Alstin Capital

Stryze Group Aims for Unicorn by Buying Amazon Sellers

The Berlin-based The Stryze Group, led by founders Mark Hartmann and Sebastian Funke, is building a large direct-to-consumer business by acquiring Amazon sellers and integrating them into a shared-services operating model. The founders received a large capital injection early in 2021 and the company has raised roughly €100 million since its late-2020 founding; investors named include Upper90 and Alstin Capital (Carsten Maschmeyer). Stryze says it completed or targeted about 50 acquisitions in the year and intends to integrate acquired brands from day one rather than operate like a private-equity holding. The founders state unicorn status is an explicit goal and expect another larger funding round. The same OMR podcast episode also features Silent Yachts founders Heike and Michael Köhler discussing their electric, solar-powered luxury yachts business (founded 2009, >€100M annual revenue).

linkbird rebrands to contentbird after €900k funding

Contentbird, formerly the linkbird platform, closed a new funding round of €900,000 and changed its name to contentbird. Existing investors reinvested alongside new backers including ALSTIN and Martin Sinner, with High Tech Gründerfonds among the returning supporters. This third financing round brings total external capital to over €2.3 million. The funding is earmarked to accelerate European expansion. Founded in 2011 as linkbird by Nicolai Kuban and Bastian Bickelhaupt, the SaaS evolved from an SEO tool into a content marketing platform spanning research, planning, creation, publication, and analysis. Notable customers include Zalando, Sixt, and Momondo. The team operates from Berlin with activities in Asia, reflecting the brand’s shift from linkbuilding to a broader content marketing proposition.