Over the past few years, Germany has continued to strengthen its position as one of Europe’s most important startup ecosystems, building on its industrial heritage while embracing new technologies across AI, energy, defence and advanced manufacturing. Strong research institutions, a skilled engineering workforce and close links between industry and innovation continue to support the country’s role as a key driver of European technology development.
In recent funding cycles, Germany has also seen a growing share of large investment rounds flowing into reference and resilience technologies. Capital has increasingly backed areas such as defence systems, energy security, critical infrastructure, climate resilience and industrial AI, reflecting both market demand and a broader shift towards technologies that support long-term stability and strategic autonomy.
This week, in our country-by-country series highlighting some of the most promising startups across Europe, we turn our focus to the German startup ecosystem. All founded between 2024 and 2025, these 10 startups reflect the depth and direction of innovation emerging from Germany today!
Leipzig-based Aevoloop develops plastics designed to be recycled again and again. The company works with end-of-life plastic waste that would otherwise be incinerated, turning it into chemical building blocks that can be reused to create new materials. These plastics are designed for industrial use and can be produced at scale, without increasing costs compared to conventional plastics.
Aevoloop designs its polymers at a molecular level, allowing them to break down easily during recycling without losing performance. The materials match the properties of widely used plastics such as polyolefins, while avoiding microplastic pollution and remaining fully recyclable over multiple cycles. Founded in 2024, they have raised €8.25 million, including seed funding and public grants, to move their technology towards commercial production.
Founded in 2024 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Black Forest Labs is an AI research company focused on visual intelligence. The company develops generative models that can create and edit images from text and image inputs, supporting tasks such as image generation, transformation and visual control. Its FLUX model family is designed for production use and is already used by developers and product teams building creative and media applications.
Black Forest Labs offers its models through both APIs and open-weight releases, allowing companies and researchers to run, customise and fine-tune them on their own infrastructure. The models are built to deliver high-quality visual output with fast performance and are being expanded towards broader visual and video capabilities. To date, the company has raised close to €387 million, including a large Series B round, to scale its research, infrastructure and product offering.
Duisburg-based Factor2 Energy develops geothermal power plants that use CO₂ instead of water to generate electricity. By using CO₂ as a working fluid, the company aims to produce clean, baseload energy around the clock while avoiding fracking, ultra-deep drilling and water-intensive processes. Its approach allows geothermal power to be deployed in a wider range of geological sites, including locations already used for carbon capture and storage.
Factor2 Energy’s system takes advantage of the thermodynamic properties of CO₂ to extract heat more efficiently, enabling higher energy output with fewer system components and lower environmental impact. The technology is designed to deliver emission-free, dispatchable power while permanently storing CO₂ underground. Founded in 2025, the company has secured around €7.8 million to advance development of its geothermal systems and support the transition towards scalable, low-carbon energy infrastructure.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Pocking, feld.energy develops agri-photovoltaic systems that allow farmers to produce solar power while continuing agricultural use of their land. The company designs PV systems that work alongside crops or livestock, enabling the dual use of farmland without sealing soil or displacing farming activity. Its solutions are tailored to different use cases, including arable land, pasture and mixed farming operations.
feld.energy manages the full project process, from site assessment and permitting to construction and operation, offering farmers different income models such as fixed leases, revenue sharing or self-operated systems. The goal is to provide long-term, predictable additional income without relying on subsidies, while supporting the energy transition in rural areas. The company has landed €11.7 million to expand its agri-PV projects and scale deployment across Germany.
Berlin-based Integral provides a digital tax advisory platform designed for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises. The company combines tax advice, bookkeeping, payroll and financial reporting in a single service, allowing businesses to manage their tax obligations through one central platform. Integral pairs automation with personal support, giving clients access to a dedicated tax advisor alongside digital tools.
Founded in 2024 in Cologne, Octonomy develops an artificial intelligence platform designed to automate complex support tasks for specialised professionals. The system is built for use cases such as technical support and field service, where employees typically need to search across manuals, technical documentation, emails and enterprise systems to resolve issues. Octonomy uses intelligent multi-agent technology to retrieve, understand and act on information across these sources in real time.
Octonomy integrates securely with existing enterprise systems such as ERP and CRM platforms, allowing it to automate full processes including warranty checks, product exchanges and customer follow-ups across all communication channels. The platform is developed and hosted in Germany, with a strong focus on GDPR and EU AI Act compliance. The company has secured €23.5 million to scale its platform and expand adoption among enterprises looking to improve support efficiency without increasing headcount.
Berlin-based Peec AI, develops an analytics platform that helps marketing teams understand how their brands appear in AI-driven search environments. As tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity increasingly shape discovery, Peec AI tracks key metrics such as visibility, position and sentiment, showing how often a brand is mentioned, how it ranks and how it is framed in AI-generated answers.
The platform allows teams to monitor specific prompts, compare performance against competitors and identify which sources influence AI search results. Peec AI also provides recommendations to help brands improve their presence in AI conversations and turn insights into action through reports, dashboards and API access. Founded in 2025, the company has raised around €25 million to date and is scaling its platform as AI search becomes a core channel for digital marketing.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Munich, Pulsetrain develops battery management and inverter technology for electric vehicles and industrial applications. The company builds systems that sit on top of existing batteries, combining hardware and software to improve performance, safety and control. Its technology is designed to work across different vehicle types, including passenger vehicles, two- and three-wheelers and non-road machinery.
Pulsetrain’s platform uses software-driven intelligence to manage charging, discharging and thermal behaviour, helping extend battery lifetime and support reuse. By optimising energy flow and reducing thermal stress, the company aims to increase efficiency without requiring changes to battery hardware. To date, Pulsetrain has raised €14.34 million to further develop its technology and expand partnerships within the mobility and industrial sectors.
Berlin-based STARK is a defence technology company developing unmanned systems for military and security applications. The company focuses on AI-enabled and software-defined platforms designed to meet current operational needs and to be produced at scale. Its systems are built with affordability and rapid deployment in mind, reflecting the realities of modern defence environments.
STARK works closely with NATO and partner forces, testing its technology under real operational conditions and using direct user feedback to guide development. This approach allows the company to iterate quickly and align its systems with the practical requirements of the armed forces. Founded in 2024, STARK has raised more than €66 million to accelerate product development, expand manufacturing capacity and support deployments with defence partners across Europe.
Founded in 2024 and based in Kassel, SWARM Biotactics creates bio-robotic systems designed to operate in environments where conventional sensors and machines reach their limits. The company combines living insects with custom-built control, sensing and communication modules, creating swarms that can enter tight, cluttered or high-risk areas and transmit real-time data. These systems are intended for use cases such as defence, security and search and rescue operations.
SWARM Biotactics’ approach leverages the natural mobility and persistence of biological organisms, enhanced with AI, sensors and swarm intelligence. This allows for silent access, close-range intelligence gathering and scalable deployment without exposing human operators to danger. The company has raised €13 million to advance its technology and develop bio-robotic systems suited for contested and denied environments.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/01/engineering-the-future-10-promising-german-startups-to-watch-in-2026-and-beyond/
