Why this topic, why now?
Energy costs, supply chain pressure and a tougher competitive position are forcing producing companies to innovate faster than their own R&D cycles allow. Start-up partnerships are one of the most direct routes to do so, but a factory is not a software company: plants, shifts, safety standards and long supplier relationships change what collaboration can look like. This panel asks how Mittelstand companies spot the right innovation opportunities in the first place, and how they turn start-up partnerships into results.
Who is on stage, and what will we discuss?
Mittelstand leaders and a start-up founder share what keeps a producing company awake at night in 2026, how they identify where innovation is actually needed rather than merely interesting, what triggered their first partnerships, which formats have delivered and which have failed, and what it takes to scale a successful pilot from one plant to the whole company.
Who is this for?
Mittelstand and industrial companies that want to work with start-ups but struggle to identify the right opportunities or move beyond pilots
Start-up founders selling into manufacturing who want to understand what their counterpart is actually dealing with
Investors and ecosystem partners assessing what makes corporate-start-up collaboration in DACH succeed or fail
