Program - Forum UnternehmerTUM 2026

Top Program on 3 Stages

01:30 PM

REGISTRATION

01:30 PM – Duration: 1h

Location: REGISTRATION

02:30 PM

Setting

the

Stage:

Europe`s

Strategic

Growth

Agenda

Dorothee Bär, Federal Minister for Research, Technology and Space

Markus Blume, Bavarian Minister of State for Science and the Arts

Susanne Klatten, Entrepreneur, ALTANA and BMW – Member of the Supervisory Boards, UnternehmerTUM – Founder

Julia Jäkel, dpa – Member of the Supervisory Board, Holtzbrinck Publishing Group and Munich Re – Non-Executive Director Advisory Boards

Helmut Schönenberger, UnternehmerTUM – Co-Founder & CEO

Jennifer Kaiser-Steiner, UnternehmerTUM – Head of Learning & Exchange Center, Moderator

Christine Klein, ESA – Acting Director of Controlling, Finance & Operational Procurement

Hans Koenigsmann, Aerospace Engineer & early SpaceX Manager

Walther Pelzer, German Space Agency at the DLR – Director General

Sven Przywarra, LiveEO – Co-Founder

Inga vom Holtz, UnternehmerTUM – Director Startups & Investments, Moderator

Francesco Sciortino, Proxima Fusion – Co-Founder & CEO

Benjamin Erhart, UVC Partners – General Partner, Moderator

02:30 PM – Duration: 1h 35min

Location: Foyer & Auditorium

04:05 PM

Break

Networking

04:05 PM – Duration: 25min

Location: NETWORKING & MATCHMAKING AREA

04:30 PM

From

Germany

New

Orbits

Maria Birlem, Yuri – Co-Founder, CEO

Florian Doetzer, TUM Venture Labs – Managing Director, Moderator

Robert Hook, Marble Imaging – CEO

Jord Janssen, ISP Tech – Founders Associate

Victor Maier, The Exploration Company – Lead Germany and Central Europe Business

Mika Mänz, Acitoflux – Founder & CEO, Moderator

Kristina Nikolaus, Okapi Orbits – CEO & Co-Founder

Bettine Schmitz, AUXXO Capital – Managing Director, General Partner

Sergey Sukhanov, Flypix AI – CEO & Co-Founder

Ossi Tianinen, NGP Capital – Partner

How is value created in New Space? Leading ESA Business Accelerator Germany (ESA BAG) scaleups demonstrate how deep-tech innovations across the value chain—from upstream infrastructure to downstream applications—become scalable, market-ready businesses.

04:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: FOYER Stage

Shaping

Europe’s

Way:

Insights

from

Leaders

Frederic Boesel, Black Forest Labs – Founding Member

Moritz Gräter, IPAI – CEO

Jan Mittendorf, TU Munich – Managing Director, Software/AI Venture Lab, Moderator

Eva Spannagl, Open AI – Director

Europe’s AI “advantages” are often cited but rarely unpacked. In this panel, builders from the AI Triangle (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Switzerland) go beyond slogans and share where we really stand in turning leading research, talent, and industrial know-how into competitive AI solutions - plus what the AI Ecosystem in Europe must do now to keep up.

04:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: ARENA Stage

Strategy

under

pressure:

Leading

through

Geopolitics

Uncertainty

Sebastian Borek, HTGF – Managing Director

Moritz Förster, UnternehmerTUM – Managing Partner, Moderator

Martin Merz, SAP SE – President Sovereign Cloud

Sebastian Koch, DATEV – Member of the Executive Board, Chief Business Development Officer

Alexander Wottrich, Truma Group – Co-CEO

Geopolitics is now a core business variable. Trade conflicts, technological sovereignty and energy dependencies shape strategic decisions. This panel brings together investors and infrastructure leaders to discuss how companies can stay in control in a fragmented world — and turn geopolitical risk into competitive advantage.

04:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: STUDIO Stage,

In German

05:10 PM

Break

Networking

05:10 PM – Duration: 20min

Location: NETWORKING & MATCHMAKING AREA

05:30 PM

EUROPE's

Deep

Tech

Startup

Ecosystem

Stefan Drüssler, UnternehmerTUM – Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer

Francesco Billari, Bocconi University (Milan) – Rector

Maurizio Tamagnini, FSI – CEO & Founder

Michael Marthaler, HQS Quantum Simulations – CEO

Andrea Rocchetto, Ephos – CEO & Co-Founder

Luca de Angelis, Tech Europe Foundation (TEF) – CEO, Moderator

I. BUILDING EUROPE'S NEXT DEEP TECH HUB (15 mins - Billari & Tamagnini). What it takes to build such infrastructure and how TEF is doing it from Milan, together with universities, investors, and the next generation of founders. II. BUILT IN EUROPE (25 mins - Marthaler & Rocchetto): TWO PATHS THROUGH THE QUANTUM STACK. 2 founders, 2 different journeys, this conversation explores both, while mapping where the European quantum market stands and why.

05:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: FOYER Stage

Modernizing

Public

Administration

with

Agentic

Startups

Amanda Birkenholz, UVC Partners – Principal

Flora Geske, SummAI – Co-Founder, CEO

Nina Böhm, City of Munich – AI Strategist

Thomas Jarzombek, Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs and State Modernization – Parliamentary State Secretary

Ralf Junge-Pearl, DigitalService, Inhouse Unit for the Federal Government of Germany – Senior Tranformation Manager

Boris Paal, TU Munich – Chair for Law and Regulation of the Digital Transformation, Of Counsel & Business Mediator

Thomas Zeller, UnternehmerTUM – Chief Digital Officer & Managing Director, Moderator

How can AI agents and startups make government services measurably faster, more citizen-centric, and more efficient? We’ll discuss specific applications, success factors (data, processes, regulation), and how government and the ecosystem can scale up together.

05:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: ARENA Stage

Succession

between

Change

and

Continuity

(Panel

German)

Hanna Hottenrott, TU Munich – Innovation Economics, Leibniz-Zentrum – Head "Innovationsökonomik & Unternehmensdynamik"

Sabrina Koch, UnternehmerTUM – Senior Manager, Moderator

Lisa Stuhler, Tilia Nachfolgekapital – Founder & Managing Director

Johanna von Eben-Worlée, E.H. Worlée Group – Member of Executive Board

Business succession is more than a handover process: it is a strategic imperative for Germany’s future. The panel explores the structural, financial, and cultural hurdles that shape succession and brings together perspectives from research with first-hand insights from both internal and external succession. One thing is clear: there is no one-size-fits-all model.

05:30 PM – Duration: 40min

Location: STUDIO Stage,

In German

06:10 PM