With an entrepreneurial culture building, 2016 proved to be another successful year for Europe’s startup capital with just over 100 new companies founded. Many of these startups are now disruptive forces within their respective industries. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the most successful Berlin startups from 2016!
- MILES – ‘‘Looking for a car? Easy’’ (2016)
MILES is ‘‘convinced that, if mobility is shared, it should be sustainable and available to everyone. Our goal is to become part of the everybody’s mobility mix and to improve urban live. To achieve this, we aim for availability, reliability, flexibility and comfort with our vehicles as well as co-operations and partnerships with cities and other mobility providers’’.
Series-C funded startup, MILES had its latest funding was raised on Jan 13, 2022 from a Venture – Series Unknown round. The mobility tech startup has business partnerships with other Berlin companies, such as Tier, BVG, Volkswagen and FreeNow.
MILES is now active in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lichternstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland.
MILES founders consist of Jigar Shah, Parin Shah and Paresh Shah.
- Raised €5M in funding in 5 rounds
- MILES estimated annual revenue is currently $38.9M
- 487,756 website visitors in the last month, which saw an increase of 13.61% from the previous
- 29,191 app downloads, with a 11.16% app download rate decrease in past month
- 145 employees
- Estimated annual revenue $38.9M
- Kontist – ‘‘The digital business account for the self-employed’’ (2016)
Kontist ‘‘believe(s) (that) freelancers shape the future of work, challenging traditional company structures and combining flexibility and individuality to create successful businesses. However, there are still a lot of obstacles freelancers face, especially when it comes to their finances. This is where Kontist comes in with a bank account exclusively for freelancers that understands you and helps you stay on top of your finances’’.
In July 2022, it was announced that Danish company Ageras Group would buy Kontist. Founder ”Christopher Plantener’s Berlin fintech succeeded in building a well-known brand – with a focus on the self-employed. Around 50,000 freelancers are now said to be using their bank accounts, Kontist announced on the exit”, noted Financefwd.com.
Kontist’s founding group consists of Alexander Baatz, Catharina Bruns, Christopher Plantener, Madison Bell, Sebastian Galonska and Sophie Pester.
- Raised a total of $53.2M in funding over 6 rounds.
- Latest funding was on Nov 16, 2021.
- 52,722 website visitors last month, with app download rate of -21.13%
- Total Assets of $19.6M (as of 2021)
- Taxfix – ‘‘Die Steuer-App für deine Steuererklärung’’ (2016)
Series-D funded startup, Taxfix, is ‘‘based on the simple idea that doing taxes should be easier, and that everyone should be able to take their finances into their own hands’’.
The Berlin-born startup believes that ‘‘most people are afraid of doing their own tax return. They’re afraid of making mistakes or even getting into trouble with the tax office. But, in fact, 9 out of 10 people get a refund when they file their tax return’’.
Taxfix offers an intuitive solution with their tax app that helps everyone get the best possible refund. With an included error check and built-in data check, one’s tax return will always be complete, accurate, and submitted fast. In February 2022, Taxfix acquired Steuerbot, an online tax declaration platform.
The company founder’s consist of Lino Teuteberg and Mathis Buchi.
- Raised $330M from 5 investors
- Website growth rate 14.1% past month
- 193,331 app downloads in past month
- Estimated annual revenue is $75.9M
- Zenjob – ‘‘Flexible side jobs – modern staffing agency’’ (2016)
Series-D funded startup, Zenjob, is a staffing marketplace that matches workers with temporary side jobs. The company represents ‘‘a personnel service provider for part-time jobs that automatically connects companies and part-time job seekers so that both get exactly what they are looking for.
Every month, Zenjob matches more than 20,000 talents with 12,000 part-time jobs from over 1,000 companies from various industries such as logistics, gastronomy and retail’’.
Their founders consist of Cihan Aksakal, Frederik Fahning, Fritz Trott and Stephan von Perger.
- Acquired $95.6M in funding to date from 10 investors.
- Last funding round was in February, 2022.
- Currently hosts 557 employees
- Estimated annual revenue $83.5M
- InstaFreight – ‘‘Your online freight forwarder’’ (2016)
InstaFreight ‘‘develops technologies that offer shippers and transport operators smooth and reliable services and make the land transport market more efficient and sustainable’’.
The Series-B funded company partners with clients in their day-to-day execution of contracted business and spot transports and provides strategic recommendations to reduce freight costs. InstaFreight currently holds 25,000 carriers in their charter fleet which operate in 23 countries throughout Europe.
The company’s founders consist of Markus Doetsch, Maximilian Schaefer and Philipp Ortwein.
- Raised $75.2M in funding from 5 investors
- 92,006 website visitors, up 33.28% from previous month
- Estimated annual revenue $84.1M
- Approximately 203 employees
- Estimated annual revenue $84.1M
Centurion Plus
Are you an entrepreneur, a start-up or a SME with the goal to start up between or in Africa and Germany? Then our team will happily assist you on the legal side! We are specialized both in supporting multicultural businesses in Germany, in supporting African businesses in Germany and in supporting businesses across various African jurisdictions. While our support starts with providing help on immigration and relocation matters, it does not stop there – taxes, tech, intellectual property…You heard us! Contact us today to find out more!
Sources: Crunchbase, EU Startups, RocketReach, Growjo, Financefwd.
