E74 [AI-Translated] BoldBrain | Black Forest Labs | STA | Startup Radar | RLN | Gravis | Cerrion | Saporo | Xcert

In this episode of Burn Rate – The VC Insider Podcast, Max Meister and Guy Giuffredi break down the most important developments in the Swiss and European startup ecosystem. We start with the Boldbrain Startup Challenge 2025, where Healthtech, Biotech and AI companies dominated the top spots. We then dive into Black Forest Labs’ $300M Series B — the one-year-old German AI startup whose Flux models are now considered among the world’s leading image-generation systems. We also analyse the winners of the Swiss Technology Award 2025, highlighting major trends in nanotechnology, precision medicine and industrial innovation.

Our deep dive focuses on new data from Startupticker and the Swiss Startup Radar: Switzerland now counts 350 scale-ups and 18 unicorns, driven largely by Deeptech, industry-focused software, robotics, biotech and AI. We discuss what this means for founders, investors and the future competitiveness of the ecosystem.

In the listener question, we explore Revenue Linked Notes — a financing instrument gaining traction as capital becomes more selective and investors seek earlier cashflows. We explain how RLNs work, why they are trending, and where the risks lie.

Finally, we wrap up with the deals of the week, including fresh rounds from Gravis Robotics, Cerrion AI, Saporo, Xcert AI, K2 Photonics, Swisspod and Enshift.