News & Podcast

Only 20 percent of startup founders in Germany in 2025 were women – now digital association Bitkom is calling for statutory maternity protection for the self-employed, estimating the annual costs of comprehensive coverage at 149 to 229 million euros.

Dais is a female health brand founded in 2022 by Eva Bodenmüller, Grace Forsyth, and Jonas Schoebel. Having started with period underwear, it has since built an entire category the founders call Cyclecare, encompassing heat pads, cycle creams, and bras.

After 14 years at Lufthansa, Doris Diebold left corporate life to start an impact business. With Hey Circle, she aims to replace disposable boxes with reusable ones. In this interview, she talks about the circular economy, economic viability, and the courage to not have every answer.

From AI research at Stanford to an energy startup: Leonie Wagner oversees the tech side at Furo. The physicist and robotics expert talks with us about intelligent battery storage, customers as a source of ideas, and why she returned to Munich for the energy transition.

17 institutions from Munich’s innovation ecosystem are joining forces to form the Women Entrepreneurs Alliance (WE Alliance). The new initiative will be presented next week at Bits & Pretzels.

From aerospace research and consulting to multiple startups and the energy sector: Lena Sophia Voß brings a diverse tech and business background to Furo. Together with Leonie Wagner and Simon Wittner at Furo, she is developing an operating system for commercial and industrial battery storage. In this interview, Voß explains why energy is becoming a critical location factor, what helped her overcome her fear of founding a company, and why Munich still has catching up to do when it comes to knowledge sharing between scaleup operators.

Female founders are still significantly underrepresented in the startup ecosystem. Why is that? And what needs to change? Pia Lexa from Media Lab Bayern and Susanne Traugott from the Women Startup initiative at UnternehmerTUM speak with Munich Startup about this.

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.

Local energy concepts for commercial properties: Valerie Laubsch co-founded the startup Moverloop in 2024 with Jonas Nöhl. The company combines solar power, battery storage, and grid electricity into an economical energy supply that benefits both property owners and businesses. In the interview, the former Microsoft employee discusses why you shouldn’t wait for the perfect moment to found a company, why a functioning business model is more important than fast fundraising, and why the energy sector offers enormous potential.

The Women Startup Award 2026 is once again looking for early-stage tech founders from Bavaria. Applications are open until June 15. Prize money, coaching, and strong networks await.

In total, 60 women-led deeptech startups from Europe are being sought by the EU-funded Scale’her program for a nine-month accelerator and mentoring program. The application deadline is May 31, 2026.

EIT Food launches EWA Advance, a program for female founders of agrifood startups in the growth phase. Munich startups can also apply and receive support with scaling, funding, and partnerships.