Munich Startup
Munich Startup Festival 2026: The Highlights in Pictures

Munich Startup Festival 2026: The Highlights in Pictures

Saskia Doll

Saskia Doll

1,300 visitors, exciting discussions, intensive networking and plenty of festival vibes: Our photo gallery shows the best moments of the Munich Startup Festival 2026 – from the first panel to the award ceremony.

July 29, 2026

3 min. read time

#Munich Startup Award#Munich Startup Festival
Even during the opening, the rows in front of the Main Stage filled up. Around 1,300 visitors came to Backstage for the Munich Startup Festival 2026 to get inspired, make new contacts, and discuss the future of the startup ecosystem together. (Photo: Munich Startup)
How can Europe remain innovative and competitive? Investor Katja Ruhnke, Celonis co-founder Bastian Nominacher, Magdalena Oehl from the Startup Association, and Edurino co-founder Irene Klemm discussed this on the most well-attended panel of the day. The discussion centered on reducing red tape, capital availability, and the role of the state as an anchor customer for innovative companies. (Photo: Munich Startup)
Making new contacts, initiating collaborations, or meeting investors: The matchmaking area was a popular meeting spot throughout the day. True to the festival motto ‘No bubble, just real contacts’, numerous new connections within the Munich startup ecosystem were made here. (Photo: Munich Startup)
What opportunities arise at the intersection of civil and defense-related technologies? The panel ‘Innovation between Civil & Defence’ was one of the crowd-pullers at the festival and, alongside technological developments, discussed ethical questions surrounding the use of artificial intelligence. (Photo: Munich Startup)
How does excellent research turn into a successful company? LMU Vice President Philipp Baaske, Epicure co-founder Yasmin Gärtner, and Christina Port, CEO of 2NA Fish, provided insights into the daily lives of biotech founders and showed why Munich, with its strong scientific landscape, offers ideal conditions for spin-offs. (Photo: Munich Startup)
Between sessions, discussions off-stage were at least as intense as those on stage. The Munich Startup Festival offered numerous opportunities to connect founders, investors, companies, and talent. (Photo: Munich Startup)
More than 30 partners presented themselves at the festival grounds and were available to visitors for discussions, questions, and new collaborations. The exhibition highlighted the diverse range of support services available to startups in the Munich ecosystem. (Photo: Munich Startup)
There was exciting content not only on the Main Stage. In the workshops, founders received practical tips – from intellectual property and internationalization to the most important steps on the path to founding a company. (Photo: Munich Startup)
The Munich Startup Festival isn’t just about its panels. The 360° photo booth, tattoo and airbrush stations, and musical supporting program provided a relaxed festival atmosphere and plenty of shared souvenir photos all day long. You can find even more insights in our aftermovie. (Photo: Munich Startup)
8pm Social won the Munich Startup Award 2026. The startup is developing a social network that focuses on personal relationships and aims to encourage a more conscious use of social media with a feed that is updated only once a day. (Photo: Munich Startup)
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