SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator is part of the European initiative "Womenture", which aims to create an international support program for female founders. In cooperation withDesign Terminal(Hungary), Tehnopol(Estonia) and DEX Innovation Center (Czech Republic), a female founders program is being developed.

1.6 million people in Germany suffer from dementia and gradually lose their mental abilities. At the beginning of the disease, short-term memory and ability to remember are affected. In this pre-dementia stage, there are no approved medications in Europe yet. However, a combination therapy of exercise, memory training, social participation and a balanced diet can positively influence the course of the disease.

European VC fund Atomico led the round. The fund joined previous investors byFounders, Gradient Ventures, and Partech. Atomico Principal Andreas Helbig will join Digitail's board as part of the investment. According to Dealroom it is one of the largest Series A rounds in recent years in Romania’s young startup ecosystem. Digitail works with over 750 clinics worldwide, serving around 1.4 million pets.

Prodlane, the SaaS platform for data-driven product management in the manufacturing industry, has raised an EUR 760,000 pre-seed funding round. The round is led by a Swiss family office with an industrial background, with participation from S2S Ventures AG and several business angels from the industry, product management and HR. Prodlane will use the funding to expand its sales and development team and to enter the market.

Prodlane was part of the 13th SpinLab class and first SpinLab Summer School for diverse startups. Photo: Fabian Thüroff

With around 400 applications from all over the world, we reached a new record. The freshly incoming 14th class startups are as diverse as they are promising: a mental health lifestyle app for Gen Z, a chip like the human brain, road reconstruction through radio waves, or the production of hydrogen only from sunlight and water. Like 118 other startups before them, the new class is supported in scaling their their business by an extensive program. Clear numbers prove that the SpinLab ecosystem works: Over 1000 new jobs have been created by the startups that have already gone through the program. A total of 10 startups from SpinLab, such as mementor, Rhebo or Infrasolid, managed a successful exit and were acquired by international companies. Exciting pilot projects will also follow in the future - not least due to a recently concluded partnership between SpinLab and Leipzig University Hospital. 

In a follow-up funding, SpinLab partner Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen (TGFS) increases its investment in the AI startup from Leipzig. Since 2018, TGFS has been supporting we.do-ai as financing partner. With Foodcall, the founders Dr. Sebastian Hecker and André Naumann created Germany's first intelligent voice chatbot for the gastronomy industry, which can take orders, reservations or other requests from callers in one fluid conversation.

The founders Philipp Omenitsch and Manuel Kraus first launched in 2019 with a chatbot for the US market, and then switched to an app certified by German health insurers: just 3 years later, the e-health startup successfully exited. Stresscoach app has been sold to KGA Inc. The US company helps organizations to create and sustain a healthy, engaged and productive workforce. Both parties have agreed not to reveal the acquisition price. Mental health problems are unfortunately still a taboo in our society and people have to wait very very long until they get professional support. That is where Stresscoach comes in - the first psychological chatbot in Germany. The app guides users through interactive, conversation-based therapy programs in which they develop the skills to cope better with anxiety and stress.

The next Summer School For Diverse Startups will kick off soon! This time we teamed up with the incubator HHL Digital Space. Diversity drives company success. That’s a result many studies have shown. Yet, diverse startups still lack access to networks and resources like funding. Our mission: more diversity, equality and inclusion in the startup world. Of course this cannot be achieved alone. It’s a major challenge that we must tackle together. We are extremely happy to have strong partners who support our important mission. As a partner we could win the city of Leipzig, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) and Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen.

EIT InnoEnergy, the world’s largest sustainable energy engine, has invested alongside Vireo Ventures and Raakwark Kaptaala in the energy startup suena to support the development of the trading platform for energy storages and renewable energies. The fresh capital will enable the team to rapidly increase the pace of product development and pilot project implementation to address the urgent need for innovative energy storage deployment solutions.

Today's energy system, which is largely based on the combustion of fossil fuels, is facing profound changes worldwide. The necessary technical solutions for implementing the energy transition, such as renewable energies and storage capacities, are already available. Currently, the greatest challenge is to optimise the interaction of these solutions. This is exactly where Suena comes in: Its cloud-based software uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence methods to network energy systems with each other. In concrete terms, this means that they calculate an optimal schedule for each plant. The optimisation software suena opt makes it possible to use energy plants for multiple applications and to operate in different markets.

The startup takes a multi-use and multi-market approach here to maximise profit: "suena opt is a real-time operation and trading software that optimises the schedule of the energy plant portfolio for different applications and markets," explains co-founder Dr.-Ing. Lennard Wilkening. Applied to battery storage systems and energy parks (incl. wind & solar energy), the software optimises the deployment of the assets in real time based on forecasting models. This enables energy suppliers to react flexibly to market dynamics and facilitates the integration of renewable energies. This not only increases efficiency, but also cost-effectiveness, with the aim of accelerating the energy transition.

The fresh capital comes from Smart Infrastructure Ventures ('SIVentures'), who invested alongside neoteq ventures, Rivus Capital and well-known business angels. This is an important sign in the fight against the climate crisis. We are pleased that the participation in the SpinLab program has helped the team to reach this great milestone. The founders of Planted participated in our startup program in 2021. During the 6 months they gathered important know how from mentors and coaches as well as valuable contacts like to the venture capital funds Smart Infrastructure Ventures. At the HHL SpinLab Investors Day they were able to convince the jury of their important vision and won the best of pitch award with 2000€ prize money, sponsored by the city of Leipzig. Less than a year later, pre-seed funding has been secured.