Sesame Summit 2026 – application open

Founding the future of tech

The line-up of speakers for 2022 is stellar! Which of these speakers are you most looking forward to hearing from?

It’s really hard to pick one, especially since we are adding more speakers to the lineup constantly. Currently, I am really excited to welcome Dr. Robert Habeck, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, to the event.

The fact that decision-makers of the highest level come to Bits & Pretzels to connect with founders shows the magnitude of our event and how important we became as a platform. The European startup scene is an important economic factor and we are proud to promote it this way and improve its perception.

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Dr. Robert Habeck – Bits & Pretzels Twitter

Your unique approach to matchmaking using a team specifically trained and assigned to handle it instead of the typical AI matchmaking caught our attention. Can you tell us how this matchmaking team ensures attendees end up meeting the right people?

This is something we chose to take the Festival to the next level because it’s really beneficial to complement our matchmaking app with highly motivated humans. Apps are good to show you who might be interested in you but the event is much more than just surface-level interest. We are all about creating genuine business connections.

When you arrive at Bits & Pretzels you might be overwhelmed by all the possibilities and people you have access to within just a few days. Our Matchmaking Area is the central meeting point of the event and the Matchmaking Team hosts many different formats that can help you meet more relevant people for your business.

To do this, our matchmakers will always ask you first to define your goals. This simple task helps participants to find the right track to focus on throughout the event. Once participants can clearly visualize the right path of attack they can start to optimize the success of the event for themselves. Afterward, our Matchmaking team will explain all the tools and formats Bits & Pretzels offers that suit your specific goals, and then you can start executing them yourself. They make your goals our first priority, that’s something software can’t do.

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Bits & Pretzels matchmaking table and volunteers

Your “Table Captain” networking event sounds like an interesting upgrade from other typical networking events. How does this system benefit founders in particular?

This is a format we have had since the very first edition of Bits & Pretzels, and it’s really great. Experts, successful founders, and investors are hosting tables at the original Munich Oktoberfest and founders can book a spot at those tables. This is actual face-to-face time with professionals who can help leverage your business or your abilities as a founder.

It’s the perfect chance to ask for advice or to connect with the right people. You might also be able to pitch your company or your product. For the Table Captains, it is a great way to give back to the startup community and help others with their knowledge to hopefully follow in their footsteps.

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Bits & Pretzels Day 1 Networking Night

Do you have any special deals for founders thinking about attending this year’s event?

At Bits & Pretzels, founders and startups always come first. They are at the center of almost every format we offer but if I had to pick, I would choose our startup exhibition and our pitch contest. This is an easy and financially friendly way to join the event as more than just a normal attendee. It allows you to get the name of your startup out and even get on a stage at Bits & Pretzels.

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Bits & Pretzels Startup Competition (2018)

Check them out on Sesamers smrs.link/BP22

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Events 2 days ago

Last week, I spent three days at Bits and Pretzels in Munich — a startup-focused event with a distinctly Bavarian flavor. Think Oktoberfest meets startup conference, complete with dirndls, lederhosen, and more beer than you might expect. As someone building an AI-powered event platform, I went in with a specific mission: Observe how startups actually market themselves at events. Here’s what I discovered: GoodBytz: The power of good demos What they did: Robotics startup GoodBytz set up a booth where its robots prepared kaiserschmarrn (a traditional German dessert) all day long. Why it worked: Nothing beats seeing a product in action. While other booths had brochures and demos, GoodBytz’s robots were actually cooking. The smell, the movement and the end result stirred together an experience that people will remember and talk about. The lesson: If you have a physical product, show it in action. The old writing adage generalizes well: Show, don’t tell.  Let people see, hear and touch the product. WeRoad: The bathroom hack What they did: Posted “Missing Investor” flyers in bathroom stalls with QR codes pointing to their website. Why it worked: Pure genius. Every startup at the event was looking for investors, but the “Missing Investor” headline, while a bit on the nose, proved irresistible. Plus, bathroom stalls are one of the few places where people have 30 seconds to actually read something. The lesson: Think about where your target audience’s attention will remain undivided. Sometimes, the most effective marketing leverages the most unexpected places. Emqopter: Visual impact matters What they did: Designed a bright orange booth that displayed their drone prominently. Why it worked: In a sea of grey, white, beige and brown, Emqopter’s bright orange booth was impossible to overlook. The drone was real, too, and proved a real conversation starter. The lesson: Your booth is competing with hundreds of others. Make it visually distinctive and ensure your product is the hero. Quests: Community building using the product What they did: Created a busy, branded booth with accessories (toy car, traffic cones, a bulletin board) and used their anti-loneliness app to build communities among founders at the event. Why it worked: Quests used their product to solve a real problem right at the event, and the busy booth design generated energy and curiosity. The lesson: Use your product to solve a problem at the event — if it’s possible, of course. Demonstrate your value in real time. Dyno: Event-themed marketing What they did: Distributed branded electrolyte packs with the tagline “Your hangover ends. Your pension lasts – with Dyno.” Why it worked: Dyno aligned its messaging perfectly with the Oktoberfest theme. Every attendee was thinking about beer and hangovers, so Dyno’s goodies were quite relevant. The tagline was clever, memorable, and directly addressed a pain point most people at the event might have to deal with later. The lesson: Tailor your marketing to the event’s theme and culture. The more you tie your messaging and product to the context, the more memorable you become. So, what did I learn? Event marketing is about more than just showing up and setting up a booth; you have to understand your audience and create experiences that people will remember. Here’s what really struck me: most startups and even big companies don’t know how to leverage events properly. They book the booth, show up and hope for the best; maybe they bring some branded pens and a pop-up banner. Then they’ll go back home and wonder why they spent €5,000 in exchange for 50 business cards that never convert. The startups that stood out at Bits and Pretzels understand something fundamental: event ROI isn’t about booth size or location; it’s about strategy, creativity and planning. None of the startups above improvised on-site, or planned something the night before the event in their hotel rooms. They laid everything out 4-6 weeks before the event. A solid pre-event strategy is what separates successful event marketing from expensive booth rental.  But what matters most for early-stage startups is that you don’t need a massive budget to stand out. WeRoad’s bathroom stall hack probably cost €50 to print the flyers. A standard booth package at Bits and Pretzels would go for €3,000 to €5,500. The ROI difference is staggering when you compare the cost per meaningful conversation. That’s the difference between simply spending money and investing smartly. Building Sesamers has taught me that helping startups find the right events is only half the equation. The other half is helping them understand how to maximize ROI once they’re there. Good props aren’t a marketing expense; they’re opportunities to meet customers, investors and partners, and strike up engaging conversations.

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