PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
“Old friends, new acquaintances”
South by Southwest (SXSW) is the world’s largest festival for the international digital and creative industries, making it the ideal place to present Berlin as Europe’s leading start-up metropolis. It will take place from 10 to 19 March in Austin, Texas with festivals, conferences and exhibitions. After 2019, the capital is back this year as part of the “Innovation Bridge Europe House” and therefore for the tenth time at SXSW. Innovation strategies, the implementation of new technologies and the international networking of creative minds are the focus of the numerous events. With Berlin, eleven innovative Berlin tech companies are on the move in Austin. The startups in the delegation come from the areas of gaming, artificial intelligence, fintech and fashion tech.
Dr Stefan Franzke, Managing Director of Berlin Partner says: “After almost four years, the world’s most important gathering for creative people is back. And Berlin is also presenting itself at the South by Southwest in Austin. It is a perfect opportunity to meet old friends and make new acquaintances. With our being there we bring Berlin to Texas again: Art and creativity, entrepreneurs. Almost 300,000 people from all over the world meet here and Berlin is showing: We are back on track!”
The centrepiece of Berlin’s activities will take place on 14 March at one of SXSW’s most exciting locations: The BERLIN LEVEL in Downtown Austin. With the slogan “Berlin Takeover” the delegation’s start-ups will present their innovations in an immersive exhibition. The Berlin artists Xi De Sign will create a mural on the outside facade of the location and in the evening there will be a big closing party with live music acts from the capital.
SXSW is all about these topics: Advertising & brands, media industry, film & TV, music, gaming, culture (including humanities, (visual) arts, fashion, dance, literature), design (physical, digital & virtual), technology (platforms, software, hardware, XR, digital revolution), civic engagement, climate change, energy, food, health & medical technology, transport (e-mobility, micro-mobility, aviation, shipping), sports, startups and workplace revolution. The festival attracts around 300,000 visitors each year from more than 100 countries – a diverse group of creative minds from the tech, film and music industries. The aim of the delegation is to network Berlin companies with others, create B2B meetings and networking opportunities and promote the exchange of information. During the six-day stay in the United States, meetings will be held with international investors, potential customers, ecosystem stakeholders and experts, as well as other delegations from around the world.
The Berlin delegation
- DAIN Studios (ICT, data, AI, consulting) // Dirk Hofmann (Co-Founder & CEO)
DAIN Studios is an AI and data specialist and offers E2E Dinets services to enable companies to become data/AI-driven organisations. The offers include consulting, AI/data services, operations, training and more. To date, DAIN Studios can look back on more than 100 successful projects and is a leader in the field of AI ethics and responsible AI.
- Fanzone Media (Fintech, Blockchain, NFT) // Tobias Röhrl (NFT Partnerships Strategist)
FANZONE is a collect-to-earn platform that allows fans to receive benefits, rewards and access to experiences of their favourite stars. FANZONE is developing a full decentralised marketplace for fans and their stars via Universal Profiles (LUKSO). Fanzone is the only platform in the world that offers special photo moments of football and basketball players as an officially licensed product. They own digital collectibles with powerful and unique IP partners that are officially licensed.
- i-mmersive (Gaming, VR/AR/XR) // Fax Quintus (Founder & CEO), Nayden Naydenov (CTO)
The fashion industry is one of the biggest environmental polluters: 30% of all online orders are returned due to incorrect sizing or cut. An estimated 92 million tons of textile waste is generated globally every year. i-mmersive offers cross-platform fashion fitting. They produce virtual fashion that is connected to the databases of the online shops. Based on XR Connected Artificial Intelligence, Fashioneura is revolutionising the fashion industry with its virtual mirror: While customers try on new clothes, they are scanned and measured from home – without additional hardware. Fashion brands can now produce clothes on demand and wrong orders are reduced.
- NFTLab.Berlin/ chris and friends GmbH (Fintech, Blockchain, NFT) // Chris Hortsch (Founder)
Nftlab.berlin is an NFT service provider. The company creates unique NFT and Web3 experiences for all types of brands and businesses and is a limited NFT collection. Nfttlab.berlin works with international partners to bring their brands into the metaverse. Avatarzzz NFT holders become part of the nftlab.berlin DAO - a self-governing NFT lab where NFT holders can manage and control the lab.
- Pixaera (EdTech, Gaming, VR/AR/XR) // Ben Flammang (Head of Sales)
Pixaera offers immersive training simulations on various platforms. The core product, based on the IOGP Life Saving Rules, promotes workplace safety for workers in hazardous environments and is accessible live and to licensees. Pixaera is always expanding its content to meet the needs of other industries and explores other topics such as mental health and leadership training. The company is also starting to develop content creation tools for third parties.
- Proof of Taste/ The District VR (MusicTech, Gaming, VR/AR/XR) // Ioulia Isserlis (CTO), Dennis Lisk (CEO), Max Sacker (Creative Director)
The District VR (TDVR) is a music world inspired by Berlin club culture where you can learn how to DJ in VR and perform in front of a virtual audience. In addition, you can perform simultaneously with other musicians, enjoy live concerts in VR and hang out in Berlin underground environments (singing karaoke, spraying paint, etc.). TDVR is connected to the Lukso blockchain, which was founded by Proof of Taste co-founder and inventor of the ERC20 Fabian Vogelsteller. TDVR is a multiplayer app that is free to download. It is the first music-based metaverse where you don’t just watch live streams, but actually perform in the metaverse without the need for additional technology.
- RAVE.SPACE (Gaming, VR/AR/XR) // Frank Hahn (CEO)
RAVE.SPACE develops state-of-the-art 3D experiences that run in the browser. The company has developed its own 3D engine that makes all of the spaces of RAVE.SPACE high-performance, multiplayer, cross-device and easily accessible. Bespoke metaverse rooms have already been developed for brands such as Samsung, Converse, Hertha, Zalando, Universal and Amazon. The “musee-dezentral” is the largest museum in the metaverse, where RAVE.SPACE also sells NFTs.
- STYLE Protocol (Blockchain, NFT) // Leo Hilse (Founder)
STYLE protocol is a decentralised infrastructure that enables licensing and interoperability of assets and NFTs in any virtual environment. It is an ecosystem for anyone to transform NFTs and assets into the metaverse, adding monetisation and utility. As a creator or owner of an NFT collection, STYLE Protocol can be used to transfer NFTs into different virtual worlds. As a 3D designer/modeller/artist, there is the opportunity to develop further revenue streams by creating 3D assets for the various virtual worlds that STYLE Protocol has partnered with. When creating a virtual world (e.g. a metaverse, a blockchain game or a social virtual place) STYLE Protocol brings more 3D asstes, BFTs and players into this virtual world through its supply chains.
- Yoona (FashionTech, AI, VR/AR/XR) // Peter Kolski (Co-Founder & CTO), Anna Franziska Michel (Co-Founder & CEO)
yoona.ai is a B2B SaaS solution that reduces the creation of digital products to a few simple clicks. The company is developing the third version of the product and offers AI services such as colour variants, best-selling product suggestions, prints and artwork, and competitor analysis to get to production in a few clicks. The employees at yoona are designers who develop a tool for designers.
- Zaubar (Gaming, VR/AR/XR) // Stefan Marx (Co-Founder & CEO), Anna-Sophie Panzer (Co-Founder & Head of Creators)
In order to open up the AR level of each location, ZAUBAR is developing an AI-supported creation platform. The focus is on making the creation of location-based AR as easy as possible. Once AR glasses become mainstream and people wear them on the streets, the digital layer of any physical place will become a digital story for the businesses located there (museums, factories, football...
The Berlin program can be found here.
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The business development company Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie is Berlin’s service provider for growth and innovation. Berlin Partner supports companies and investors in their move to Berlin and in their development in this city. Berlin Partner’s experts provide information on financing options, advise on finding suitable premises or qualified personnel and help build networks with partners from the world of science. The State of Berlin and more than 230 companies committed to promoting their city stand behind Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie as a unique public/private partnership. Berlin Partner is also responsible for marketing the German capital worldwide. www.berlin-partner.de
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