1st Munich Global Impact Sprint matching event a roaring success!

Munich and its ecosystem partners are joining forces to support entrepreneurs as they pursue the creation of the next generation of high growth companies ready to solve pressing global challenges. The Munich Global Impact Sprint (MGIS) is funded and supported by the EXIST-Potentials program of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

The Ecosystem Integrator (MUC SUMMIT), together with three top-notch universities – Hochschule München University of Applied Science, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Technical University of Munich – and their Entrepreneurship Centers – Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship gGmbH, LMU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center and UnternehmerTUM – hosted the first MGIS matching event for international start-up teams and partners from our unique Munich Innovation Ecosystem.

More than 180 participants took part – universities, corporations, institutions, governments, start-ups, entrepreneurship and innovation experts, consultants and of course international tech start-ups from the #1 Munich Global Impact Sprint!

This matching event took place on April 30 and was moderated by Frizzi Engler-Hamm and Marisa Schneider. It opened with a panel discussion on the topic of Munich as an innovation and start-up location. The panelists were Katrin Habenschaden, second mayor of Munich; Jelena Spanjol, Head of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center; Stephan Heller, CEO & Co-Founder of Intel Ignite Munich/Europe; and Daniel Tyoschitz, CEO & Co-Founder of AWAKE Mobility.

Following the panel discussion, we had the opportunity to hear inspiring keynotes on how impact-driven innovation can help address the challenges associated with pursuing a sustainable future. First Dr. Thomas Lötzbeyer from Food Startup Inkubator Weihenstephan (FSIW) shared about the challenges and opportunities involved with the future of food. He particularly discussed how FSIW is impacting sustainable development through innovation and provided recommendations on how start-ups can benefit from FSIW’s best practices.

This was followed by the opportunity of hearing from Janina Nakladal of Celonis about how they are impacting global sustainability. This Munich tech unicorn company believes that every company can unlock its full capacity. Powered by its market-leading process mining core, the Celonis Execution Management System helps companies like Bosch, Coca-Cola, Siemens, Uber and Vodafone manage every facet of their business.

We then welcomed Olga Khroustaleva of Google, whose focus has been on bringing a sustainability perspective to Google’s IT infrastructure. She led us on a deep dive into the topics of material and waste flows, circular economies and sustainable urban development, as well as addressing the matter of why the future of sustainable cities and communities is so challenging and what can be done to rise to these challenges. Finally, Olga provided insight into how Google has established its own practices for overcoming these hurdles, especially in the context of its Munich operations.

Last but not least, we heard from Inveox Co-Founder and CEO Maria Sievert, named as one of “25 women who will change the world.” Inveox was founded in Munich in 2017; it brings artificial intelligence and big-data potential to cancer diagnostics by automating the pre-analytical process and reducing errors (caused e.g., by sample mix-ups or data loss), thus improving patient safety and lab efficiency.

Our goal is to foster relationships between international top-level teams and leading technology companies, strengthening the position of Munich as a leading innovation hub. The participants of MGIS had the opportunity to extend their own network and connect, ask questions, and start collaborations within our virtual networking session in the following four target labs: the future of food; the future of healthcare; consumption & production; and sustainable cities & communities.

Over the coming weeks, we will plan and execute workshops, events and roundtables that will combine relevant keynote speakers with networking activities to jointly work toward the future of the Munich Innovation Ecosystem. It is our goal to make Munich’s unique ecosystem accessible. All teams, mentors and stakeholders from the Munich Innovation Ecosystem who want to participate and network with each other can join the upcoming events. Feel free to contact us for further information.