SXSW combines a technology conference and cultural festival in one, attracting numerous guests year after year. Last year, around 280,000 participants attended 15 different tracks across 9 summits at six locations in Austin. The program offered technology topics as well as film premieres and comedy acts.
The organizers of SXSW are also promising a lot for this year. For example, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert will deliver a keynote. The company made headlines last year when its founder Yvon Chouinard transferred it to two foundations, dedicating it to climate protection. Gellert, who has been CEO of Patagonia since 2020, will certainly have a lot to say about the new form of business his company has proclaimed. And in another keynote, four scientists involved in the James Webb Telescope will provide an overview of the latest scientific discoveries of the telescope and discuss how this observatory will continue to explore the uncharted areas of our cosmos.
Part of the hustle and bustle of SXSW this year will also be a delegation from the Landeshauptstadt München. Together with representatives from city administration, business, and culture and creative scene, five startups will also visit the event in Austin.
Clemens Baumgärtner, Head of Labor and Economics for the Landeshauptstadt München, will lead the Munich delegation. He is pleased about the startups’ participation:
“The high number of applications shows that there is great interest among Munich startups in participating in SXSW. The selection was not easy, but I believe that with the six winners we can present the broad spectrum of the Munich startup scene well on an international stage.”
StellDirVor
The startup StellDirVor works at the intersection of medtech and edtech. It uses immersive technologies (VR, AR, XR) to improve training and continuing education in healthcare and to relieve healthcare professionals in their daily work. Theda Ockenga, CEO of StellDirVor, expects new insights from SXSW:
“SXSW is a great opportunity for us to deepen and expand our international partnerships. Especially in the field of immersive technologies, we can certainly take many exciting impulses and trends with us. Our field of activity ‘healthcare’ is currently experiencing a lot of momentum – especially abroad; we are happy to be inspired here by best practices for healthy digitalization.”
Liangdao
The mobility startup Liangdao develops multisensor measurement technology for vehicles and traffic infrastructure. To do this, the company relies on LiDAR sensors that supply the AI-based software with data. In this way, Liangdao wants to enable real-time environmental detection and precise object recognition that allows road users to make sustainable decisions and better assess complex conditions.
Munich has already been impressed by the startup: In 2021, Liangdao won the Munich Innovation Prize with an approach to “improve data on stationary and flowing traffic”. CEO and Co-Founder Yang Ji is confident that he can also convince in the USA:
“We want to bring our smart city innovation with 3D real-time traffic monitoring system to the USA as a Munich startup. For more safety on the road.”
Brainamics
Brainamics uses EEG and machine learning to map the gaming experience of gamers – at every second and at every virtual location in gameplay. This way, game developers should be able to objectively find out in which passages of their game the concentration of test players wanes or boredom sets in. In this way, the Munich startup wants to help develop more successful games. Originally launched under the name Brainsight, the startup has already won the TUM IdeAward. Brainamics has also completed a pre-seed round with the Initiative for Industrial Innovators as an investor.
Farminsect
Farminsect enables farmers to produce animal feed from insect larvae. To do this, the startup has developed automated fattening facilities that farmers can operate on their farms. They raise the young larvae continuously supplied by the startup. The locally produced insect larvae are intended to completely replace soy and fish meal as animal feed. This should increase resource efficiency and value creation for farmers and reduce CO2 emissions. Farminsect can already count on EU support: The startup receives a total of 7.5 million euros in funding from European funds via the EIC Accelerator.
Reverion
Reverion has developed a technology that should achieve 80 percent efficiency in electricity generation from biogas – equivalent to doubling compared to conventional methods. To do this, the startup relies on fuel cells in a novel system design that allows them to be used reversibly as well. This means that Reverion systems can reverse electricity production to electricity consumption when needed and thus use excess power from wind and sun for an electrolysis process. In doing so, Reverion produces either green hydrogen or renewable natural gas substitute. The latter can then be fed into the existing natural gas network.
Kontextlab
The Munich startup Kontextlab has developed a solution to help understand the context of knowledge. With their web-based publishing software, complex topics can be created and published in digital multilayer mind maps. In these maps, readers can playfully and visually get an overview of a topic, discover different perspectives, and dive into detail. In this way, the “Culture and Creative Pilot 2019” wants to help communicate large subject complexes comprehensively while still being clear and understandable.
