A night to remember: Berlin Startupnight 2017 - the coverage

Autumn is coming, you might say. I had this ‘electric’ feeling of impending rain during the whole evening. Fortunately, besides a few raindrops, Hauptstadt's weather was almost as cordial as the hosts, especially for a visitor who forgot his umbrella.

I landed with a little delay at the Zentraler Omnibus Bahnhof, jumped in the U2 Unterbahn at the Kaiserdamm Station to get off at Hausvogteiplatz. I was in a hurry as much as a gentleman who just left the Moroccan Embassy at Niederwallstrasse. Following his suggestion, I reached Franzoserstrasse and walked into impressive Deutsche Telekom Offices.

Deutsche Telekom Representative Office

Dozens of volunteers were very friendly, but unfortunately only one of them knew where the Content Creators Workshop took place. With a cold drop on my neck, I entered the right room believing that the workshops had just begun and I'd take the role of a distracting intruder. I couldn’t be that wrong.

It seemed like I wasn't the only missing sheep and 2nd-floor room in the right wing of Deutsche Telekom's HQ was opening and closing for the next half hour. At this point, I must admit that workshops were very valuable and organizers should consider further enlargement in this aspect. There's a variety of topics that young founders would like to discuss. Besides, the workshop formula created an excellent networking conditions thanks to clearly described issues. At this point, I'd like to thank Frederik Görtelmeyer, Alejandro Arretureta, Joab Nist, Nina Raasch and Nathan Ceddia for inspirational insights.

Deutsche Telekom Representative Office during Berlin Startupnight

After the workshops, I moved my steps towards the exhibition area located behind the main scene. Some companies were pretty well-known among the startup scene, although I met one founded only a week before the event! What I noticed is growing interdisciplinarity of the startup picture. You don't have to be a keen observer to see that the market is becoming more mature and more and more entrepreneurs are aiming to deliver turn-key solutions.

Is this the end of lean approach? With the considerable involvement of the German Government as well as big enterprises, young founders can expect higher funding rounds than their competitors from other European countries.

After a few long hours at the Telekom's building, I went to Deutsche Bank's Atrium at the Unter den Linden Strasse. Led by colourful stripes painted on this occasion on the footpaths of Berlin downtown I couldn't miss my very next stop.

on my way to Deutsche Bank's Atrium

Atrium hosted a more fin-tech-oriented exhibition, filled with mobile bank services and B2B solutions. You could find there interesting HR management solutions, data management systems and data-protection services among the others. Most of them were very sophisticated. However, I've seen a few teams which, in my opinion, made themselves known a bit too early :) No matter what, I took advantage of Atrium's cantine and had my first warm meal since departure from Poznan. Fuelled with carbohydrates, I moved towards another Atrium. After having a few thoughtful conversations, I reached Microsoft's place.

Berlin Startupnight at Deutsche Bank's Atrium

Microsoft’s building, on the other hand, is completely different than the previous ones. Every guest is welcomed with an aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and following snacks available in this nice looking place. Besides crispy cookies, the visitors can test some of the newest devices of the company and play FIFA. Despite the heart-of-Berlin location, most of the guests picked Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund (with Robert Lewandowski, or Lukasz Piszczek in the starting lineup, of course). I must admit that the atmosphere was quite at home in there :)

Microsoft's place

This place was fully dedicated to innovation and, in my personal opinion, it displayed the biggest creativity from all of the exhibitions. Music hardware, cosmetics, gaming, even a cheese produced without using milk... It's a pity that this brain-shaking spot was limited by the space. I decided to stay there for a bit longer and also check the supplies of the cafeteria before moving forward to the Volkswagen's Group Forum.

The entrance to Volkswagen Group Forum

Another beautiful piece of architecture is located at a very representative Friedrichstrasse. Startups hosted by the world-famous motor company were mostly committed to environmental protection and green sources of energy. Saving the planet is one of the biggest challenges of the new tech companies, and the VW building was emphasizing this fact strongly. Offtopic worth mentioning: the Lounge served free APA's. I couldn't refuse to have one after so many hours.

Volkswagen Group Forum during Berlin Startupnight

It's been almost midnight when I decided to come back to the place where everything started - Deutsche Telekom's Representative. The reason was simple: at 1 AM a great party was launched, and finally, all of the participants could take off their ties, forget for a moment about self-esteem and jump into the crowded dance floor. The party lasted until 4 o’clock, and when the street lights went out, I took a long walk heading Ostbahn to kill some time until my train arrived.

Party during Berlin Startupnight

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