HomeGermany-Startups10 early-stage Berlin-based startups to have your eye on 2021 and beyond

10 early-stage Berlin-based startups to have your eye on 2021 and beyond

Berlin is known for its history, its many world-renowned museums, and its culture-rich and creative environment. As if that wasn’t enough, the city is also one of the most active and strong tech ecosystems and made it to spot number 2 in our annual ranking of Europe’s biggest startup hubs.

The German capital is home to super active VCs like Project A, Rocket Internet and Point Nine; hubs and organisations like Betahaus and Factory Berlin; globally-facing accelerators like Techstars; and popular events like Tech Open Air (TOA). In addition, success stories like Soundcloud, Babbel, and Zalando have made Berlin one of the world’s most attractive cities to build a fast-growing tech company.

For today’s list, we took into consideration exceptionally promising startups founded between 2019-2021, as well as aspects such as team size, funding, growth rate, innovation, and market size. Although there are many startups killing it this year, here’s our selection of 10 Berlin-based startups to follow in 2021 and beyond:

Gorillas was founded in 2020 to offer grocery deliveries within 10 minutes. Since then, the startup had grown to over 2000+ employees and has raised around €305 million! They’re on a mission to change the way we do groceries, delivering at retail prices. The Gorillas’ founders are convinced that grocery shopping has to be radically faster and far more convenient. Their app lets customers choose from a wide selection of products including fresh fruits, dairy, vegan products, and cooled drinks. With a ‘unicorn’ valuation, it’s pretty clear Gorillas is one of Europe’s fastest-growing startups.

Vivid provides a mobile banking app for users to manage their finances and invest their money in a flexible and transparent way. The app enables payments, transfers, multi-currency accounts for travels, spending reports, and split bills. Founded in 2019, the team has grown to more than 250 employees and has raised around €74 million to empower users to save and invest in 2000+ Stocks, ETFs, and recently also in crypto.

Numa (formerly COSI) is rethinking the travel experience by combining locations in the most attractive European cities with technology and design. They create a digital guest journey without physical human contact. Numa focuses on yield management, distribution, and centralizing operations. The result is an 80% automatisation of processes, significantly reducing personnel costs and shifting focus on guests rather than administrative tasks. Founded in 2019, the team has raised €25 million to empower each guest to replicate everyday life in the neighborhood and make unique discoveries throughout the city.

Flink is an online supermarket that offers high-quality and organic groceries delivered to your door in 10 minutes. With a wide selection of over 2,000 high-quality products, they customise the assortment to be able to offer customers unique local products in every city. Flink’s delivery hubs are located in densely populated inner-city locations and they strive to be sustainable by delivering on electric bikes and using packaging that can be recycled. Founded in 2020, the startup has grown to a team of over 400 people and has raised over €256 million to revolutionise grocery shopping.

Planetly is on a mission to help build a carbon-neutral economy. Their software helps companies to introduce and automate carbon management, from data collection to reduction strategies and offsetting measures. With Planetly, companies can analyze, reduce and offset their carbon footprint. The sustainability-driven startup lets companies analyze the footprint of the entire organization based on real data, and it shows where they can reduce it in the most pragmatic way. Founded in 2019, the team has raised €4.8 million to build the tools for the carbon-neutral economy.

WorkMotion is a global HR platform that enables companies to hire and onboard employees internationally. With WorkMotion, companies can manage hiring, payments, social benefits and taxes, ensuring 100% legal compliance for remote employees around the world. Companies only need to fill in the required contract data, and then WorkMotion’s Engine provides them with guidance on the local employment restrictions before automatically generating a 100% compliant employment contract. Born in 2020, the team has already raised around €22.7 million and grown to more than 60 employees.

Dance offers a monthly, full-service e-bike subscription with the purpose of having a positive impact across health, sustainability, and livable cities. Through their subscription service, they aim to make the e-bike the primary way people move about cities. Powered by removable lithium, the bike’s battery lasts approximately 55km at full capacity and recharges back to 80% in two hours. Launched a year ago, the mobility startup has raised over €18.7 million to make people happier, the planet healthier and cities more livable.

Hive is an all-in-one software and operations solution to help companies manage their ‘D2C’ (direct-to-consumer) brand throughout fulfillment. Businesses can integrate their existing e-commerce stores with Hive’s own warehousing solution to get up and running. Hive takes care of inventory, orders and returns from start to finish, providing everyone with peace of mind. Founded in 2020, the logistics startup has raised over €8.2 million to democratise access to e-commerce operations and use technology to enable D2C brands to run their operations on auto-pilot. 

Klima is a climate app that allows users to calculate their carbon footprint, offset it by supporting verified climate projects, and live carbon-neutral. Founded in 2019, the sustainability-driven startup has raised over €14.7 million for its mission to turn climate neutrality into a mass movement and unleash the power of individual action at scale. Klima’s offset portfolio combines natural, technological, and social solutions, for a holistic climate action that pushes green innovation. The startup offers a monthly personalised offset based on individual carbon footprint.

Wonder is on a mission to build a virtual space where people meet, talk, exchange ideas, and work together. They aim to revolutionse the interaction paradigm and offer a set of features that allow users to do the things they tend to do in groups. Guests can move their avatars around with their mouse and join or leave a conversation. Hosts can share content with all guests or just those in a certain area, and broadcast a video, their screen, or any other media. Founded in 2020, the team has raised around €10.2 million to transform remote communication.

By the way: If you’re a corporate or investor looking for exciting startups in a specific market for a potential investment or acquisition, check out our Startup Sourcing Service!

Anto Guarin
Anto Guarin
Anto is the Startup Sourcing Manager at EU-Startups. She’s constantly on the lookout for promising startups and projects around the European scene. With a multicultural perspective, she's curious about culture, innovation and technology, strong impact projects, and creativity.
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