Top female-led tech startups in Berlin that deserve attention in 2020

Women in tech are striving hard to establish their presence and motivate others in the industry. However, even in the current modern world, women entrepreneurs are under-represented and do not achieve parity as their male counterparts in the world of technology.

Women-led Berlin tech startups

There challenges in many aspects such as leadership positions and workplace benefits. Also, the women-led companies do not get easy access to funding. But some female-led startups have smashed the glass ceiling and are popular in their own industries.

Having said that, here is a list of women-led Berlin-based tech startups curated by Dealroom in partnership with WLounge.

Infarm

Founder/s: Osnat Michaeli, Guy Galonska, Erez Galonska
Founded year: 2013
Funding: €202M

Infarm, aims to share the goodness of own-grown produce with everyone. The startup has developed a smart modular farming system, that allows the distribution of farms throughout the urban environment, growing fresh produce in any available space and fulfilling any demand.

The Berlin-based startup raised €144M in September this year as a part of the Series C funding round. The investment was led by LGT Lightstone alongside existing investors such as Atomico, TriplePoint Capital, Mons Capital, and Astanor Ventures; Hanaco, Bonnier, Haniel, and Latitude. The funding will be used to strengthen the regional and local penetration of Infarm’s global farming network.

Circ

Founder/s: Carlos Bhola, IQ Sayed, Lukasz Gadowski
Founded year: 2018
Funding: €55M

Circ, formerly known as Flash, was created with a shared vision of cleaner, safer, better-connected journeys. The company’s purpose-built e-scooters are now available in seven countries. This company is building a micro-mobility module in Europe.

Last year, Circ established its regional headquarters in the UAE. Notably, this is the first office for the company outside Europe. Furthermore, this makes it the first international micro-mobility company to officially launch in the Gulf region in partnership with local regulators and private developers.

Shippo

Founder/s: Simon Kreuz, Laura Wu
Founded year: 2013
Funding: €53.9M

Shippo connects businesses and their customers together. The company integrates with the top e-commerce platforms to streamline the fulfillment process. Users can customise their shipping process, send personalised tracking information via email, create return labels and more. Also, users can access Shippo’s API to meet their unique needs.

Earlier this year, Shippo raised $30M (nearly €25.8M) Series C funding as an extension to the Investment it secured in late 2019. The funding round was led by a new investor, D1 Capital Partners along with earlier investors such as Uncork Capital, Union Square Ventures, and Bessemer.

Penta

Founder/s: Aleksandar Orlic, Igor Kuschnir, Jessica Holzbach, Lav Odorovic, Luka Ivicevic, Sir Gabriel Holbach
Founded year: 2016
Funding: €39.7M

Penta, a Berlin-based fintech platform for business banking is one of the leading startups in Germany. This fintech startup automates bank accounts and invoices and offers online cashless banking services to startups and SMEs. Based in Berlin, Penta has offices in Belgrade and Milan too.

Earlier this year, this startup bagged €18.5M in the first closing of a new funding round backed by RTP Global, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures and other investors. Pento plans to use the latest investment to develop its platform and is eyeing to expand into other European markets.

Doctorly

Founder/s: Anna von Stackelberg, Archil Eristavi, Nicklas Teicke, Samir El-Alami
Founded year: 2018
Funding: €6M

Based out of Berlin, Doctorly is a digital-first, cloud-powered, practice
management platform for doctors. The company works on the mission to replace the outdated practice management software being used by doctors in Germany and internationally. Also, Doctorly wants to offer digital personalised services and tools to patients via the health app patient portal, technology working perfectly in sync with their doctors.

In June this year, the company secured $5.6M (nearly €4.8M) led by Speedinvest and other investors including Seedcamp, Target Global, Force Ventures, and UNIQA Ventures.

Roq.ad

Founder/s: Bartek Bogacki, Carsten Frien, Daniel Kramer, Kasia Zalewska, Richy Ugwu
Founded year: 2015
Funding: €3.8M

Roq.ad claims to be one of the leading cross-device technology providers in Europe. Roq.ad is dedicated to cracking today’s key marketing challenges arising from multi-device ownership and fragmented digital consumer identities. It intends to arm companies with the necessary knowledge and tools required to overcome these challenges and achieve their business objectives.

According to the company, the particular insights that are provided by Roq.ad are designed to help brands build strong relationships with their target audiences in a personalised and non-intrusive manner.

Legal OS

Founder/s: Charlotte Kufus, Jake Jones, Lilian Breidenbach
Founded year: 2017
Funding: €2M

Legal OS’s platform enables lawyers to automate the lawyer-client relationship. Their library of machine-readable content allows lawyers to deliver digital contracts to their clients and embed the inherent data into the tools they use every day. The company lets manage contracts in one place, automates drafting of complex contracts and lets users stay secure and up-to-date.

Bunch

Founder/s: Anthony Reo, Charles Ahmadzadeh, Darja Gutnick
Founded year: 2016
Funding: €3.4M

The Berlin-based startup claims to be on a mission to help every manager become a great leader. According to the company, it enables managers and aspiring leaders to learn and grow in 2-minutes a day, by using data and psychology to curate advice from a bunch of their peers. Its AI leadership coach is in beta now

Late last year, Bunch secured $1.5M (nearly €1.3M) seed funding from M13. It marks the first European investment from the Los Angeles-based VC firm’s new fund. The startup intends to expand into the US with this investment.

RAMPmedical

Founder/s: Helene Schonewolf, Jacques Ehret
Founded year: 2015
Funding: €100K

RAMPmedical enables doctors to take the best therapy decision for their patients by providing an overview of all adequate therapies with all parameters based on all available scientific knowledge. This software brings transparency to treatment decisions. RAMPmedical analyses current treatment guidelines and medical research and presents the results in an accessible way so doctors can understand the information and avoid mistakes. The startup secured €50K grant to help alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic from EIT Health Germany’s Headstart programme.

VAHA

Founder/s: Valerie Bures-Bönström
Founded year: 2005
Funding: NA

VAHA is a developer of fitness technology intended to provide personalised and immersive sessions for body, mind and nutrition at home. The company’s technology is an interactive mirror that offers a wide range of services from cardio to strength training and yoga to boxing, enabling users to lead a healthy lifestyle using personal trainers at a reasonable cost.

Late last year, VAHA raised a double-digit million euros funding led by TQ Ventures, HV Holtzbrinck Ventures, Global Founders Capital, and RTP Global. This investment is meant to drive the launch and growth of the interactive digital mirror.

Stock photo from Bojan Milinkov/Shutterstock