Earlybird Edition: July 2024

☀️ They say Europe sleeps in summer; turns out, that's not true for the startup ecosystem. Dive into the summer activities of our portfolio companies and team.

🌱 Portfolio News: See what's happening in the startups

• Earlybird Digital West portfolio companies Hive and Upvest were featured on the Sifted SaaS B2B Rising 100 list for 2024.
• Earlybird Digital West portfolio company Gourmey requested market approval in 5 regions across the globe, being the first to request novel food approval for cultivated food in the European Union. 

• Earlybird Digital West portfolio company Xayn announced a collaboration with EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG and the expansion of their Legal AI Alliance. 
• Earlybird Digital East congratulated Grand Games on their USD 3M pre-seed announcement. 

✍️ Our Published Content: Keep up-to-date

• Earlybird introduced a new recruitment process for our 2025 Internship Program, opening positions in our Berlin, Munich, and London offices. 
• Earlybird welcomed Zeynep Nisan Gündüz, the newest addition to the Earlybird Health Investment Team.
• Earlybird echoed exciting investment and customer news from Loyi, a Vision Lab Cohort 5 participating company. 

• Earlybird Co-founder & Partner Dr. Hendrik Brandis revealed his plan for increasing growth capital in Germany in a Strive Magazine column.  
• The Earlybird Digital West team onboarded Vestberry a data-driven portfolio monitoring and management tool. 
• Earlybird soared above 100k followers on LinkedIn and celebrated in the Berlin office with local teammates.

💫 Media Mentions: Discover Earlybird special features

• Earlybird was listed in Sifted as one of the top 15 most active investors, as well as one of the most active Fintech investors, in the first half of 2024. 
• Earlybirds were featured on recent episodes of Startup Insider’s Investments and Exits podcast: Earlybird Co-founder and Partner Dr. Hendrik Brandis covered exciting developments in VC-backed startups. Earlybird Digital West Partner Dr. Andre Retterath spoke on the future of AI. Earlybird Principal Dr. Marie-Thérèse Buttlar discussed AI-powered workflow tools and a climate risk management company.  
• Earlybird Principal Nina Mayer was featured by Grace-Accelerate Female Entrepreneurship, sharing tips with founders preparing for their fundraising journeys. 

🗓️ Events: Tech scene movers & shakers

• Earlybird Principal Sara Fee Kirschhausen and teammate Marieke Gehres hosted a consumer breakfast inviting key players in the B2C space including representatives from N26, HelloFresh, Enpal, KoRo, and more. Check out a short video of the event here. 

• Earlybird Health Partner Lionel Carnot co-led an insightful VentureESG panel on ESG impact in healthcare VC, inspired by our recent article presenting Earlybird Health's Impact Investing Framework. 
• Earlybird hosted the Vision Lab Cohort 5 Demo Day featuring founders from around the globe who pitched their innovative solutions, after participating in the Vision Lab Program for the last 6 months. 

• Earlybird invited founders in the ecosystem to participate in a Founder Safe Space event, co-hosted by 2Hearts and Zendesk. 
• Earlybird celebrated the summer season and bonded over international locations with a boat ride through Berlin’s Spree.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for next month's updates and activities across the Earlybird network.💫