Germany’s 10 fastest growing startups in 2016

2016 has been a wild and crazy year, especially for the 10 fastest growing startups in Germany, as ranked by the German startup news site Gruenderszene (German). Only time will tell what the future holds for these companies next year.

First place goes to Lesara, established in 2013, with a growth rate of 1,425 per cent in 2016. The E-commerce startup is based in Berlin and offers the latest fashion trends in 23 European countries. With more than 70,000 products, the company’s founder, Roman Kirsch, wants to keep growing the business through partnerships with distributors and manufacturers.

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Created in 2013, GastroHerois based in Holzwickende, Germany and their team of 103 employees secured the startup second place with a growth rate of 1,345 per cent. The three founders, Andreas Korsus, Mark Baukmann and Jens Schuette, sell kitchen products to restaurants. The startup offers a sortiment of 35,000 products, from gas stoves to refrigerators.

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Uberall, a digital location marketing platform, took third place with a growth rate of 754 per cent. The company helps businesses, and other organizations, “optimise their online presence.” Uberall’s founders, Florian Huebner, David Federhen and Josha Benner established the company in 2012.

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Unu, a Berlin-based startup established in 2013, has a growth rate of 725 per cent. The startup, established by Elias Atahi, Mathieu Caudal and Pascal Blum, sells electric scooters with portable batteries, but this is just the beginning. In 2015, the company collected an additional 1.5 million euros to further develop the company and Atahi said Unu is currently in the process of closing their next financing round.

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The Hamburg-based startup Rebelle, with a growth rate of 660 per cent, was established by Sophie-Cécile Gaulke and Max Laurent Schoenemann in 2013. With a team of 75 employees, the startup lets individuals buy and sell their second hand, luxury brands: Louboutin pumps and Jimmy Choo stilettos included. The startup pays extra close attention to the quality and authenticity of the second hand items, enticing fashion-forward individuals to part with their gently-used name brands, in order to make space in their wardrobe.

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The Berlin-based startup Contentful’s motto: “Like a CMS…without the bad bits.” The startup secured sixth place in Gruenderszene’s ranking with a growth rate of 646 per cent. Established in 2011, the startup just opened up an office in the US and filled it with a dozen new employees. The company was also included on the Forbes 2016 Cloud 100, a list of the top private cloud companies in the world.

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Thermondo, a clean tech startup established in 2012, took seventh place with a growth rate of 638 per cent. The startup is headquartered in Berlin and helps clients reduce CO2 emissions associated with their heating by up to 30 per cent. The startup reports installing approximately 300 heaters per month into German homes.  Founder Philipp Pausder, Florian Tetylaff and Kristofer Fichtner are driven by a concern for the environment and energy efficiency.

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Foodpanda, an online food ordering marketplace, was established by Ben Bauer, Ralf Wenzel and Felix Plog in 2012 and is backed by Rocket Internet. The Berlin-based startup had a growth rate of 567 per cent, a significant increase from the 353 per cent they had last year. The company can be found on five continents and is active in more than 500 cities. Worldwide their team is made up of more than 3,700 people.

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Established in 2013 by Sabrina Saleh, digidip, lets users optimize their website content so as to generate more revenue with the startups javascript code. Headquartered in Berlin, the startup had a growth rate of 564 per cent. Digidip offers access to more than 20,000 merchants and tools that allow their clients to track where, how and what content they are generating revenue with.

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Montredo, with a growth rate of 520 per cent, was established in 2012 by Philipp Budiman. His startup sells luxury watches online from some of the top manufacturers and retailers in Europe. The Berlin-based startup forgoes the retail space, and with many of the watches at partner concessionaires, the team of 20 can offer “competitive prices” with “notable discounts” being passed on to their customers.

Photos via Chris Marxen

Originally Posted here by:
Christine G. Coester – 16 December 2016