Bonn, Germany · Angel InvestorFrank Thelen is one of Germany's most recognized tech investors and serial entrepreneurs, widely known for his role as a judge on the TV show Die Hoehle der Loewen (the German equivalent of Shark Tank). Thelen founded several technology companies before launching 10xDNA, his deep-tech venture capital fund focused on artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space tech, and synthetic biology. As an angel investor, he has backed dozens of early-stage German and European startups, bringing operational experience from building and scaling software companies since the late 1990s. He is a vocal advocate for bolder tech ambition in Germany and frequently speaks on digital transformation policy.
Angel InvestorPre-Seed to Series ADeep TechAITechnology
Berlin, Germany · StartupBlockbrain builds private enterprise AI assistants that connect to internal knowledge tools such as Slack, Notion, Google Drive, and email. The platform creates context-aware internal search and answer workflows to reduce information fragmentation and speed up employee access to institutional knowledge.
StartupEarly StageAIEnterprise SoftwareB2B SaaS
Berlin, Germany · Venture CapitalEarlybird is one of Europe's leading multi-stage venture capital firms, founded in 1997 and headquartered in Berlin with additional offices in Munich, Istanbul, and Milan. The firm manages over EUR 2B across three distinct fund families: Digital West (pan-European tech), Digital East (Turkey and CEE), and Health (life sciences). Earlybird invests from seed through growth stage and has backed category-defining companies including N26, UiPath, Marley Spoon, Peak Games, and Wefox. The team of 40+ professionals provides hands-on operational support to founders scaling across Europe.
Venture CapitalSeed to Series ATechnologyEnterprise
Berlin, Germany · Innovation HubFactory Berlin is one of Europe's most prominent startup and innovation campuses, operating from two locations in Berlin: the original Factory Mitte (in a renovated brewery near the former Berlin Wall) and Factory Goerlitzer Park in Kreuzberg. Founded in 2014, Factory Berlin provides coworking and office space to startups, scale-ups, and corporate innovation teams, but its primary value lies in its curated community of over 3,500 members and its extensive event and programming calendar. Tenants and alumni include SoundCloud, Uber's Berlin office, and numerous venture-backed startups. Factory's community team runs mentorship circles, industry salons, investor matchmaking, and cross-border programs connecting Berlin founders with ecosystems in Silicon Valley and Asia. The campus has become a symbol of Berlin's tech scene and a standard stop for visiting delegations exploring the European startup landscape.
Innovation HubStartup EcosystemCommunityTechnology
Berlin, Germany · AcceleratorRan 2013-2016 as part of Microsoft for Startups. Four-month cohort with expert mentorship, Azure credits, and investor connections. Support: coaching, cloud infrastructure, partner network. Scope: Global.
AcceleratorSoftwareCloudAI
Berlin, Germany · StartupParloa is the German champion of enterprise AI for customer service. While consumer chatbots attract headlines, Parloa has built the operating system for large contact centers, enabling non-technical teams to deploy AI agents that handle complex voice and chat interactions. Its platform is trusted by large European enterprises such as Allianz, Decathlon, and Swiss Life, and it focuses on governance, compliance, and integration with legacy systems rather than flashy demos.
In January 2026, Parloa announced a $350M Series D led by General Catalyst, reportedly valuing the company at about $3B. The round validated its strategic shift from "chatbots" to "agent fleet management." Parloa does not just deploy a single bot; it manages and audits thousands of agents, ensuring they remain compliant, minimize hallucinations, and integrate cleanly with back-office systems such as SAP and Salesforce. This operational emphasis is why Parloa has become the default choice for risk-sensitive industries like insurance, retail, and financial services.
Parloa's 2026 roadmap is "voice-first AI." The company has developed speech-to-speech models that reduce the latency and robotic cadence that make older IVR systems frustrating. Its agents can handle interruptions, use backchannel cues, and operate across regions with language and accent adaptation, which is critical for multinational contact centers. With fresh capital, Parloa is acquiring smaller AI boutiques to consolidate the European market and is building a significant presence in New York to serve Fortune 500 clients in North America.
The company is deeply connected to the Berlin AI ecosystem, with ties to Merantix and the wider Berlin AI Campus, and it has a strategic relationship with Microsoft for Startups and Azure deployment. Its investor base includes General Catalyst, Altimeter Capital, EQT Ventures, Newion, and Senovo, giving it a mix of global growth capital and specialized SaaS expertise. In 2026, Parloa stands out as Europe's clearest enterprise AI winner in customer service: a scaled, governance-heavy platform that makes autonomous agents safe and effective inside the largest organizations.
StartupGrowthAICustomer ServiceEnterprise Software
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