The third Zebra Investment Night set several records. One of these was the number of startups that applied – more than 80. Eight of them took to the stage at the Millerntor Stadium to pitch their ideas, and four secured investment commitments totalling 415,000 euros, roughly twice as much as at the second event in November 2025. The most successful was a company from Bremen, but Hamburg was also strongly represented.
News
August 31, 2026
Funding commitments totalling over 400,000 euros at Zebra Investment Night
Group picture of the third Zebra Investment Night © Markus Hertrich
The Zebra Investment Night showed that impact has many facets
The pitch organised by the Impact Hub Hamburg is aimed at so-called 'zebras' – startups that wish to combine commercial success with impact. This term can be interpreted in a variety of ways, as illustrated by the business models of the participating startups. dauri highlights how companies can reduce their CO2 emissions in a profitable way; exaere has developed a process for recycling rare earths and other valuable raw materials; Luna Rail is building sleeping compartments designed to make travelling on night trains a more attractive and cheaper alternative to flying; Panadea Diagnostics offers testings for novel, often tropical diseases that pose a pandemic risk.
Niklas Koch, founder of Fermeta © Markus Hertrich
Solutions for more environmentally friendly agriculture
These startups did not receive a funding commitment at the Zebra Investment Night, but the opportunity for follow-up discussions remains open to them. In the case of four startups, the investors present, including the successful founders Tarek Müller (ABOUT YOU) and Philipp Schröder (1KOMMA5°), announced investments in the form of convertible loans in the range of 25 to 50 thousand euros, subject, as always, to a favourable due diligence outcome. 25,000 euros will therefore be received by Fermeta from Hamburg for an additive for cattle feed that reduces the animals’ methane emissions. Also Zymbiox offers a solution for the agricultural sector in the form of microorganisms that remove microplastics from the soil. 50,000 euros have been notified for this purpose, with further investment likely to follow. The startup, which originated in Berlin, has not yet been officially founded; Hamburg is planned as its future base.
Henry Stehle, CEO of Aortex © Markus Hertrich
Dr Wei Wu and Dr Stefan Gasow, founders of Heatrix © Markus Hertrich
Record sums for Aortex and Heatrix
That’s where Aortex has long been based and is already well established within the startup ecosystem. Most recently, the medtech company won a prize at the Hamburg Innovation Awards. At the Zebra Investment Night, it raised 130,000 euros for a technology that enables the production of innovative stent grafts for a gentler and more successful treatment of aneurysms. Finally, a record was set by Heatrix from Bremen. The startup has developed an air heater, described as an ‘oversized hairdryer’, which is powered by renewable electricity and can therefore eliminate the need for fossil fuels in areas of industrial production where high temperatures are required. This was worth a total of 210,000 euros to the investors.
