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Loud Federal Statistical Office There are approximately 2.56 million small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany—equivalent to 99.4 percent of all companies in the country. They employ 55.1 percent of the country's workforce and account for approximately 42 percent of the country's gross value added. Furthermore, they often say they have a problem with digitalization. According to a recent survey by Finanzchef24, for example, 34 percent of medium-sized companies only give themselves a "satisfactory" rating when it comes to digitalization.
But how can this digitalization problem be measured concretely, beyond the respondents’ gut feeling? Institute for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (IfM) in Bonn can help with this. In 2021, 89 percent of SMEs had their own website, and 55 percent used e-commerce solutions at least partially for purchasing. However, only around 38 percent use cloud services, and only 17 percent use big data-based solutions. This shows that SMEs are indeed working digitally—just not with the most modern solutions. Therefore, it's often a matter of replacing old processes that are still based on Excel or email.
The Munich-based startup offers a holistic solution approach Logabit with its Pipeforce solution. The two founders, Stephan Niedermeier and Simon Ochs, developed the so-called Pipe technology for this purpose: With it, simple commands can be combined into entire command chains, even with minimal programming knowledge. This is intended to digitize and automate processes within companies. We explain what Pipeforce will be able to do in the future starting at minute 4:50.
Declaring war on the Excel spreadsheet
Many startups target their solutions at processes that are still managed using Excel spreadsheets in SMEs. Shopvibes For example, its solution addresses sales processes in small and medium-sized companies. These companies still frequently use spreadsheet programs to store product data. The startup founded by Daniel Wimmer and Philipp Schlieker aims to change this with its all-in-one product information management system. We explain exactly how, starting at minute 7:15.
And also Tidely (from minute 10:00) Excel has declared war, but in the area of corporate financial planning. The solution's additional features, including an AI-based autoforecast, are particularly appealing to SMEs. Founders Niclas Storz, Jörg Haller, and Archibald Sheran have already scored points with investors. In the year of its founding, Tidely raised €1.2 million from various angel investors.
Sustainability management made easy
Cubemos (from minute 11:45) Finally, Cubemos aims to automate audits, i.e., investigation procedures that monitor and document compliance with regulations, with its solution. This should not only relieve SMEs of the burden of providing evidence in areas such as occupational health and safety, but also make their sustainability management easier. Business angels from the CDTM network believe in Cubemos – and have already invested €1.5 million in the three founders, Patrick Bilic, Andreas Franz, and Christopher Scheubel.
A look at Btov Partners
With a core team of 25 employees, over 250 investors in the network and two well-equipped investment funds, Btov Partners has been making a name for itself since 2000. We introduce the VC and its investments in more detail starting at minute 14:15.
