News & Podcast

AI Nation opens the application phase for the Grant and Accelerator programs. AI startups receive funding, mentoring, and network access. Applications are possible until August 9.

The Landeshauptstadt München has announced the winners of its 2026 innovation competition. The startups Kibaudi, Newsense Engineering and Datfid, as well as the Treequest team from Hochschule München, won this year’s Munich Innovation Prize and each receive 10,000 euros in prize money. Additionally, they are now developing their solutions further with the city administration in a co-creation phase.

From Munich quantum research to personalized medicine: Qtas, a startup founded in 2025 by Robin Allert, Karl Briegel, and Nick von Grafenstein, develops technology that makes extremely rare tumor cells in blood samples visible and analyzable. In the interview, CEO Robin Allert explains how personal experiences and quantum sensing formed the foundation for the company.

No bubble, just real contacts – under this motto, the Munich Startup Festival 2026 brought together around 1,300 guests on July 22 at Backstage Munich. Founders, investors, academia, corporations and politicians discussed Europe’s innovative strength, the future of entrepreneurship and key technologies such as defence tech, biotech and space tech. Inspiring keynotes, high-caliber panel discussions, workshops, speed networking and numerous encounters made the festival a day full of ideas, exchange and new connections.

Around 1,300 visitors, over 30 speakers, more than 30 partners and countless new contacts: The Munich Startup Festival brought the Munich startup community together for the fourth time at Backstage. Between high-caliber panels, inspiring founder stories and festival atmosphere, it became clear: Munich wants to further expand its role as Europe’s leading innovation hub.

E-mobility startup Aampere receives €4.2 million in fresh capital. The funding is intended to accelerate the expansion of the platform for used electric cars in Europe.

8pm Social is the best Munich startup 2026: At the Munich Startup Festival, 8pm Social won the Munich Startup Award, endowed with 10,000 euros. In the final, Pulsetrain, which develops intelligent battery management systems for electric vehicles, and Jessy Works, with an AI solution for tax consulting firms, also competed.

Declining reach, shrinking advertising revenues, and AI fundamentally changing internet search. Many publishers are under pressure. Munich startup Articly wants to tackle this precisely: Using AI, the team transforms articles into audio briefings and podcasts within minutes. In the videocast Pitch & People, co-founder Lukas Paetzmann explains why audio could be a major opportunity for journalism.

Declining reach, shrinking advertising revenues, and AI fundamentally changing internet search. Many publishers are under pressure. Munich-based startup Articly wants to address this precisely: using AI, the team transforms articles into audio briefings and podcasts within minutes. In the videocast Pitch & People, co-founder Lukas Paetzmann explains why audio could be a major opportunity for journalism.

On July 22, 2026, unicorn founders, investors, politicians and talent will meet at the Backstage. The festival offers high-caliber panels, the Munich Startup Award and festival flair for Munich’s innovation scene.

With a pre-seed and seed financing totaling 12 million euros, the Munich-based startup Skalar aims to fundamentally reshape the tax industry with an AI-first law firm and a custom-developed technology stack.

Hanh Nguyen wants to rethink materials research: Together with Tiago Cerqueira and Milan Allan, the PhD-holding molecular biologist and biochemist founded the deeptech company Alqem in 2026. Using artificial intelligence, the company develops new high-performance materials – initially permanent magnets without rare earths – to reduce critical raw material dependencies. In our conversation, Nguyen discusses her path from the energy and chemical industries into entrepreneurship, the opportunities AI offers for scientific breakthroughs, and why hiring the right employees is more important than many strategic decisions.