The Munich Startup Award will be presented on July 16, 2025 at the 3. Munich Startup Festival at Backstage München. Participating startups will first be selected in a preliminary round and finalists nominated. The selected startups will then have the opportunity to pitch in the grand finale on the main stage in front of a distinguished jury and the audience. The jury then selects the winning team of the Munich Startup Award 2025. The winner receives 10,000 euros in prize money and can call themselves “Munich Startup of the Year.”
Munich Startup Award: Apply now!
To apply, participating companies must not be older than five years as of the cut-off date of July 16, 2025. The business models, products or services developed by the startup must pursue an innovative and scalable approach. In addition, a functioning or demonstrable prototype of the product or service must already exist. All startups wishing to apply must be listed in our startup directory (register here). Applications are possible until June 13, 2025.
In the selection for the final, the degree of innovation, business idea, feasibility, market potential, competitive advantage, team, scalability, customer retention and social impact are evaluated.
With a win at the Munich Startup Award 2025, a young company will follow in the footsteps of former winners 2NA Fish, Cleverciti, Catchys, Inveox, Hawa Dawa, Pylot, Pixel Robotics and Deepdrive. In previous years, the award was presented as part of the Munich Startup Conference Bits & Pretzels. Since 2023, the award has been presented at the Munich Startup Festival.
Applications for the Munich Startup Award are possible on the festival’s website.
