Philip Prestele, Principal Program Manager GovTech, Digital Product School
Jovana Lazarević, Design Thinking Coach, UnternehmerTUM

Zarah Bruhn, founder of Social-Bee and SPRIND.Society, investor, and author

Zarah Bruhn, born in 1991, is a founder, social entrepreneur, supervisory board member, and politically active. She worked at a venture capital fund and founded the company “socialbee” at the age of just 25. Since 2016, her startup has helped thousands of refugees find jobs at companies; it combats the shortage of skilled workers and advocates for diversity and openness to the world in the German economy. In 2022, she became the first Commissioner for Social Innovation at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was appointed shortly thereafter to the German government’s Council for Sustainable Development. Since 2025, she has been developing the Social Innovation focus at the Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovations (SPRIND) and seeking societal breakthroughs that fundamentally transform the way we live together. Bruhn has received numerous awards for her work, including “Social Entrepreneur of the Year.”

Falko Klöpper, Head of TUM Start-up Consulting
Marius Lux, TUM Start-up Consultant
Dr.-Ing. Fandi Hartl, Founder goood.institute
Dr. Magnus Strobel, Co-Founder & CEO Nexus Politics
Dr. Amelie Skopp, Chair of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources and Co-Founder Verdira Biotech 
Jonas John, Managing Director & CEO skyLarc

How does an initial idea turn into a viable start-up? What role does the TUM Entrepreneurship Ecosystem play – and how can it be leveraged effectively? In this panel, experienced founders and TUM experts share exclusive insights into the critical early stage of building a company. Learn which challenges truly matter, which resources make a difference, and how to fully leverage the TUM Start-up Ecosystem for your own venture.

by TUM ForTe Entrepreneurship

In this competition, TUM founders are challenged to demonstrate their pitching skills and convince the jury and the audience of their vision and their product. Pitch Perfect is designed for technology and knowledge-based startups at TUM that are in the seed or expansion phase. The finalists pitch live for a chance to win €5,000 in prize money.

This year’s finalists are: Tender Republic | Hefex Labs | Quipu | Duneo | Plausion | DATFID | Digital Buddy | Kognexus

Learn more about the finalists below.

by TUM ForTe Entrepreneurship

The TUM Start-up Mentor of Excellence Award, which comes with a prize of 5,000 euros for the chair, honors TUM professors who are particularly dedicated and successful in mentoring startup teams. Many researchers mentor the teams during an EXIST startup grant. Such mentoring is a requirement for receiving one of the coveted federal grants.

The TUM Presidential Entrepreneurship Award (PEA) is presented once a year as part of TUM Entrepreneurship Day and is aimed at startups in the growth phase. The award is endowed with 10,000 euros, donated by the Friends of TUM e.V. TUM has been awarding the PEA since 2013 to outstanding university spin-offs whose business ideas are based primarily on TUM research results. Additional criteria include the company’s high growth potential and secured initial funding.

by TUM Entrepreneurship

Pitch Competition Awards Ceremony

Jury
Dr. Gaby Wiegran, Pricing Experte & Exited Founder
Tim Linnenweber, Senior Associate at Possible Ventures, TUM Alumnus and Co-Founder of CargoKite
Falko Klöpper, Head of TUM Start-up Consulting

Jakob Kröner, Ph.D. Student at TUM School of Management, Chair for Strategy and Organization (Prof. Dr. Isabell M. Welpe)

Presentation of the new Entrepreneurship Impact Study, which will be published in June 2026 with new analyses. Among other things, this study shows which universities in the DACH region produce the most startups, which of these startups are successful, and how the founding teams are composed. Find the latest publications here: www.entrepreneurshipranking.com

by TUM ForTe Entrepreneurship & HTGF

Dr. Rosaria Cercola (TUM Venture Lab)
Jade Robinson (Linq Photonics)
Iris Schwenk (HQS Quantum Simulations)
Dr. Judith Ngoumou (IQM Quantum Computers)
Olha Dzundza (IBM)

Following an introduction to the scientific and strategic framework of quantum computing, the discussion will focus on why the field is currently at a critical juncture in Europe. Topics will include technological maturity, European sovereignty, funding landscapes, and the question of why quantum computing will play a decisive role for industry, research, and society in the coming years.

Leon Koch, Co-Founder and CEO of Peak Quantum; Walther-Meißner-Institute for Low Temperature Research (WMI)

The Peak Quantum founders share their personal lab-to-market journey - from spinning out of Walther-Meißner-Institute, through the role of the TUM, UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs ecosystem, all the way to their recent financing round - along with their key learnings and messages for ambitious students and researchers in the audience.

Dr. Philipp Harder, Co-Founder of My-Robots, Post-Doc Microrobotic Bioengineering Lab (TUM CIT)
Dr. Amélie Skopp, Co-Founder of Verdira Biotech, Group Leader Functional Biohybrid Materials (Chair of Chemistry of Biogenic Resources; TUM Campus Straubing)
Leon Koch, Co-Founder and CEO of Peak Quantum; Walther-Meißner-Institute for Low Temperature Research (WMI)
Moderation: Valeria Rodriguez Espinoza; Program Manager TUM Venture Lab Chem/BioSystems

Join leading TUM researchers and founders as they share how breakthrough science is transformed into scalable DeepTech ventures - and what it takes to bridge the gap between the lab and the market.

by UnternehmerTUM for Innovators

The Innovation Sprint is a 5-days intense workshop where students learn the basics of design thinking and come up with start-up ideas for company challenges. On the final event, the best teams pitch on stage their ideas and compete with each other for the Audience Award.