# DACH Startup News — May 2026: Helsing's $18B, SAP's AI Bet & the Orbit Question

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/startuprad-io-europe-s-voice-on-startups-vc-innovation-growth-6611780/dach-startup-news-may-2026-helsing-039-s-18b-sap-039-s-ai-bet-amp-the-orbit-question
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/startuprad-io-europe-s-voice-on-startups-vc-innovation-growth-6611780/dach-startup-news-may-2026-helsing-039-s-18b-sap-039-s-ai-bet-amp-the-orbit-question.md
Podcast: [Startuprad.io™ – Europe’s Voice on Startups, VC, Innovation & Growth](https://stenobird.com/podcast/startuprad-io-europe-s-voice-on-startups-vc-innovation-growth-6611780)
Published: 2026-05-29T03:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-may-2026-helsing-sap-and-the-orbit-question
Audio file: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/https://at.pnrcdn.com/c/thjidd/i/1655423/e/4675b48c-adaf-4f9a-932d-b8b73ea70ebd/f/May_2026_news.mp3?v=1785207610&awCollectionId=at-qii23&awEpisodeId=at-qii23-8cbc52883726395c864b9165d9960a22f990470a&episodeUuid=4675b48c-adaf-4f9a-932d-b8b73ea70ebd&origin=feed
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Duration seconds: 1412

## Resource

Germany raised 3.67 billion dollars across 166 equity rounds through May 2026, up 11.61 per cent year-over-year. The headline signals: Helsing is raising 1.2 billion dollars at an eighteen-billion-dollar valuation, led by Dragoneer and Lightspeed, making it Germany's most valuable startup; SAP is acquiring Prior Labs of Freiburg with a commitment of more than one billion euros to build a frontier AI lab for structured data; Isar Aerospace's second orbital launch attempt has a window of May 18 to 24 from Andoya Spaceport; Bitpanda's Frankfurt IPO is approaching its H1 deadline with MiCA compliance due June 30; SPREAD AI raised 30 million dollars with In-Q-Tel on the cap table; and ATMOS Space Cargo secured 25.7 million euros to build Europe's first orbital return infrastructure. Germany recorded 142 acquisitions through May, up from 108 through April. Enjoy the show? - Blog recap: https://www.startuprad.io/post/startup-news-germany-austria-switzerland-for-may-2026-helsing-sap-and-the-orbit-question - Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TDQCdXIBBQ0 🎧 The Audio Podcast Subscribe here: https://linktr.ee/startupradio 🚪 Connect with Us - Partner with us: partnerships@startuprad.io - Subscribe: https://linktr.ee/startupradio - Feedback: https://forms.gle/SrcGUpycu26fvMFE9 - Follow Joe on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/comm/mynetwork/discovery-see-all?usecase=PEOPLE_FOLLOWS&followMember=joernmenninger © Startuprad.io

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