From 10 to 14 November, the MediaTech Hub Potsdam attended Web Summit in Lisbon as part of the de:hub Initiative and GTAI – Germany Trade & Invest. The trip once again provided an important platform to showcase the strengths of the Babelsberg ecosystem, present our programmes and startups to an international audience, and gather fresh insights from Europe’s largest tech conference.
Opening Night
Web Summit opened with a lively and high-profile programme: speakers included Anton Osika (Lovable), Maria Sharapova, Khaby Lame and several other international voices. A special moment of the night was the parade of founders from 100 nations – accompanied by an inspiring speech from the Mayor of Lisbon.
Launching the German Park
The German Park of the de:hub initiative was officially opened by Dr Karsten Wildberger, Federal Minister for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation, and Gitta Connemann, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy. For us, it served as a central hub for panels, pitches and conversations with partners from the German and international startup ecosystem.
MTH Accelerator on Stage
A first highlight were the pitches delivered by five of our startups on the German Park stage: BrandPatrol, TripLeap, Valid, xounds and Gretchen AI.
This was followed by the panel “Bootstrapping vs Fundraising”, where our colleague Héline Dedier spoke with Helm & Nagel GmbH and Ethical Saving.
Key topics included the two tracks of the MTH Accelerator (“Investment Readiness” and “Bootstrap & Seedstrap”), ten years of bootstrapping experience at Helm & Nagel, and funding realities in the health sector.
Women in Tech: Leadership and Impact
Another important session for us was the “Women in Tech: Leadership and Impact” panel. The takeaways were sobering:
- Women and men complete PhDs in equal numbers, yet women hold significantly fewer patents.
- Only 2% of German VC investment flows into women-led teams.
- Many women leave the tech sector within the first ten years due to leadership and cultural issues.
- Companies need to take active measures, not just comment on the problem.
Collaboration in the German Park
As an official part of the de:hub initiative and in partnership with GTAI, the MediaTech Hub Potsdam was also present with its own stand in the German Park. Together with our accelerator startups xounds and Tripleap, we held numerous meetings and engaged in inspiring exchanges with both national and international partners.
Will we come back?
Web Summit 2025 clearly demonstrated once again how dynamic the international startup scene is — and how important it is for Germany’s innovation hubs to be visible on a global stage. As part of the de:hub initiative and in cooperation with GTAI, we are grateful for the opportunity to showcase our programmes, our startups and the strength of the Babelsberg ecosystem.
Of course we’ll be back! We look forward to returning to Web Summit 2026!
Some impressions from Web Summit.
