The Munich Startup Festival is entering its fourth round: On July 22, 2026, Backstage Munich will once again transform into the meeting place of Munich’s startup scene. Munich Startup, the official startup portal for Munich and the region, brings together founders, investors, academia, politics and talent. Visitors can expect high-caliber speakers, discussions on the most important topics of the future, the Munich Startup Award endowed with €10,000, and numerous networking opportunities – all embedded in a festival with music, walking acts, food and drinks.
“This festival will be an absolute highlight! This year we’ve put together panels that really pack a punch. We have some unicorn founders and incredibly inspiring minds from the scene who are sharing their experiences completely unfiltered. If you want to feel the vibe of our ecosystem and meet the right people, this is the place for you,”
says Arno Eggers, head of Munich Startup.
From unicorns to spacetech: future topics on the Main Stage
Starting at 10:30 a.m., visitors can look forward to a program on the Main Stage featuring successful founders, leading experts and exciting discussions about innovation and entrepreneurship.
Highlights include success stories from Dean&David founder David Baumgartner and Egym co-founder Florian Sauter, as well as an interview with TV expert, moderator and former footballer Patrick Owomoyela.
In the panel “Future made in Europe: innovation strength from Munich,” Celonis co-founder and co-CEO Bastian Nominacher, Irene Klemm (co-founder and co-CEO of Edurino), Katja Ruhnke (CEO and co-founder of CK Venture Capital GmbH) and Magdalena Oehl from the Startup Association will discuss the future of Munich as an innovation hub.
Further program highlights focus on internationalization, deeptech and technologies of the future. In the panel “Go Global or Go Home?” speakers including Flix co-founder Daniel Krauss, Frizzi Engler-Hamm (CEO of Munich Innovation Ecosystem), and Klaus Sailer (managing director of Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship) will discuss international growth strategies for startups.
Defencetech, biotech and spacetech will also be at the center of focus – industries that are currently gaining particular importance. In the space panel “Who owns space? Markets, power and Munich’s role in the new space race,” speakers including Nadine Chochoiek and Deltavision co-founder and CEO Alex Plebuch will discuss.
Also live on stage: the finale of the Munich Startup Award. The city’s most promising startups will present their companies to the jury and audience. The winning team will receive prize money of €10,000.
Networking, workshops and festival atmosphere
Beyond the Main Stage, the festival offers numerous opportunities for exchange. At speed networking, founders meet investors and potential business partners. In the Impact Area, organized by munich business together with Social Entrepreneurship Akademie, the Social Startup Hub Bayern and Generation D, the focus is on social innovation and impact entrepreneurship.
Additionally, workshops provide practical knowledge – from intellectual property for startups to successful founding roadmaps.
In addition to the expert content, the Munich Startup Festival once again focuses on an extraordinary festival experience. Visitors can expect walking acts, a 360-degree photobooth, tattoo and airbrush stations, the DJ and saxophone duo Saxoclap, a spectacular fire show, and the aftershow party with DJ Zoom.Like.
All detailed information about the program and the last tickets are available on the festival website.
