News & Podcast

Scout checks are showing up on more and more German cap tables, mostly under a name that seems cryptic at first glance. Munich Startup Expert, investor, and scout Robert Richarz explains how these programs are structured, who earns what, and what founders should ask before taking the money.

As a young person, meeting executives from larger companies and discussing sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals with them is almost impossible. The Young Forum makes this possible by providing access to exclusive events. The goal is to foster intergenerational exchange in order to promote sustainability.

From the right legal form to contracts, data protection, financing, and insolvency: Attorney and Munich Startup Expert Diana B. Haidari shows which legal fundamentals founders should keep in mind right from the start.

Our Munich Startup Expert Daniel Höpfner, founder of Zeitmaker, explains how tech-driven startups can leverage the research allowance for their development – even retroactively. Using LegalHero and Scaneca as examples, he shows how this can result in funding amounts of around 1.6 million and more than 300,000 euros respectively, and why taking a look at older development projects is particularly worthwhile in 2026.

More applications, but hardly any suitable candidates: Dygitized founder Bastian Deurer explains why classic job ads often fail to reach top digital talent and how companies can still find the right employees using the right strategies.

Employees rarely quit because of the product or salary – poor leadership is often the real reason. Munich Startup expert Nico Reis explains why lack of trust, insufficient feedback, and weak leaders become a growth risk, especially in scaleups.

Amazon, Airbnb, and Trade Republic have conquered the world in completely different industries. Yet even though online retail, vacation rental, and digital banking couldn’t be more different, all these companies have one thing in common: Before they took the world stage, these companies existed only in the heads of a few brave founders who, through hard work, teamwork, and of course a bit of luck, were able to realize their dreams. But how does a young, motivated person navigate this long and sometimes arduous path from a bold idea to actual implementation? Who supports this process, which is so different from normal school or student life? Nils Heck, board member of the Young Founders Network, has answered exactly these questions for us in an interview.

Most founders face the same challenge repeatedly: fundraising is time-consuming, nerve-wracking, and often requires lengthy negotiations. Tokenize.it offers a digital solution that enables you to raise capital flexibly and without complicated intermediate steps – making fundraising in your startup significantly simpler.

The AI+Munich project is especially known for its state-funded prototype funding. Since March 2022, talents and teams around AI have been able to receive support of up to 25,000 euros on their way to becoming a startup. But the program doesn’t end with this funding: a strong AI ecosystem is to be developed in Munich. Without a doubt, this already exists in Munich; the question is rather how it will continue to develop. And the course is set toward cooperation and sustainability through “trustworthy AI.” One of the tasks of AI+Munich and the cross-university education team led by Dr. Fabian Heil, Educational Lead of the MUC Summit GmbH, is to convey this. This is done, among other things, through the freely accessible online course on “AI and responsible Entrepreneurship.” The interactive course explains with numerous examples what artificial intelligence, sustainability, and entrepreneurial thinking mean and have in common. How exactly this works is explained in this article.

It’s no secret that the startup industry, like many industries, particularly the construction industry, is currently in crisis. Startup funding in Europe has fallen by 44 percent over the past two years. Some media outlets are even predicting a full-blown startup apocalypse. This raises a legitimate question for many young people entering the professional world: is it worth joining a startup right now? Or would it be better to look elsewhere?