Hamburg/Germany is to become the Number One Startup-Pitcher from Europe at SXSW
Hamburg/Germany is to become the Number One Startup-Pitcher from Europe at SXSW
From 13 to 17 March 2015, some of the world's toughest startup competitions will take place at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Only a few entrepreneurs have the potential to be successful in this major league of digital business ideas. The biggest single contingent of European startups will come from Hamburg, with a total of four young companies from the German city in attendance at the SXSW Startup-Village. The healthcare startup Tinnitracks, for example, which will also be the only German participant in the official SXSW Accelerator. And three other companies – minubo, knowhere.to, and Trip Rebel – will also pitch at the SXSW Startup-Village.
AUSTIN (Texas) / HAMBURG (Germany) – March 4, 2015. The South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin, Texas will be the global hotspot for the digital creative industries in March, with more than 50,000 visitors expected. While SXSW Interactive will be particularly in the focus of a growing number of visitors, the festival is one of the best opportunities for startups to present their ideas to the public and to potential investors. For the audience at SXSW, it's a great chance to get inspired by innovative business concepts coming from Hamburg – one of the most creative business locations in Europe.
Hamburg is leading the pitches from Europe as the only city to have successfully nominated four promising startups to the SXSW Startup-Village. The finalists show how German entrepreneurs are learning from the US and Asia, while keeping their sense of ambition, quality and cultural values. Tinnitracks (www.tinnitracks.com) competed successfully against 500 global applicants for official SXSW Accelerator status. Now it is the only German startup among 48 finalists pitching in front of international investors. With minubo (www.minubo.com), knowhere.to (www.knowhere.to), and Trip Rebel (www.triprebel.com), Hamburg will be sending three more startups as part of the German Startup Engine to the official SXSW Startup-Village.
This year, Hamburg will attend the industry meeting with a delegation comprising more than 50 participants from Hamburg-based companies like the German news flagship SPIEGEL ONLINE, BIGPOINT, one of the leading global online game developers, and XING, the social network for business professionals with more than 15 million members worldwide. The city will also extend its participation at SXSW in 2015 by a fourth day.
"We have been presenting Hamburg at South by Southwest for 10 years now, and have grown and developed as SXSW has grown and developed," reflects Johannes Everke from Hamburg Marketing. "Initially, the focus was on Hamburg as Germany's music capital and thus on our Reeperbahn Festival as Europe's biggest club event. Interactive technologies have grown dynamically within Hamburg's economy, just as they have in their significance at SXSW. The four startups representing Hamburg at the Startup-Village this year are conduits of this dynamic energy. Their success demonstrates that the startup conditions in Hamburg are better than almost anywhere else in Europe."
There can be no doubt that the functioning networks in the startup scene play a major role here, along with the invigorating environment presented by a vibrant cosmopolitan city of almost 2 million inhabitants. Both of these factors can be experienced live at events in Austin over the four days of SXSW Interactive:
On 15 March, the "Hamburg Interactive Day" will once again take place at the "German Haus". In the afternoon, "HamburgTexConnect" will bring together leading creative minds from Hamburg's and Austin's startup scenes for an exclusive match-making session.
At the "Hamburg Music Day" on 18 March at the "German Haus", culinary delights will await the audience at the legendary "Reeperbahn Hamburgers" networking event, followed by the Reeperbahn Festival Showcase, an official SXSW Showcase feat. Carl Barat & The Jackals, Summer Moon, Rangleklods, Honeyblood, Ωracles, Aisha Burns.
The Hanseatic City of Hamburg is Germany's second largest city and known as advertising and media capital with big industry leaders such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google. With the highest GDP per capita in Germany, the city state is one of the strongest economic regions in Europe. Hamburg is one of the top locations for startups and a favorite working place for creative minds, artists, musicians, game designers. About 23,000 companies are employing more than 110,000 staff in the fields of media, IT and telecommunications (MITT). This makes Hamburg one of the most important technology and creative locations in Europe. As the center of Germany's music business, the city hosts one of the three biggest and most important music and digital industry events in Europe: the Reeperbahn Festival. Each year the Reeperbahn Festival attracts 30.000 visitors and 3,500 industry delegates, presenting more than 600 wide ranging events, including concerts by international newcomers, conference, showcases, networking, b2b events and an extensive arts programme in 70 unique venues.
Media contact
Media contact in Hamburg
Hamburg Marketing GmbH
Wexstraße 7
20355 Hamburg
Matthias Beer
Phone: +49 40 - 300 51 582
E-mail: Matthias.beer(at)marketing.hamburg.de
Media contact at the SXSW in Austin
Hamburg Startups
Sanja Stankovic
Cell: +49 171 8352419
E-mail: sanja.stankovic(at)hamburg-startups.net
About SXSW Accelerator:
SXSW Accelerator at the SXSW Interactive Festival has served as a catalyst for over 200 incredible companies who have presented to a variety of esteemed judges and emcees over the past seven years. Of these presenting companies, 56% have received funding – totaling over $587 million. This year’s competition took place at the SXSW Startup Village. On March 14, 48 finalists presented their ideas to a live audience and a panel of judges and emcees. On Sunday, March 15, the field of 48 was narrowed down to the top 18 companies who would return to present to a new set of emcees and judges, which then selected the grand prize winners for each category. www.sxsw.com/interactive/accelerator
About Hamburg:
The Hanseatic City of Hamburg is Germany’s second largest city and known as an advertising and media capital boasting big industry leaders such as Facebook, Twitter and Google. With the highest GDP per capita in Germany, the city state is one of the strongest economic regions in Europe. Hamburg is one of the top locations for startups and a favorite working place for creative minds, artists, musicians and game designers. About 23,000 companies employ more than 110,000 staff in the fields of media, IT and telecommunications (MITT), making Hamburg one of the most important technology and creative locations in Europe. As the center of Germany’s music business, the city also hosts the Reeperbahn Festival, one of the three biggest and most important music and digital industry events in Europe. Each year, the Reeperbahn Festival attracts 30,000 visitors and 3,500 industry delegates, presenting more than 600 wide-ranging events, including concerts by international newcomers, a conference, showcases, networking events, B2B events and an extensive arts program in 70 unique venues.