaucracy
(English - 2 mins read)
The construction work for the Tesla factory is almost ready however Tesla is frustrated with the timelines for the authorities to give the final approval. Tesla is reported to have been waiting now for more than 16-month. There is a lot of backlash from environmental activists who claim that the factory construction work is causing deforestation on the other hand Tesla is saying that the only way to fight climate change is by allowing innovation and helping the factory do its work with an estimated 500,000 yearly cars production.
CureVac vaccine delays for another 3 month
(German - 4 mins read)
The approval process for the vaccine in Germany will let the CureVac wait until the 2nd quarter of this year to be ready for use. It is another hit to the vaccination efforts after the AstraZeneca side effects links surfaced.
N26 plans to improve working conditions after massive resignations
(German - 4 mins read)
It has not been a pleasant year for N26 since last year around 300 employees quit their jobs including executives , that was attributed to various reasons namely the huge work pressure and low salaries in addition to N26 opposition to create a working council. N26 is planning to increase salaries but it tied it to employees' performance.
💰 Big Money
Big investments, acquisitions and exits.
Europe's unicorn founders and investors want to make it easier to compete with Silicon Valley
(English - 8 mins read)
Europe currently produces 36% of global startups but only 14% of the world's unicorn companies. The aim is to incentivize early employees to feel part of a startup, not just an employee for instance most startups in Germany don't offer stock options to early employees. Proposals include speeding up visa processes, faster incorporation of startups, and better rules around stock options.
Berlin Fintech Elinvar raises €25 million
(English - 2 mins read)
Elinvar founded in 2016 is a wealth management platform that aims to lead the traditional sector digital transformation. Elinvar is also backed by Goldman Sachs which is roughly owning a 10% stake in the company.
🔭 Startups to watch
Stealth startups worth keeping eyes on
ProGlove from a student competition to a €200 million company
(English - 6 mins read)
ProGlove started in 2014 when the 2 students at the Technical University of Munich developed a prototype for wearable scan guns that made it to 3rd place in an Intel competition leaving them with 250K in the bank. The founders then decided to work on it full-time with help from unternehmertum and tech founders accelerator program. ProGlove currently has around 200 employees and offices in Munich, Chicago, and Belgrade where they focus on implementing industrial wearables for Industry 4.0.
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