Bits & Pretzels 2026

2026-09-28 · Munich

International Congress Center Messe

Bits & Pretzels 2026 runs September 28–30 at the International Congress Center Messe in Munich, bringing together 7,500 curated founders, investors, and corporate leaders under the theme Human After All.

Bits & Pretzels 2026 is Europe's leading founders festival, taking place in Munich from September 28-30, 2026. The event features 10+ content stages, a CIO AI Summit, a Pitch Corner, Academy & Masterclasses, and a networking day at Oktoberfest. With 7,500 curated attendees, it focuses on human-centric innovation under the theme 'Human After All', bringing together founders, investors, and CIOs.

Founder brief

Who should attend

Founders building in SaaS, DeepTech, and artificial intelligence who want access to European enterprise decision-makers and venture capital should attend. It is particularly relevant for startups ready to pitch institutional investors or engage industrial technology leaders looking to adopt AI solutions.

What happens

The festival features ten content stages covering sovereign AI, DeepTech, and SaaS, alongside Academy masterclasses led by unicorn founders. Programming also includes an invitation-only CIO AI Summit, 90-second presentations at the Pitch Corner, and a final networking day at an Oktoberfest tent with table captains and pre-matched meetings.

Who's in the room

The gathering hosts 7,500 curated attendees, including startup founders, venture capitalists, and co-founder Felix Haas alongside speakers like Andre. Attendees also include over 500 CIOs from Germany's industrial Hidden Champions participating in enterprise-focused summit tracks.

How to prepare

If you are selected for the Pitch Corner, condense your value proposition, traction, and ask into a strict 90-second delivery for the VC panel. Review your target accounts ahead of time to make the most of your two guaranteed pre-matched networking sessions and enterprise matchmaking discussions.

Organizer: Bits & Pretzels

Register

At a glance

Format
The festival runs across 10+ content stages, an invitation-only CIO AI Summit, 90-second pitch presentations at the Pitch Corner, deep-dive Academy & Masterclasses, and a final day of networking at Oktoberfest with table captains and pre-matched meetings.
Theme
Human After All
Attendance
7,500 curated attendees
Sectors
Ai ml, Deeptech, Saas

Agenda

  1. Content Stages — Covering everything from the Sovereign AI movement to DeepTech and the future of SaaS.
  2. CIO AI Summit — Invitation-only platform connecting startups with over 500 CIOs from Germany’s industrial 'Hidden Champions'.
  3. Pitch Corner — Selected startups give 90-second presentations to a panel of top-tier VCs.
  4. Academy & Masterclasses — Deep-dive sessions led by Unicorn founders who have scaled businesses to billion-dollar valuations.
  5. Liquid Networking — Third day at a dedicated tent at Oktoberfest with table captains and matchmaking; every attendee is guaranteed two pre-matched meeting sessions.

Speakers, judges and hosts

  • Felix Haas — Co-founder, Bits & Pretzels (Host)
  • Aaron Archer — Partner, Cooley (Speaker)
  • Adrian Rosenkranz — Chief Revenue Officer, Webflow (Speaker)
  • Aiden Blake — Head of Startup Sales EMEA, Anthropic (Speaker)
  • Aiga Senftleben — Co-Founder, Billie (Speaker)
  • Alexander Hirschfeld — Head of Research & Partnerships, German Startup Association (Speaker)
  • Alexander Müller — Head of Innovation & Cooperation Supply Chain, Audi (Speaker)
  • Alexander Schöneseiffen — Founder & CEO, ZopaAI (Speaker)
  • Andra Larin — CEO, Priolaunch (Speaker)
  • Andre (Speaker)
  • Andreas Just — Director Marketing, German Accelerator Start2 Group (Speaker)
  • Andreas Klinger — General Partner & Founder Mode contributor/speaker (General Partner as printed), General Partner as printed explicitly: General Partner is the title, company is PROTOTYPE. Wait, let me re-read: Andrea (Speaker)
  • André Schürrle — Co-Founder, DRYLL (Speaker)
  • Anja Redenz — Partner, KPMG (Speaker)
  • Anna-Julia Storch — Founder & CEO, Dryft (Speaker)
  • Anna Schulte — Investment Manager, Armira (Speaker)
  • Anna Sophie Herken — Managing Director gmbh (Speaker)
  • Ansgar Mondorf — Account Executive, B2Brouter (Speaker)
  • Antonius Gress — CEO, Blockbrain (Speaker)
  • Arik Wllner — CEO, Impossible Founders (Speaker)
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger — Actor, Businessman, Investor, Environmentalist, form. Governor of California (Speaker)
  • Arthur Mensch — Co-Founder & CEO, Mistral (Speaker)
  • Balázs Nagy — Co-Founder & CEO (Speaker)
  • Barack Obama — 44th President of the USA, USA (Speaker)
  • Barbara Scheben — Partner, Head of Forensic, KPMG (Speaker)
  • Baroness June Sarpong OBE — TV Presenter, Diversity Expert, Award-Winning Author and Former Director of Creative Diversity (Speaker)
  • Bar Winkler — Co-founder & CEO, Wonderful (Speaker)
  • Basitan Giegerich — Director-General and CEO, IISS (Speaker)
  • Bastian Hasslinger — Partner (Speaker)
  • Batuhan Yumurtacı — Co-Founder & CTO”, “company”: “TYTAN Technologies”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Beate Tempel — Chief Product Officer, constellr (Speaker)
  • Ben Fletcher — Partner Accel (Speaker)
  • Benoit Deper — Founder & CEO, AEROSPACELAB (Speaker)
  • Bernd Läßiger — Director, Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt (Speaker)
  • Bernhard Gold — Founding Partner, Defense Tech Innovation Fund (DTIF) (Speaker)
  • Carolina Aguilar — CEO & Co-Founder, INBRAIN Neuroelectronics (Speaker)
  • Christian Angermayer — Founder (Speaker)
  • Christian Byza — CEO, BePurple (Speaker)
  • Christian Figge — Managing Partner, Armira Growth (Speaker)
  • Christian Miele — General Partner, Headline (Speaker)
  • Christian Schmidt — Chief Strategy Officer, HENSOLDT (Speaker)
  • Christian Stiebner — General Partner, Inari Ventures (Speaker)
  • Christoph Klink — Partner, Antler (Speaker)
  • Clemens Riegler — Co-Founder & CEO, erable.systems (Speaker)
  • Daniel Metzler — CEO, Isar Aerospace (Speaker)
  • Danijel Grabovac — Head of Siemens for Startups, Siemens (Speaker)
  • Dara Khosrowshahi — CEO, Uber (Speaker)
  • Desiree Fixler — Veteran Banker and Free Enterprise Activist, DF Consult Group (Speaker)
  • Dex Hunter-Torricke — Founder & President, The Center for Tomorrow (Speaker)
  • Domenico Cipolla — CEO, Xentral (Speaker)
  • Dominik Krause — Oberbürgermeister, München (Speaker)
  • Dominik Stein — Partner”, “company”: “EQT Growth”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Dr. Andre Retterath — General Partner (Speaker)
  • Dr. Carsten Rudolph — Managing Director, BayStartUp (Speaker)
  • Dr. Christian Stumpf — Innovation Manager & Entrepreneur, TenneT TSO (Speaker)
  • Dr. Daniel Biene — Leadership & Strategy Team, Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub (Speaker)
  • Dr. Dominik Steinkühler — Head of Group Development and Economics, KfW (Speaker)
  • Dr. Fabian Mehring — Bavarian State Minister for Digital Affairs”, “company”: “”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Dr. Florian Keisinger — CEO, Zentralverband der deutschen Seehafenbetriebe e.V. (Speaker)
  • Dr. Ilja Rudyk — Senior economist, European Patent Office (Speaker)
  • Dr. Ing. Hendrik Brandis — Co-Founder & General Partner, Earlybird (Speaker)
  • Dr.-Ing. Marius Lammers — CEO, INLEAP Photonics (Speaker)
  • Dr. Ir. Anne-Marije Zwerver — Co-Funder & CEO, Groove Quantum (Speaker)
  • Dr. Jan Goetz — Co-Founder & CEO (Speaker)
  • Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg — President & Managing Director, General Catalyst (Speaker)
  • Dr. Judit Klein — Startup & Fellows Lead, ZOLLHOF Tech Incubator (Speaker)
  • Dr. Karsten Wildberger — Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation Germany (Speaker)
  • Dr. Luisa Buinhas — Co-Founder & Chief Program Officer, Vyoma (Speaker)
  • Dr. Markus Klippstein — CEO, siOPTICA GmbH (Speaker)
  • Dr. Markus Söder — Minister President of Bavaria, Germany (Speaker)
  • Dr. Moritz Högner — CEO, alloqis (Speaker)
  • Dr. Nora Hesse — Themenmanagerin Science Spin-offs, Niedersachsen.next (Speaker)
  • Dr. Philipp Gerbert — CEO, TUM Venture Labs (Speaker)
  • Dr. sc. Florian Petit — CEO, ZeroPhase (Speaker)
  • Dr. Ulrich Nuding — Senior Vice President Engineering Germany & Member of the Board”, “company”: “MBDA Deutschland”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Ekaterina Zaharieva — Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, European Commission (Speaker)
  • Elsa Hyland — Angel investor (Speaker)
  • Enrico Mellis — Founder”, “company”: “Animal Syndication Company”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Eric Schmidt — KBE, Former CEO & Chairman, Google (Speaker)
  • Eveline Buchatskiy — Managing Partner (Speaker)
  • Evgenia Plotnikova — General Partner, Dawn Capital (Speaker)
  • Fabian Heilemann — CEO & Co-Founder, AENU (Speaker)
  • Fanny Giannou — CEO, Alithea Biotechnology (Speaker)
  • Feliks Eyser — Founder (Speaker)
  • Finn Age Hänsel — Co-Founder & CEO”, “company”: “Sanity Group”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Fleet Admiral Christian Bock — Head of the Innovation Center of the German Armed Forces (Speaker)
  • Florian Heinemann — Founding Partner dakota placeholder override fix wait no company field is Project A, so title is Founding Partner and company is Project A. Wait, the schema strictly says title is Job title only, e.g. (Speaker)
  • Florian Scherl — CEO & Founder E and C E O & Founder S p l i t ' T i t l e a t C o m p a n y ' i n t o t i t l e a n d c o m p a n y . N e v e r i n v e n t a c o m p a n y o r t i t l e ; l e a v e t h e f i e l d e (Speaker)
  • Florian Seibel — Co-Founder & CEO, Quantum-Systems (Speaker)
  • Frank Thieser — Investor, Bee Holding (Speaker)
  • Franziska Kayser — Partner, Head of European TMT, KKR (Speaker)
  • Franz Tschimben — Co-Founder & CEO, ALLSIDES (Speaker)
  • Fynn Kliemann — Founder & CEO, Kliemannsland (Speaker)
  • Gabriel Vasquez — Investment Partner, a16z (Speaker)
  • George Robson — Partner, Sequoia Capital (Speaker)
  • Grego Haidl — Partner, High-Tech Gruenderfonds (Speaker)
  • Greg Schmitt — Head of Private Equity & Co-Investments (Speaker)
  • Guido Brendler — Senior Vice President Sales & Business Development & Member of the Board, MBDA Deutschland (Speaker)
  • Guillermo Flor — Founder, PMF (Speaker)
  • Hakob Astabatsyan — Co-Founder & CEO, Synthflow AI (Speaker)
  • Hannah Schwär — editor, Manager Magazin (Speaker)
  • Harry Nelis — Partner, Accel (Speaker)
  • Heike Freund — COO, Marvel Fusion (Speaker)
  • Heinrich Pfriemer — Global Manager Public Services, SAP (Speaker)
  • Hubertus Bessau — Partner & CMO, EWOR (Speaker)
  • Hugo Suidman — Executive Coach & Founder Sidekick, ForChiefs (Speaker)
  • Ido Bar-On — Co-founder & CEO, Skapion (Speaker)
  • Jack Wang — Partner, Project A (Speaker)
  • James Vincent — Founder & CEO, FNDR (Speaker)
  • Janina Jänsch — Head of the SME department at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Speaker)
  • Jannis Gilde — Director Research, German Startup Association (Speaker)
  • Jannis Grube — Head of Ventures, PwC Germany (Speaker)
  • Jan Oberhauser — Founder & CEO, n8n (Speaker)
  • Janos Körtge — Head of Dell for Startups Germany, DELL TECHNOLOGIES (Speaker)
  • Jan Philipp Haas — Co-Founder & CEO (Speaker)
  • Johannes Kliesch — Founder & CEO, SNOCKS GmbH (Speaker)
  • Johannes Schaback — Co-Founder & CTO, STARK Defence (Speaker)
  • Joko Winterscheidt — Entertainer & Entrepreneur (Speaker)
  • Jonas Sommer — Principal, DTCF (Speaker)
  • Jonathan Sanders — Co-Founder & CEO, Light (Speaker)
  • Judith Dada — Co-CEO & Senior Partner, Langdock & Visionaries (Speaker)
  • Julie Böhning — Co-Founder & CEO, PAVE Space (Speaker)
  • Karim Jalbout — Managing Partner, Konstellation Advisory (Speaker)
  • Kartik Sachdev — Senior Solutions Architect, NVIDIA (Speaker)
  • Kathi Wilhelm — Partner (Speaker)
  • Katja Butzmann — Managing Director, bm|t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh (Speaker)
  • Katja Ruhnke — Chairwoman of BAND / CEO & Co-Founder of CK Venture Capital GmbH, Business Angels Deutschland e.V. (BAND) (Speaker)
  • Klaus Hommels — Founder & Chairman, Lakestar (Speaker)
  • Klaus Kappen — Chief Technology Officer, Rheinmetall (Speaker)
  • Konstantin Kuhle — Special Counsel, BLOMSTEIN (Speaker)
  • Kristian Segerstrale — Serial Co-founder & CEO, Glu mobile / Playfish / Initial Capital (Speaker)
  • Lara Sophie Bothur — Global Tech Translator & Influencer, Lara Sophie Bothur (Speaker)
  • Larissa Holzki — Editorial Head of TECH, Handelsblatt (Speaker)
  • Larissa Schneider — Co-Founder and COO, Unframe (Speaker)
  • Laura Keilhofer — Investment Manager, Alstin Capital (Speaker)
  • Lennard Schmidt — Co-Founder & CEO”, “company”: “Langdock”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Leyla Holterud — Partner, Vintage IP (Speaker)
  • Louise Boucher — General Partner, Sisyphus Ventures (Speaker)
  • Lukas Koestler — Founder & CEO”, “company”: “SE3 Labs”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Maex Ament — Co-Founder & CEO Causa Prima (Speaker)
  • Magdalena Oehl — Co-Founder, Talent Rocket (Speaker)
  • Major General Dr. Volker Pötzsch — Major General (Speaker)
  • Malte Rau — Co-Founder & CEO, Pliant (Speaker)
  • Marc Henrichmann — MdB, Deutscher Bundestag (Speaker)
  • Maria Lindholm — CEO, Wellstreet (Speaker)
  • Mario Lebherz — Chairman, Highcat (Speaker)
  • Mark Bergen — Senior Reporter (Speaker)
  • Mats Kuuskemaa — Country Director DACH + Poland, e-Residency | Republic of Estonia (Speaker)
  • Matthias Lehna — Vice President Business Development and Strategic Communications, Quantum System (Speaker)
  • Matthias Niessner — Co-Founder & CEO, SpAItial AI (Speaker)
  • Matthias Schranner — CEO Schranner Negotiation Institute AG (Speaker)
  • Max Junestrand — Co-Founder & CEO, Legora (Speaker)
  • Max Schertel — Co-Founder & CEO, finmid (Speaker)
  • Max Wittrock — Co-Founder, zeroLabs (Speaker)
  • Michael Fritz — Joker (Speaker)
  • Michelle Obama — Former First Lady (Speaker)
  • Mike Wax — General Partner, BlueYard (Speaker)
  • Mirko Novakovic — Founder & CEO, Dash0 (Speaker)
  • Moritz Fürste — Co-Founder & CMO (Speaker)
  • Moustafa ElBialy — Chief Information Officer (Speaker)
  • Nadine Schimroszik — Technology Correspondent, Handelsblatt (Speaker)
  • Nathan Blecharczyk — Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, Airbnb (Speaker)
  • Nico Waegerle — Co-Founder & CEO, Certivity (Speaker)
  • Niels Dörje — Founding Partner (Speaker)
  • Niklas Zennström — Founder & CEO, Atomico (Speaker)
  • Nikolaus Karpf — Co-Founder & Managing Director, SPARKK (Speaker)
  • Noah Hollmann — Co-Founder & CTO, Prior Labs (Speaker)
  • Oleksandr Vorobiov — Deputy Chief of Air Defence, Third Army Corps, Armed Forces of Ukraine (Speaker)
  • Olga Perepelkina — Inception - Physical AI lead in DACH, NVIDIA (Speaker)
  • Ollie George — Director, Executive Talent (Speaker)
  • Patrick Jeschke — Head of Innovation & Intrapreneurshipchain_end company: CIHBw role: speaker bio: "", linkedin_url: "", profile_url: "" } (Speaker)
  • Paula Wehmeyer — VP Marketing & Talent”, “company”: “General Intuition”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Pavlo Shevchuk — CEO, Skyeton (Speaker)
  • PD Dr. Alex Ilic — Co-Founder & Executive Director, ETH AI Center (Speaker)
  • Peng-Sang Cau — Director of Siemens for Startups, Siemens (Speaker)
  • Peter Specht — Partner, Creandum (Speaker)
  • Peter van Woerkum — Founder, Regulate (Speaker)
  • Pia Dorfinger — Director Start-ups & Innovation, German Energy Agency (dena) (Speaker)
  • Prof. Dr. Angela Relógio — CEO, TimeTeller (Speaker)
  • Prof. Dr. h. c. Carsten Maschmeyer — CEO Maschmeyer Group (Speaker)
  • Prof. Dr.-Ing. Karsten Lemmer — Executive Board Member, German Aerospace Center (DLR) (Speaker)
  • Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Matthias H. Tschöp — President of the University, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (Speaker)
  • Prof. Dr. Milan Allan — Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer, alqem (Speaker)
  • Ralf Gulde — Co-Founder & CEO, Sereact GmbH (Speaker)
  • Ralf Vath — Senior Vice President, General Manager Discrete Industries, SAP (Speaker)
  • Rana Yared — General Partner, Balderton (Speaker)
  • Reid Hoffman — Co-Founder, LinkedIn (Speaker)
  • Ritika Pai — Partner ICONIQ (Speaker)
  • Robert Gentz — Founder & Co-CEO, Zalando (Speaker)
  • Robert Greinecker — Co-Founder, iSEE (Speaker)
  • Robert Lacher — Founding Partner, Visionaries Club (Speaker)
  • Robin Haak — Partner (Speaker)
  • Robin Rombach — Co-Founder & CEO Black Forest Labs (Speaker)
  • Rob Moffat — Partner”, “company”: “Balderton Capital”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Rupert Schäfer — General Partner, 10xFounders (Speaker)
  • Sahir Azam — Partner Index Ventures (Speaker)
  • Sarah Theinert — Director Value Creation & Cybersecurity, UVC Partners & TUM Venture Labs (Speaker)
  • Sebastian Hirtz — Director Sales Operations & CRM/ERP Process Enablement, Rohde & Schwarz (Speaker)
  • Sebastian Janus — CEO & Founder (Speaker)
  • Sebastian Klaus — Co-Founder & CEO (Speaker)
  • Sebastian Matthes — Editor in Chief (Speaker)
  • Seema Amble — Partner, Andreessen Horowitz (Speaker)
  • Sethu Saveda Suvanam — Founder & CEO, ReOrbit (Speaker)
  • Silvia Christmann — I/O Psychologist, SC&Partners (Speaker)
  • Stefan Rouenhoff — Parliamentary State Secretaryграфісlivery-dummy? No. Let us stick to exact text: Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (Speaker)
  • Stephanie Pfeil-Coenen — CEO, Phaeosynt (Speaker)
  • Steve Basher — Founder & CEO”, “company”: “SolveAI”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Steven Bartlett — Entrepreneur & Investor (Speaker)
  • Susie Meier — Managing Director, DTCP (Speaker)
  • Sven Przywarra — CEO, LiveEO (Speaker)
  • Sven Weizenegger — Head and CEO (Speaker)
  • Thomas Grübler — Co-Founder & CSO, OroraTech (Speaker)
  • Thomas Hofmann — University President, Technical University of Munich (TUM) (Speaker)
  • Thomas Oehl — General Partner, Vsquared (Speaker)
  • Thomas Saueressig — Chief Customer Officer & Member of the Executive Board of SAP SE Basses Company Mentioned Directly Below As Well But Let's Follow Exact Text Rules. Wait Company Is SAP SE Based On Text Or SAP. Let's U, SAP SE (Speaker)
  • Thomas Wolf — Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer, Hugging Face (Speaker)
  • Tilo Bonow — Founder & CEOotprint_or_placeholder_company_missing_fixer_skip_me_if_not_needed_empty_string_actually_just_company_field_is_piabo_communications_so_use_piabo_communications_here_wait_the_instruction_i, PIABO Communications (Speaker)
  • Timo Kuroschinski — Co-Founder & Managing Director, SPARKK (Speaker)
  • Tim Rocktäschel — Co-Founder Recursive (Speaker)
  • Tobias Brune — Co-Founder & CEO, Ground A (Speaker)
  • Tobias Gotthardt — Vice Minister, Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy (Speaker)
  • Toby Cubitt — Co-Founder, CTO & CSCIO, Phasecraft (Speaker)
  • Tom Fitzherbert-Brockholes — Partner (Speaker)
  • Tom Ronan — Co-Founder & COO, Talos Devices (Speaker)
  • Torsten Reil — Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Helsing (Speaker)
  • Trevor Noah — Comedian (Speaker)
  • Verena Pausder — Vorstandsvorsitzende”, “company”: “Startup-Verband”, “role”: “speaker”, “bio”: “ (Speaker)
  • Victor Freiherr von Süsskind — Founder & Director, Planetfall (Speaker)
  • Vladyslav Berehovyi — Intelligence Analyst of the Anti-Aircraft Missile and Artillery Division, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, UAF (Speaker)
  • Zackes Brustik — Podcast-Host, Moderator, Gewinne Zukunft Podcast (Speaker)
  • Zhenya Loginov — Partner Accel (Speaker)

Sponsors and partners

  • Affinity

Browse more

More events in Munich

See all events in Munich