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In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most exciting developments of the week in the startup and VC ecosystem.
We discuss Flexion’s impressive $50M Series A to build the “brain” of humanoid robots, the new European Spinout Report 2025 where Switzerland dominates Europe’s deep-tech spin-off landscape, and Google’s strong return to the AI frontier with Gemini 3.

Our deep dive focuses on M&A as the megatrend of 2026: together with our guest Bernhard Trösch (Everstride Partners), we analyze how buyer profiles, price levels, and “silent M&A” have shifted — and what founders must do now to...

This week Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi cover several major highlights from the Swiss tech ecosystem: the new CHF 172m Swisscanto Growth Fund, Wyss Zurich’s impressive 10-year track record, and why Peter Thiel fully exited his Nvidia position — adding fuel to the ongoing debate around an AI market bubble.
Our deep dive features Malaica, a health-tech startup reinventing pregnancy and postpartum care in Kenya, now launching an opportunity on Oomnium.
In our listener question, we discuss whether a potential AI bubble could burst and what this means for founders — including which types of startups are most at risk...

Burn Rate – Deal of the Month: Nexthink, DeepJudge, and Corintis

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi dive into the most exciting developments in the Swiss startup and VC ecosystem of October 2025. After a full market snapshot covering all financing rounds, total investment volumes, and exits, the episode moves into a deep dive on three standout transactions:

– the >USD 3B exit of Nexthink to Vista Capital Partners,
– the USD 42M Series A of DeepJudge, the Legal AI ETH spin-off,
– and the USD 24M Series A of Corintis, a microfluidic chip-cooling startup.

We break down...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the most exciting developments in the European venture capital ecosystem:
MYNERVA wins the Diamond Award at the 10th MassChallenge Switzerland Awards, McKinsey highlights a historic $1 trillion deep-tech opportunity for Europe, and ENSOY announces the shutdown of its production at the end of November.

In the main segment, Max and Guy wrap up their four-part mini-series on the Upscaler Program. This final episode focuses on the typical growth brakes that slow down scale-ups between 10 and 50 employees — from structures and processes to leadership challenges and external bottlenecks.

They also...

n this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi dive into the latest developments in the European venture capital ecosystem:
- GetYourGuide reaches profitability for the first time with nearly €1 billion in annual revenue.
- Europe’s VCs are deploying capital twice as fast as they’re raising new funds.
- Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Sequoia Capital are launching new mega-funds totaling over $11 billion.

In the deep dive, we discuss how much follow-on reserve VC funds really need — strategic discipline or costly reflex?
Our listener question explores how much capital startups typically raise before reaching unicorn status.

Deals of the...

Burn Rate – Episode 68: Venture Partners, Angels, and AI-Science Startups

Welcome to the latest edition of the Burn Rate Newsletter. We summarize the key topics from our current podcast episode – including the news of the week, the deep-dive topic, listener question, and transactions of the week. If you find our work valuable, feel free to share this newsletter within your network.

News of the Week
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2025: Two Swiss deep-tech founders took home top honors – Luc Burnier (nu glass) and Martin Fengler (Meteomatics) exemplify how Swiss research turns into global innovation.
Amazon x...

In the new episode of Burn Rate – The VC Insider Podcast, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss the latest news from the startup and VC ecosystem:

Exploris Health x Roche – The Basel-based digital health startup is expanding globally with its AI-powered solution for early detection of coronary heart disease, partnering with Roche as a global distributor.

YC Arena: Think Like a Partner – A Berlin student has created an online game that shows how tough YC’s selection process really is – and why clarity often beats vision.

OpenAI’s Ownership Shake-up – Following major deals with Nvidia and AMD,...

Burn Rate – Deal of the Month: Lakera, Auterion & Deskbird

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi take a deep dive into the most exciting developments in Switzerland’s startup and VC ecosystem for September 2025. After a Market Snapshot reviewing all funding rounds, volumes, and exits, they explore three standout transactions in detail:

– the USD 300 million exit of Lakera.AI to Check Point Software Technologies,
– the USD 130 million Series B of Auterion, the ETH spin-off building autonomous drone systems,
– and the USD 23 million Series B of Deskbird, a fast-scaling SaaS company redefining hybrid...

In this episode, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi discuss some of the week’s most exciting news: the planned IPO of TravelPerk (which acquired Swiss startup Yokoy), the employee share buyback at Checkout.com, and the sentencing of Charlie Javice in the U.S.
Our deep dive focuses on continuation funds – with special guest Oliver Holle, founder and managing partner of Speedinvest. We explore why this fund structure is gaining traction in Europe, the opportunities it creates, and the risks involved. We also tackle a listener question on startup CEO compensation and wrap up with a roundup of the week’s most important...

In the new episode of Burn Rate, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most important developments in the startup and VC ecosystem from the past week. Highlights include MoveAgain’s acquisition of MOVU, Teylor’s M&A push in fintech, the launch of the first cohort of the HSG START Accelerator, and Nvidia’s planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI.

For the deep dive, we’re joined by Michael Sauter — entrepreneur, ETH spin-off founder, and author of Product-Market Fit – How to Build a Business That Scales. Together we explore why PMF isn’t a simple switch you flip but a journey —...