15 international founders try out startup-hub Berlin

Startup Exchange Program from Berlin Partner

In the next two weeks, the Start Alliance will be hosting startups from the world’s founder metropolises in Berlin. 15 young entrepreneurs from Tel Aviv, London, and Paris traveled to the capital to try out Berlin as a location for their German or European business and to network with potential partners. Tomorrow is the startupNight in the program - the first pitch and networking opportunities await the founders here.

After the weekend, Airbnb is hosting a welcome party on Monday evening, before things get going on the following days with workshops on topics such as visas, financing, and law. In addition, the participants will meet for pitch training, network with the Berlin economy, and get to know Berlin while eating pizza and on a city tour. At the big finale, the Start Alliance Demo Day, the founders will make their pitches to investors and the established industry at the end of their stay. The complete program can be found <link www.startalliance.net/programs/2017/7/10/start-alliance-berlin-september-2017>here</link>.

Alexander Schwarz, CEO of Airbnb Germany: “We are delighted to welcome young entrepreneurs from other startup hubs to Berlin for the second time together with Berlin Partner. Along with the Berlin Airbnb Community, we want to help the international founders experience the city from the perspective of the citizens of Berlin and really immerse themselves in it. To ensure that Berlin can continue to develop successfully as a startup-capital, it is important that politics and the economy work together. The Start Alliance program is a great initiative that we’re happy to support.”

The business models of the 15 startups are diverse, but they are mainly focused on future technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or big data. “With the Start Alliance, we created a unique program that brings innovations from new startups from the world’s most important startup hubs to Berlin and at the same time opens doors internationally to Berlin ideas,” says Dr. Stefan Franzke, CEO of Berlin Partner. “In the next two weeks, we are deliberately bringing together the founders with local industry specialists, for whom we’re providing insight from beyond the Berlin startup scene. For the participants, the stay in Berlin is another chance to get started internationally and to get established players from Germany interested in them. Ideally, this will lead to successful partnerships or the decision to open up a location in Berlin.”

In addition to Airbnb, the METRO Accelerator, Commerzbank, and the CleanTech Innovation Center are among the partners of the Start Alliance Berlin. The governing mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, is the sponsor of the startup exchange program.