A Jam-Packed Night at the Lange Nacht der Startups

By David Knight |

The conference during the day is almost sold out – but there is still time to grab your ticket for the Lange Nacht der Startups (LNdS) evening event this Saturday, September 6. The event is designed chiefly to demystify the startup scene for ordinary Germans who perhaps don’t quite know what exactly startups do, but it also offers a great deal for those of us who are already in the know.

This year’s event is twice as big as the inaugural LNdS in 2013, and takes place across two venues. Deutsche Telekom is once again the main organiser of the event, and has partnered up with the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK), the Investitionsbank Berlin (IBB) and Berlin Partner. The event will take place at Telekom’s Berlin HQ – as last year – and the IHK’s Ludwig-Erhard-Haus.

The evening event kicks off with live pitches at both venues. At the IHK, startups will be competing for the chance to appear at the renowned Le Web conference in Paris later this year. Each contestant will have just 90 seconds to pitch, followed by five minutes of Q&A in front of a jury composed of local partners, local investors and entrepreneurs.

At the same time, the final of the Start Tel Aviv contest, in conjunction with the Israeli embassy in Berlin, will be on stage at Telekom’s swanky building. Three startups will present themselves and their product to a high-profile jury, with the winners earning themselves a trip to Israel.

Following a live performance by Sherman Noir – performed at Telekom and beamed live to IHK – a panel discussion, dubbed an ‘Elephant Round’ in German to emphasize its heavyweight nature, will consider partnerships between startups and big companies, and ask whether they are a perfect match.

Taking part in the panel are Niek Jan van Damme, member of the management board of Deutsche Telekom AG and responsible for innovation and product development, IBB board member Sonja Kardorf, Christina Riesen, a PR expert, and Humin CEO and serial entrepreneur Ankur Jain. Tilo Bonow, founder and CEO of Piabo Public Relations, will host the discussion.

The panel will be followed by more live music from beatboxer/blues guitar combo Heymoonshaker, an announcement of of new Telekom partnerships with startups and a conference wrap by Andreas Gebhard of re:publica. Then it’s more music from Schafe und Wölfe (Sheep and Wolves) and LARY before the prize competition and tombola – and then the DJ takes over.

Beyond the content on stage, the Lange Nacht der Startups also offers up a great opportunity to check out the more than 100 startups which will be on display, and to meet the investors and business angels who will also be present. Tickets to the evening event cost €5 and you can buy them here.

All that follows the conference during the day, held in partnership with re:publica, which takes place from 10am to 5pm and focuses on the themes of partnering, founding and financing. It will also give founders the chance to meet a variety of different experts up close and personal and immerse themselves in direct talks.

The conference will be divided into three streams: Start, Advanced and Partnering. Among the speakers will be Niek Jan van Damme, who will talk about partnering and how both sides profit from strong partnership, the opportunities and challenges presented by partnerships to established companies and young startups.

While the conference is nearly sold out, there are some limited tickets left – you can grab them here.