News & Podcast

Next week, I’m swapping my usual home for an apartment in the Werksviertel, right by Munich’s Ostbahnhof. For five days, I will be part of the coliving community at Werk1. My goal: to look behind the scenes of a place where Munich’s startup future is being shaped.

Flix co-founder Daniel Krauss sees a strong home market, appropriate regulation, and local leadership teams as crucial foundations for international expansion. At the Munich Startup Festival, he discussed with Matthias Notz, Klaus Sailer, and Benjamin Domnik when startups should scale globally – and when a conscious focus on individual markets makes more sense.

More than 500 guests from the Munich startup scene gathered at the summer party of the Munich Technology Center (MTZ). Together with Baystartup, the MTZ invited guests to mark the end of the season – with networking, startup pitches, and the awarding of the winner of the Bavarian semi-final of the Female Founders Cup.

New look, fresh capital, and innovative solutions: This week we present the new look of Munich Startup, which is more than just a new design. What else has happened in the ecosystem? While 5U AI and Celsio report successful financing rounds, Treesense makes the water requirements of urban trees measurable, and Knowmanity preserves valuable experiential knowledge in companies. In addition, Helsing takes the top spot in the German unicorn ranking. Find these and other topics in our weekly review. Enjoy!

Landeshauptstadt München has launched the application phase for the Phönix Award 2026. Every two years, the city presents the award to honor successful entrepreneurs with a migration background who have been active in the market for at least three years and contribute to Munich as a business location through economic success and social commitment.

The German Startup Monitor is considered Germany’s largest startup study and serves as a central barometer of the startup scene. The results regularly feed into political debates, media coverage, and economic analyses. Accordingly, the Startup Association is calling on startups from all sectors and regions to take part in the current survey.

On November 26, 2026, the fourth City Demo Day will take place at Munich Urban Colab. Startups with digital solutions for the circular economy can apply now for a pitch or an exhibition booth and present their technologies to representatives from city administration, science, and industry. Munich Startup will also be part of the event.

AI enables young founders to develop products within a few weeks and market them internationally – at the same time, around 186,000 family businesses in Germany are up for handover between 2026 and 2030. At the Munich Startup Festival 2026, experts discussed why speed alone is not enough and what opportunities business succession offers for the next generation.

You’ve surely noticed our new look here at Munich Startup. However, the relaunch is more than just a new design: With Munich Startup 2.0, the platform is evolving from a classic news portal into a personalized entry point for the Munich startup ecosystem. The new platform was presented as part of the Munich Startup Festival.

With Helsing, a defence tech company tops the list of Germany’s most valuable startups for the first time. The Munich-based company achieves a valuation of 16.6 billion euros in the Hurun Germany Unicorn Index 2026 – just five years after its founding. In total, Germany now counts 38 unicorns with a combined company valuation of 118.9 billion euros.

Which topics moved the startup scene this week? Celonis co-founder Bastian Nominacher explains why Europe lags behind in implementation despite top-tier research and strong talent. We also introduce Munich startup Blitzbee and its functional wellness drinks for women, speak with Bears with Benefits co-founder Marlena Hien about profitability, growth, and exit, as well as with Dean&David founder David Baumgartner about his entrepreneurial journey. In addition, we report on space startup DeltaVision’s 10 million euro financing round and show how startups can reach the best digital talent with recruiting tips from Dygitized founder and Munich Startup Expert Bastian Deurer. Click through last week’s highlights in our Munich Startup Recap. Enjoy!

The Munich Business Plan Competition 2026 goes to Qooda. The startup is developing quantum-based navigation without GPS. Linq Photonics and Micro Factory also made it to the podium.