News & Podcast
Stay up to date with the latest stories, deep-dives and interviews from the Munich startup ecosystem. From funding deals to founder portraits and tech trends.
From Taboo to Billion-Dollar Market: Why Startups Are Increasingly Focusing on Defense
Defencetech is experiencing a boom. Investors, industry, and the Bundeswehr are increasingly seeking innovative technologies. At the Munich Startup Festival, experts from startups, the Bundeswehr, and academia discussed why civilian and military innovation are becoming increasingly intertwined and what founders need to know when entering the defense market.
Who Owns Space? Munich’s Role in New Space
Space sounds like rockets, astronauts, and science fiction. In reality, a massive commercial market has long been developing—and Munich plays an important role in it. At the Munich Startup Festival, investor Joram Voelklein, Delta-Vision founder Alex Plebuch, and Florian Dötzer from the TUM Venture Lab Aerospace & Defense discussed Munich’s opportunities in the new space race with moderator Prof. Dr. Nadine Chochoiek.
From the Lab to a Startup: Why Good Research Alone Is Not Enough
A promising scientific discovery is a far cry from a successful biotech product. Between the lab and the market lie patents, financing, regulation – and above all, the decision to actually want to translate research into application. At the Munich Startup Festival, moderator Dr. Philipp Baaske and founders Yasmin Gärtner and Christina Port discussed why they are taking this step and why scientific success alone is not enough for them.
Why Patrick Owomoyela Turned Down FC Bayern – And What Founders Can Learn from It
What do a football career and building a startup have in common? More than you might initially think. At the Munich Startup Festival, former national team player Patrick Owomoyela talked with host Kyrill Ring about resilience, bad investment decisions, strong teams, and why what seems like the biggest opportunity isn’t always the right one.
From Startup to Unicorn: The Egym Story
From their first prototype, which was still driven to investors in a van, to a unicorn with over 1,000 employees: Egym is one of the most prominent success stories in the Munich startup ecosystem. At the Munich Startup Festival, Egym founder and Co-CEO Florian Sauter spoke with Mathias Renz, Head of Venture Capital Magazin, about how an idea shared by two school friends turned into a billion-dollar company – and why naivety, persistence, and the right investors played a decisive role in the journey.
Flix Co-Founder Daniel Krauss: “Either You Step On the Gas or You Don’t”
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.
NextGen Takeover: How We Are Setting the Course for Tomorrow’s Entrepreneurs
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.
Munich Startup 2.0: From Showcase to Orientation Platform
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.
Europe Has Everything – Only Execution Is Missing: What Celonis Founder Bastian Nominacher Calls For
Europe boasts cutting-edge research, strong companies, and excellent talent – yet too few global technology leaders are created here. At the Munich Startup Festival, Celonis co-founder Bastian Nominacher, CK Ventures investor Katja Ruhnke, Edurino co-founder Irene Klemm, and entrepreneur Magdalena Oehl discussed why Europe has so far failed to systematically leverage its innovation potential and what role Munich can play in the process.
Munich Startup Festival 2026: The Highlights in Pictures
1,300 visitors, exciting discussions, intensive networking and plenty of festival vibes: Our photo gallery shows the best moments of the Munich Startup Festival 2026 – from the first panel to the award ceremony.
Dean&David Founder David Baumgartner: “Unfortunately, there is often only bad blood”
David Baumgartner’s founding story is straight out of a picture book. During a trip around the world, the Munich native came up with the idea for Dean&David. As part of the Munich Startup Festival, he spoke with us about his success and explained why not everyone can achieve what he has.
The Munich Startup Festival 2026: View the Highlights Now
No bubble, just real contacts – under this motto, the Munich Startup Festival 2026 brought together around 1,300 guests on July 22 at Backstage Munich. Founders, investors, academia, corporations and politicians discussed Europe’s innovative strength, the future of entrepreneurship and key technologies such as defence tech, biotech and space tech. Inspiring keynotes, high-caliber panel discussions, workshops, speed networking and numerous encounters made the festival a day full of ideas, exchange and new connections.