How a 25-year-old German raised 27 million in Silicon Valley – and his most important tips for founders
Florian Juengermann emigrated to the USA in 2021 at the age of 21 – directly to the epicenter of the tech world: San Francisco.
What began as a master's degree in computer science at the renowned Harvard University quickly developed into an entry ticket to the Silicon Valley startup scene.
While still a student, he and fellow student Alfred Wahlforss tinkered with his first startup: the app Be Fake. The app allowed users to insert photos of their faces into fantasy worlds.
The response was surprising: “Over Thanksgiving, we suddenly recorded more than 20,000 downloads,” says Juengermann.
The result was more of a coding experiment for both of them. Nevertheless, the young founders achieved their first success: After a seed round of three million US dollars, the company was sold to Alias Technologies. The app is no longer available in the app store. What remained was a valuable learning experience – and the initial spark for their next startup.
Read also
Be Fake evolved into the idea for their second startup: Listen Labs. AI-powered avatars designed to support large corporations in market research. Today, companies like Microsoft and Canva are among the founders' customers.
At the end of April 2025, the founders secured $27 million in a Series A round, attracting the renowned investor Sequoia .
Sequoia is known for its early investments in companies such as Nvidia, Apple and Bytedance – and for only focusing on large markets.
businessinsider
