{
  "id": 5228511,
  "title": "Start-up: The Hidden Champion of the start-up world from Hamburg",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/start-up-der-hidden-champion-der-start-up-welt-aus-hamburg",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-03T02:02:54.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/start-ups/start-up-der-hidden-champion-der-start-up-welt-aus-hamburg/100249374.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Jonas Thiemann co-founded Applike with Carlo Szelinsky at the age of 23. Eleven years later, the company has achieved $1 billion in revenue, primarily from the US market. Applike markets nearly 2000 games, including Toon Blast, Royal Match, and Empires & Puzzles, and has facilitated over 1 billion app downloads, making it a market leader. The company generates revenue when users click and install games, and its clients, such as Payback, Sainsbury’s, McDonald’s, and Line, use the games to promote customer loyalty.",
  "summary": "500 employees, one billion dollars in sales – and nobody knows the company. This is what global games app marketer Applike, which belongs to Bertelsmann, wants to change now.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}