Recently I had the honor to be invited back as a juror at the Demo Night for Ignition+ support program for early-stage startups in Düsseldorf. At the Demo Night, the jury decides who will get the next funding.
And the winners were… The team I just happened to be the coach of in this batch, Osphim!
And the winner was… OSPHIM! The team I just happened to be coaching in the same batch. (I swear I didn’t have to bribe the other jurors much… Just kidding – they would have won with or without my vote, it was that solid).
Recently I was humbled and excited to be invited to mentor the startups at the kick-off event “Greentech Pitch ‘n’ Answer!” for the Greentech Meets NRW initiative at Digitalhub Aachen’s Digital Church.
Check out the following startups that participated in the event:
BaaS Energy – Battery as a Service, replacing diesel generators.
CHARGEUNITY – Charging stations for electric automotive that private individuals can invest in.
EAS – Recycling synthetic materials by pyrolysis reactors for industry.
ivilion – A new way of building batteries, saving costs, adding capacity, better thermal management.
And what a spectacular Rheinland Pitch Winter Finals 2024 it was in KOMED, Cologne!
This year, based on the experience and feedback gathered from doing this for over 10 years now, we mixed it up a little to make it even more interesting for the audience – and to give even more startups the exposure: We decided to try three different categories with three startups pitching in each.
The categories were Sustainability, Generative AI, and Female Entrepreneurship. The finalists were:
Sustainability:
Beaverdesk
Innovative Robot Delivery
Fainin GmbH
Generative AI:
Panos AI
Cityscaper
LABNODE
Female Entrepreneurship:
KOHO Smart
Campus Cruiser
Qizify Learning
And then the startups pitched…
The jury considered each pitches, asked questions… With the Rheinland Pitch finals format we have a panel of expert judges that count for 50% of the weight of the votes together with 50% of the audience.
The audience asked questions…
The audience also voted…
And then it was time for the classic networking break with Currywurst.
Networking is at least half the value of the event.
And it wouldn’t been possible to put on a flawless event without a lot of great helpers!
“It’s better to burn out than it is to rust. The king is gone, but he’s not forgotten.”
Neil Young
Last week I attended (and finally it was the time to bring our oldest pirate in training too) the Last Burn of the PIRATE Summit, the startup event in Cologne, DE with the most special place in my – and many others’ – heart.
And thus it will be no more.
All sorts of emotions going through my mind about this having been the very last Pirate Summit. So amazing to finally catch up again – and especially awesome to finally see startup people from Tehran, Iran again here in Europe! And also so weird it was for the last time in this setting. It’s the end of an era for sure.
It was here, at the very first one in 2011 we introduced the world to Gauss – The People Magnet, the very first Social Discovery app for the iPhone:
Also this time, doing my miniscule part to help out by moderating the very last “Walk the Plank” pitch competition, being on stage again felt kinda full circle 2011 – 2023:
It was here in 2011 I got my German and European network of entrepreneurs and investors kick-started. Still some of my most cherished connections to date.
As one of my favourite songs goes; “Maybe it’s better to burn out, than fade away”… so let’s celebrate – and be happy and grateful that it happened (and kept it happening for so long!), not lament that it’s over – ARRR!
Forever grateful for the safe harbour Manuel Koelman, Till Ohrmann and the rest of the band of pirates managed to create (and maintain) for us over these many, many years.
This is going to leave a big hole in the region. But that’s OK: It’s the testament to what the Pirate Summit was, is, and forever will be; Irreplaceable!
“My my, hey hey.
Rock and roll is here to stay. It’s better to burn out than to fade away.
My my, hey hey.
Out of the blue and into the black. They give you this, but you pay for that. And once you’re gone you can never come back. When you’re out of the blue and into the black.”
Neil Young
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