The Great Sick Leave Crackdown is Coming
Don't ever take sick days. Life without electricity. Job search vibes in Germany. 16 funded German startups. How do you add value where AI can't? €6000 to purchase an EV. Free potatoes for all.
Personal News & Musings
🫣 Sometimes I’ll overshare and/or rant a bit.
After the last newsletter and 2 weeks of partial power in my flat, our building then lost electricity entirely for more than a week, and for some days, heating too. It meant temporarily moving out (with my cats in tow) and focusing on the basics. Because of that, both The Berlin Life and LinkUsUp were briefly on hold. I’m home now, eternally grateful for functioning utilities, and genuinely happy to be back but planning to build up an emergency kit. 🥹
Also: A friend of mine has organised a charity auction to support Ward 15, a psychiatric hospital in Odesa working to restore dignity and basic care with Be an Angel. I donated a CV review, well below my usual rate. Bid on it.
Follow me: Threads / Instagram / Bluesky / LinkedIn
Sound Off: Your Take on Germany
📊 Results of our weekly polls.
⁉️ Our last poll asked: Which best describes your job search vibe right now?
115 people cast their vote and it seems, there’s no single job search mood right now. 28% of you are deep in application mode, 27% feel overqualified and ignored, and nearly a quarter have stepped back mentally.
Only 21% are fully “trusting the process,” which feels honest and actually tracks - given the current job market in Germany.
🫂 Take part in this week’s poll. I saw a post on Threads this week where someone asked this question. The replies were full of people saying you should always quit your job if a workplace is toxic or harming your well-being.
Honestly, I was taken aback. Quitting without something new lined up feels like a huge privilege - one many people in Germany simply don’t have.
Is it just me, or do you feel that way too?
🧑🏼🤝🧑🏽 Connect with others: Let’s talk about it as a group. Join our chat on Substack.
Community Stuff
🤝 News from our community.
📩 Newsletter Business
ICYMI: The last edition was very job focused, spanning things like salary negotiation in Germany, 4 must-have German startup job search guides to accelerate your job search, reports on who earns the most in Germany, 5 cool German companies to work for, and much more. 👉 Read it.
Most read: Readers overwhelmingly clicked on this huge list of changes happening in Germany this year. Essential reading for anyone living and working here. 👉 Read it.
🔊 Featured Germany Life Guide(s)
Job interviews in Germany come with their own quirks, like discussing money upfront, expecting 2-3 month notice periods, and knowing that "business casual" means very different things at a law firm versus a startup.
Our guide walks you through every stage, from prep to post-interview follow-up, with real talk from someone who's been on both sides of the hiring table.
Bookmark it, you'll need it. 👉 Read it.
Germany Life Hacks
🥨 Things to make life in Deutschland (a little bit) better.
Hot tip: When I lost electricity to half my flat back in December, I called this company for advice. A technician advised me NOT to have someone come in as the holiday rate was too expensive and spent about 30 mins on a video call with me trying to troubleshoot the issue. He didn’t charge me a cent, and as I appreciate their decency and kindness, I highly recommend.
Recommend newsletters: 20% Berlin & Smart Living in Germany.
Weekly deals: One of the worst parts of being without electricity for the week was throwing out all the food in my fridge. I made a claim through GetSafe’s Content Insurance policy and was reimbursed within 3 business days! Get €15 off your first policy purchase using my link.
Companies Hiring Right Now
🇩🇪 5 German companies hiring right now.
1) Distribusion Technologies (Distribution network for bus and rail operators) - Berlin & remote | 20 jobs 💡Engineering manager - demand, lead payments manager, talent acquisition analyst. Hybrid. EN, with other languages like Italian and French valued (role-dependent).
2) dltHub (Open-source Python library for data pipelines) - Berlin | 5 jobs 💡Senior product designer, solutions engineer, senior software engineer - full-stack. Onsite, with occasional home office permitted. Like me and prob you too, they are fans of meeting-free days. EN is cool.
3) Endel (Personalized soundscapes for focus and sleep) - Berlin | 2 jobs 💡Head of people & culture, middle QA specialist. EN is a must, with DE and RU a bonus for the HR role. Hybrid.
4) Maltego (Link analysis software for intelligence gathering) - Munich & remote | 11 jobs 💡Director of customer success, technical solutions engineer, working student -product mgmt. EN &/or DE. Hybrid. Work for the world’s most used cyber investigation platform where 50% of leadership is female.
5) Seven Senders (Cross-border shipping orchestration across Europe) - Berlin, Göppingen & remote | 9 jobs 💡Founding sales rep - DACH, junior sales manager - eComm, go-to-market manager. DE & EN are key. Hybrid and optional work from anywhere. Dog and children friendly office.
👋🏼 Don’t miss out: Updated weekly, Berlin companies hiring right now, plus companies hiring in Hamburg.
Recently Funded Startups
🤑 German startups that recently raised new funding.
📊 Weekly Snapshot
It was a BIG WEEK for German startups: 16 companies spread across 10 cities just secured funding, with a massive €1.4 billion headed into new ventures and scaling teams.
1) BodyFast (Simplified intermittent fasting) - Undisclosed | Munich | No jobs atm
2) Cancilico (Accelerating blood cancer diagnosis) - €2.5 M | Dresden | 3 jobs 🚀 Senior full-stack developer (€56 - €78 K), sales manager, executive assistant. DE &/or EN. Hybrid.
3) Cloover (Assists accessible solar transitions) - €1.04 B | Berlin & remote | 14 jobs 🚀 Finance analyst, customer enablement manager, senior software engineer. EN &/or DE. Onsite. This was a massive funding round, so watch them.
4) Deepslate (Real-time voice translation) - Undisclosed | Templin | No jobs atm
5) Exciva (Treating Alzheimer’s behavioral symptoms) - €51 M | Heidelberg | No jobs atm
6) Fintalo (AI powered investment banking workflows) - $500 K | Munich & remote | 4 jobs 🚀 First (founding engineer), working student - software engineering, other internships. Hybrid. EN seems sufficient.
7) GeneralMind (Automates supply chain operations) - €10.2 M | Berlin | 1 job 🚀 Sales dev rep. EN & DE (min B2). Work model unknown.
8) Hellgrün (Connecting rooftops with solar capital) - Undisclosed | Cologne & Berlin | 2 jobs 🚀 PV sales manager & working student. DE required. Hybrid.
9) Lovinn (Character-first dating platform) - €300 K | Kirchseeon | No jobs atm 🚀 Launched by the only couple to get (and stay) married from Germany’s Love is Blind Season 1, their dating app borrows from the show’s concept. 💖
10) Nenna AI (Secure enterprise AI adoption) - Undisclosed | Berlin | [#] jobs 🚀 No jobs atm
11) NEOintralogistics (Affordable warehouse automation) - €3 M | Berlin & remote | 3 jobs 🚀 Senior technical program manager - robotics systems, senior Azure infra-engineer, founder’s associate. English only.
🚩 There is a really weird line on the job descriptions: “A valid work permit for Germany is required.” Feels like they are excluding those needing visa help, but don’t worry - you can hire an immigration lawyer (prob at your own expense).
12) one.five (Sustainable packaging development) - €14 M | Hamburg | No jobs atm
13) Orbem (MRI intelligence for food, health) - €55.5 M | Munich | 23 jobs 🚀 Senior knowledge manager, staff product manager - data platform, ML engineer. English. Something to love? Salaries are posted with each role - which also includes equity and bonuses. Hybrid.
14) Oviva (Digital weight management coaching) - €200 M | Potsdam | 28 jobs 🚀 Principal growth product manager, telesales team lead, behavioural science lead. EN &/or DE. Hybrid.
15) Sinpex (Audit-proof corporate identity data) - €10 M | Munich | 12 jobs 🚀 Legal counsel intern, event marketing manager, customer success manager. DE/EN. Hybrid.
16) Twentyfour Industries (European security drone systems) - $11.8 M | Munich | 12 jobs 🚀 Founder’s associate, IT & security manager, UAV test pilot. Hybrid. Most positions will require NATO/EU security clearance, salaries include equity, and they will assist with relocation.
🧐 Key Insights
What this week’s funding rounds tell us:
Cloover's mega-round for solar financing means stable positions at a billion-euro-backed climate infrastructure company, with more hiring likely to come.
Orbem & Twentyfour Industries are posting salary data upfront - a rarity in Germany’s typically secretive compensation culture.
Dresden & Heidelberg offer biotech opportunities outside Berlin/Munich, with a much lower cost of living than the bigger cities.
🕵️♀️ See our bonus career guides: See all funded German startups hiring in 2026, all funded startups hiring in 2025, & the best funded startups in 2025.
Job Search/ Work Life Tips
🙌 Weekly career tips to keep you sane in Germany.
Sometimes, I dole out career advice and other times, I leave it to the experts:
The 2026 interview question: How do you add value that AI alone can't?
Engineering, admin, and sales roles are leading the remote work boom in 2026.
Reinvention at 50 or reinvention in a new country - both take courage. One woman shows how age isn’t a limitation.
News in Germany
🗞️ The inside scoop on what’s happening in Germany.
ℹ️ General
Kanaan, the ever inspiring Israeli-Palestinian restaurant in Berlin, is set to close soon but will live on in a new TV series. Related - Wilde Renate isn’t closing.
Young people in Germany are waiting longer to have sex. Maybe they read this … the STD City Index Germany 2026.
Berlin has such a surplus of potatoes that they are literally giving away 4 M kilos of spuds.
Upgrade your OS, damn it. The infamous German resistance to change means that every second PC is still on Windows 10.
💉 Blood supplies are low in Germany, so maybe think about donating.
📈 Politics & Economy
Two totally out-of-touch leftist campaigns were recently launched to make Berlin car-free and ad-free. Because things like housing scarcity, right-wing extremism, and affordability are not more important and urgent issues. 😠
Case in point: A co-living space in Neukölln is renting out 8 square meters for €600 a month, and while it’s being challenged, wtf? Rents are rising 2x faster than inflation. Also, 1 in 9 Germans started the year with an overdrawn bank account.
There are positive developments too. The government is offering €6,000 in credits to purchase an EV. The SPD wants to stabilise prices on basic food items.
Tesla sales have taken a nosedive in Europe, and it unfortunately impacted employees, with 1,700 people having lost their jobs.
👩⚕️ Immigration & Labour Developments
Look for work here: the 10 most promising German startups in 2026.
Worried about your job? Here’s where most jobs are expected to be cut in Germany this year. It’s also taking longer for young professionals to find work.
A new study from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation confirms the importance of learning German, not just for integration purposes but for higher pay.
A DeZIM confirms that non-Germans experience high levels of discrimination at the country’s job centers. Hard same for the rental market. No wonder that every third international worker is thinking about leaving Germany.
The chancellor thinks the German 3-week sick leave average is a bunch of “malarkey” (as Sheldon from Big Bang Theory might say).
Ofc, they want to make it harder to call in sick by eliminating sick notes issued over the phone. Who doesn’t want to drag themselves into a doctor’s office with other sick people and wait for hours when they’re already ill?
In another nightmare development, a CDU dude in Hesse is calling for longer work weeks and for people to work more and outperform others to receive more state-provided perks.
💃🏻 Fun, Interesting, Thoughtful, and/or Useful
🐑 This news is a few weeks old, but way too cute not to mention. A flock of sheep overtook a German supermarket.
The long-established German practice of airing out the house has taken on a demonic new name that should be banned from existence … “house burping”.
How to enjoy winter in Berlin and greater Germany, plus the full lineup for Berlinale.
Made with care and caffeine in Berlin. Beer is most welcome. 🍺