By Martin Schilling, Managing Director of Techstars Berlin

When announcing a startup class in Europe, we usually write about how the European startup ecosystem is finally taking off, how much more venture capital we have deployed or how many more unicorns we have built. But since the beginning of 2022 a terrible war rages in Europe with people dying every day - celebrating startup success seems to be off.

However in the face of such conflict, we have been inspired to see many entrepreneurs leverage technology to support the people of Ukraine. We sent money within minutes using N26 or Revolut. Refugees could find temporary housing with Wunderflat. Transport from the Ukrainian border was bolstered by Flixbus.

Can't this be the catalyst for an optimistic future?

Maybe the 20ties can become after all, the decade of the European venture builders? If we as European tech venture builders stand together and overcome this crisis, we will have an exciting time ahead of us.

The Techstars class of 2022 embodies this spirit, powered by the goal of catapulting European tech entrepreneurs forward. The focus for them will be across three areas: FinTech, climate tech and deep tech. The founders are tackling a broad range of global issues from creating an investment marketplace for MSMEs in Africa, to saving the climate. Their solutions are what will shape our future.

The Berlin Techstars Accelerator received ~900 applications and it was never harder to get a place at Techstars Berlin. Together with our VC partners Lakestar, Project A, Redalpine, Cherry, Angel Invest, WLOUNGE and many of our superstar mentors, we have selected a class of 30 rockstar founders from 11 startups.

Here they are:

PatentPlus

An Innovation-as-a-Service Platform to identify, qualify and monitor new innovation opportunities for businesses.

Distributed Town

A Web3 Community Tool that allows individuals to create and organize DAOs.

Project Cece

A B2B2C search engine for sustainable fashion, listing all clothing, shoes and accessories offered by sustainable businesses on one platform.

Melanin Kapital

An investment marketplace for MSMEs in Africa, helping the underserved access financing at fairer conditions.

SaveSpace

A B2C on-demand storage with a storage by the box solution.

LifeTap

A B2C group recommendation service building the next level of search.

Optimo

A B2B SaaS & EdTech company, offering peer-to-peer gamified learning to blue collar workers.

Renderro

A B2B & B2C SaaS company, providing access to cloud desktops, storage and team management to creatives.

ECO2GROW

A B2B2C Sustainable Shopper Platform.

Gaia

A sustainable wealth creation platform for Millennials and GenZs.

Kodex AI

A B2B SaaS AI Risk Platform, allowing corporations to identify and manage their AI risk efficiently.

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