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Austria: Schoenherr advises EIC Fund on investment in Kern Tec's EUR 12m Series A financing round
Schoenherr advised the EIC Fund, the venture investment arm of the European Innovation Council (EIC), on its investment in the EUR 12m Series A financing round of Kern Tec, an Austrian food tech company, led by Belgian firm Telos Impact.
28 September 2023
A.Hirsch N.Kerschbaumer D.Tyrybon V.Wolfbauer F.Terharen M.Vlajković D.Rutecka Ö.Semiz
to the point: technology & digitalisation l September 2023
Welcome to the September edition of Schoenherr's to the point: technology & digitalisation newsletter!
Austria: Schoenherr advises Usersnap on exit to saas.group
Schoenherr advised the shareholders of Austrian software company Usersnap on their acquisition by saas.group, a company active in the business of acquiring promising software as a service (SaaS) companies.
Austria: Schoenherr advises shared-mobility start-up UBIQ on seven-figure Series A financing round
Schoenherr advised Austrian shared-mobility start-up UBIQ, a provider of AI-powered solutions for managing fleets in the shared (e-)mobility industry, on its seven-figure Series A financing round.
Austria: Schoenherr advises Inflexion on acquisition of majority stake in European fintech Nomentia from PSG Equity and Verdane
Schoenherr advised Inflexion, a leading mid-market private equity firm, on the acquisition of a majority stake in the European fintech Nomentia from PSG Equity and Verdane.
Austria: Schoenherr advises proptech scale-up GROPYUS on major Austrian scale-up financing round
Schoenherr advised the Vienna-headquartered property technology scale-up GROPYUS on its ongoing Series B financing round led by Vonovia, Europe's largest residential real estate company. The volume of this financing round is at around EUR 100m, bringing GROPYUS' total funding to date to more than EUR 200m.
The Ecosystem: Bulgaria joins the competition to attract start-ups from outside the EU
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Bulgaria paves way for innovative businesses with new start-up visa
Country welcomes non-EU investors to boost local start-up ecosystem
After Decree No 318 of 7 October 2022 adopting the Ordinance on the conditions and procedure for issuing, extending and revoking a certificate for a high-tech and/or innovative project (the "Ordinance") was promulgated in issue 82 of the State Gazette of 14 October 2022, Bulgaria joins the almost half of EU countries that issue "start-up visas".
Austria: Schoenherr advises Storyblok on USD 47m Series B financing
Schoenherr advised the Austrian scale-up Storyblok on its Series B financing worth USD 47m, one of several major transactions in the Austrian start-up scene on which Schoenherr has advised in the recent past.
Austria: Schoenherr advises e-mobility start-up Easelink on EUR 8.3m financing round (Series A)
Schoenherr advised the Austrian high-tech company Easelink, a provider of automated electric vehicle charging solutions, on its EUR 8.3m Series A financing round.
Austria: Schoenherr advises on the sale of the oral hygiene start-up Playbrush to the Sunstar Group
Schoenherr advised the shareholders of the Austrian oral hygiene start-up Playbrush on the sale of the majority shares to the international health care company Sunstar Group.
Czech Republic: Schoenherr advises Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Raiffeisenbank a.s. on acquisition of AKCENTA CZ a.s.
Austrian Limited: a new type of corporation for start-ups in Austria
The agenda published by the Austrian Federal Government at the beginning of 2020 has already provided for the establishment of a new type of corporation: the Austrian Limited. Implementation plans are becoming more concrete. The general aim is to ensure that founders and start-ups have an "internationally competitive option" in the early stages with a new form of corporation.
Austria: Schoenherr advises Austrian start-up Carbomed on multi-million euro financing round
After Schoenherr recently advised the Austrian fintech company Bitpanda on the largest European Series A financing round in 2020, the firm successfully advised on another start-up financing: Under the leadership of partner Thomas Kulnigg, the Schoenherr team advised Carbomed Medical Solutions, an Austrian FemTech start-up, on a EUR 3m financing. The financing round was led by aws Gründerfonds.
Austria: FMA publishes guidance on ICOs and token classification
The Austrian Financial Market Authority (Finanzmarktaufsicht, FMA) has recently published guidelines on how it views Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) from a financial services regulatory perspective.
Austria: Schoenherr advises Bitpanda on its USD 52 million Series A financing round
Schoenherr advised Austrian fintech Bitpanda, on the largest European Series A financing round in 2020 led by Valar Ventures, and including other fintech investors such as Speedinvest. The funding secures USD 52 million to further drive Bitpanda's expansion.
We help Start-Ups!
In an attempt to help start-ups during the current corona situation obtaining the much needed financial liquidity support from their shareholders or other investors, we put together a short and simple forward equity agreement, the "Simple Equity Investment Contract (SEIC)".
Romanian fintech start-ups combine powers and create the first Romanian fintech association
For the last couple of years, the fintech industry has become of great interest in the Romanian entrepreneurial scene. Numerous Romanian start-ups or long-existing financial and IT companies have switched focus on what fintech means and on what it can bring to the table.
Electromobility on the rise
As part of the EU's efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, Regulation (EU) 2019/631 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 (effective from January 2020) laying down CO2 emission performance standards for new automobiles and new light commercial vehicles (the "Regulation") was issued. Under the Regulation, individual manufacturers (or associations of manufacturers under Article 6 of the Regulation) will be obliged, inter alia, to reduce emissions from new automobiles by 37.5 % by 2030 (compared to the 2021 target of 95 g CO2/km).
Together on the blockchain: Finding consensus in a decentralised network
An essential element of the blockchain and the technology behind it is the validation of transactions, i.e. confirmation that data in the blockchain ledger is entered rightfully1. But how, exactly, can data entered in a decentralised ledger be validated? Who does the validating? These questions arise once you look deeper into the workings and structure of transactions on the blockchain.
How to manage complex IT projects
Gone are the days when purchasing new software was mainly the job of procurement departments and driven by economic considerations. Nowadays, IT projects are incredibly complex and require the seamless interaction of many different stakeholders.
A new reality for ridesharing apps in Poland
The battle between traditional taxi drivers as well as their supporters and those advocating a more digitalised approach focused on ridesharing applications such as Uber, Lyft or Bolt began a few years ago and is being waged in almost every country. In Poland, Uber started back in 2014 as the first mobile taxi application on the Polish market. Taxi drivers began protesting the app almost immediately after it became clear that consumers preferred Uber's efficiency and prices to those of traditional taxis. Criticism from traditional taxi drivers about the safety of Uber and the qualifications of its drivers led to the need for legal changes. A first draft amendment of the Polish Act on Road Transport was submitted to the Council of Ministers in July 2017 (the "Amendment").
Romania: How to start-up an army of cyber guardians
This year, Romania's first tech unicorn reached a USD 7bln valuation. This has stirred things up, expanding the horizons for many Romanian entrepreneurs. While still far from being a major start-up ecosystem, the country is showing its potential, mostly due to high-quality tech talent available at still manageable costs.
Beteiligungen: Entlohnung mit dem Prinzip Hoffnung
First published on Der Standard, 28.10.2019
Junge Unternehmen versuchen, ihre Mitarbeiter durch Beteiligungen in der Firma zu halten. Doch nicht jedes Modell funktioniert gleich gut
FinTech 2019 in Austria
Financial technologies, or FinTechs, are rapidly changing the finance/banking sectors, and sometimes even shift whole markets online, and make it possible to deal, invest or lend money without ever needing to deal with a traditional bank.
Schoenherr advises Spanish manufacturer Torrot on delivery of electric scooters and related technology to ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab
Schoenherr Prague advised Spanish manufacturer Torrot Electric Europa, S.A. ("Torrot") on the delivery of complex technology solutions for scooter sharing (including also electric scooters, advanced IT technologies and IT services) to ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab s.r.o. ("ŠKODA AUTO DigiLab"), which will use them for its new e-scooter sharing service BeRider in Prague.
The International Comparative Legal Guide to: Fintech 2019
The International Comparative Legal Guides provide current and practical comparative legal information on a range of practice areas, following a Q&A format to ensure thorough coverage of each topic within different legal systems worldwide.
Austria: Schoenherr advises bsurance on its Series-A financing
Schoenherr has advised Austrian insurtech start-up bsurance on its Series-A financing round. The investment totals EUR 4 million and was provided by UNIQA Ventures GmbH and an additional investor.
Start-up acquisitions & exits - where expectations meet reality
Start-ups generally
A typical start-up is usually founded by three or four individuals as a limited liability company or a joint stock company focused on IT or online businesses. As the start-up grows, a number of investors (ten or more) come on board (venture capital funds and angel investors) by acquiring convertible loan instruments, newly issued or existing shares. The start-up company is focused on building up and investing in its team of specialists, which is often its main asset. This explains why employee share option plans are so common. Gradually, the client network expands and the brand is established. And then, a strategic company comes along with a lucrative offer to acquire the start-up.
Legal hiccups in start-up financing
From pre-seed to exit, start-ups are chronically in need of money to ensure their steady growth. Due to lack of access to bank financing, start-ups are typically financed by their shareholders via equity finance or debt. But there are also hybrid instruments that can be used to bridge the gaps between financing rounds or to overcome valuation issues.
What industries do investors in start-ups currently prefer?
From pre-seed to exit, start-ups are chronically in need of money to ensure their steady growth. Due to lack of access to bank financing start-ups are typically financed by their shareholders via equity finance or debt. But there are also hybrid instruments that can be used to bridge the gaps between financing g rounds or to overcome valuation issues. We interviewed Ivaylo Gospodinov, one of the managing partners of the investment fund BlackPeak Capital.
Österreich: Ab 2019 vereinfachter Kapitalmarktzugang für KMU, Wachstumsunternehmen und Startups durch Öffnung des Dritten Markts
Am 25.10.2018 hat der Nationalrat die seit langem erwartete Änderung des Aktiengesetzes beschlossen, die den Zugang von österreichischen Gesellschaften, insbesondere von KMU, Wachstumsunternehmen und Startups, zum Kapitalmarkt erleichtern soll.
Austria: Schoenherr advises crowdinvesting company CONDA on first-ever digitalisation of shares via blockchain in Austria
Schoenherr and CONDA AG ("CONDA") have succeeded in digitalising the shares of the joint stock company and enabled registered shares to be managed via blockchain technology.
Schoenherr advises Endeit Capital in largest Austrian start-up financing round in 2018
Schoenherr is harnessing its start-up and venture capital expertise by advising Dutch capital investment firm Endeit Capital in a EUR 50 million Series C financing round for Austrian tour booking platform TourRadar.
Österreich: Exit-Szenarien ausarbeiten und Finanzen managen: Was Start Ups vorab tun können um Krisenstimmung zu vermeiden
Schönherr lud vergangene Woche gemeinsam mit dem Branchennetzwerk primeCROWD ein, die Schattenseiten des Start Up-Unternehmertums zu diskutieren. Das Fazit: Wie in jeder Beziehung, ist ein offener und ehrlicher Dialog wichtig, um Krisen zu vermeiden oder zumindest gestärkt aus Krisen hervorzugehen. Zahlreiche Start Ups und Investoren waren in die Wiener Kanzlei gekommen um sich Expertenmeinungen und Tipps zu Gesellschafterstreitfälle, Verstimmungen zwischen Start Ups und Investoren sowie zum Thema Insolvenz zu holen.
Are ICOs the future of fund raising?
With credit institutions still reluctant to provide financing to start-ups, many companies are looking for new ways to raise funds. Others are exploring ways to integrate new technology such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Blockchain and SmartContracts into their existing business models. Either way, initial coin offerings (ICO) or initial token offerings (ITO) are currently trending.
Austria/CEE: Schoenherr supports weXelerate and innovators in the region
Schoenherr has partnered with weXelerate, the largest start-up & innovation hub in Central Europe, as an active supporter and channel partner. On Monday 26 September the weXelerate on-boarding week begins for 55 promising international start-ups that will start developing their ideas in the innovation centre of the Nouvel Tower in Vienna.
Austria: Avoid Expensive Mistakes As Startup Employer
As violations may lead to enormous liabilities, start-up employers are advised from the outset to comply with the applicable laws pertaining to their personnel.
Austria: Participation rights as alternative investment and equity financing instruments
The typical way to invest in an Austrian company (eg, a limited liability company (LLC) or joint stock company) is by way of a capital increase. Alternatively, the investor can acquire existing shares from shareholders and provide capital contributions to the company.(1)
"Start-Ups, die vorausdenken, sind attraktiver für Investoren"
Das Start-Up Ökosystem in Österreich wächst: A1 hat vor kurzem gemeinsam mit anderen Investoren 1,2 Millionen Euro in das Start-Up Parkbob investiert. Was macht das Investment in Start-Ups so attraktiv?
Austria: Convertible Loans for Austrian Start-Ups
A convertible loan is a popular investment means to finance a start-up. Austrian law, however, does not foresee convertible loans for the most popular corporate form of Austrian start-ups: limited liability companies. Convertible loans thus have to be synthetically structured.