Fall’s greatest tech events — and what we learned

Last month was both great fun and extraordinarily busy. The hubraum team has been rushing about Europe attending (and hosting) the most cutting-edge and fascinating tech events. Didn’t have a chance to do the same or join us at our events? Don’t worry — we’ve recapped the most memorable moments and sharpest insights below.

Having facilitated groundbreaking 5G API tests in Berlin, Kraków, and Seattle through the 5G Early Access Program, hubraum is now extending its reach. Beyond spotlighting Polish IT expertise on a global stage, the initiative propels Kraków as a powerhouse for further technological innovation in Europe.

From startups to hyperscalers, 5G Testing Lab’s doors are open to any promising team or company that is ready to leverage our cutting-edge infrastructure, building a vibrant tech community in the process.

The official lab opening saw exciting keynotes from experts at Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile Polska, and hubraum, as well as a hyperscaler partner who is testing in Kraków – Microsoft!

The event was wrapped up the event with an exciting and interactive Use Case Fire Round with Aeriu, CTHINGS.CO and Bruno Monteiro, a participant in the latest hubraum`s hackathon.

Outstanding teams from Italy, Ukraine, Germany and Poland teamed up in Kraków for a uniquely gamified 5G APIs Hackathon.

The event took place right before the 5G APIs testing Lab Opening in hubraum Kraków and the participants had the unique opportunity to test the lab and APIs before everyone else.

Driven by the ambition to be among the first ones to harness the power of Deutsche Telekom’s advanced 5G APIs, the participants addressed the unique challenge of utilizing the potential and versatility of next-generation connectivity in real-time scenarios.

The results? Forward-thinking and promising solutions that could redefine the tech landscape!

Despite offering a massive 50,000 tickets, DigitalX sold out — which tells you everything you need to know. One big attraction was the movie star George Clooney — another was our network and communication APIs, which we’d launched in a collaboration with Vonage, culminating in MagentaBusiness API. At our Telekom API hackathon, six teams shed light on the versatility of location, messaging and voice APIs. One of the startups we collaborate with, Instreamly, sent their co-founder Wiktoria Wojcik to participate in a panel about equality — she told us she wanted to live in a world where such panels are no longer necessary. We couldn’t agree more.

Investment matters — but so does breakfast. That’s why on Thursday 21st September, our ventures team hosted a brunch in Krakow for investors and key startup figures. Over 20 people came, including VC fund reps; angel investors and representatives from local organizations which support startups. After a short welcome and introduction, attendees were able to network; discuss the future of Krakow’s tech ecosystem and consider what could be done to support its development. Sara Takeuchi was just one of our staff members who attended. What did she like best about it? “We exchanged our knowledge and experiences with other VC investors, established new relationships and held insightful conversations about market trends.” Special thanks must go to Sterling Angels for their support with our brunch!

At Bits and Pretzels, we scored a wealth of insights about the current European ecosystem. Did you know that although funding is substantially down compared to last year (60% less), some sectors — such as climate tech — scored more funding than last year? Or perhaps you were unaware that the majority of European VC firms are currently focused on seed and Series A investments, while growth capital comes from outside of Europe? Multiple appeals were delivered to Berlin and Munich to stop acting in competition to one another and instead, to collaborate. Plus, we discovered that many investors who, until not long ago, focused on consumer startups, are now interested in solutions like Gen AI, deep tech, quantum technology, defense, space tech, environmental tech and the energy transition.

One of the highlights of the conference was when the former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, took to the stage. Our favourite part of her talk was when she compared knitting to entrepreneurship: “Knitting is a reminder for me at least that nothing big happens overnight. Knitting is about one stitch at a time…That is what is required for a change, day by day. If you get discouraged because the movement isn’t happening fast enough…that’s when we lose. So, we keep working, keep moving every day.”

At the Intel Ignite Portfolio Day, senior decision makers from some of Europe’s biggest companies pitched in with thoughtful commentary. A particular highlight was the panel discussion, in which speakers debated the topic, “How to Translate Frontier Technology Into Tangible Business Today.” One standout moment was delivered by the managing director, VP and general manager of Intel Germany, Christin Eisenschmid. When asked what comes next after a startup has finished their proof of concept, she gestured to the idea that there are larger forces at play than the startup’s efforts alone.“Corporates need to learn how to work with startups. It isn’t a given that this works,” she said. “First, there needs to be a real readiness to work with startups and embrace startups from the top. If this is not the case, if the startup department is a unit that works completely independently from the CTO unit, the engineering unit, then it will never work, there will be no results.”

The atmosphere was electric at the 11th edition of Startupnight, with big name speakers like the CEO of Berlin Partner and the CEO of Investitionsbank Berlin (Germany’s largest institutional VC) in attendance. Our team was also there, with Investment Manager Gabriela Brodzinska delivering a workshop on Mastering the Art of Fundraising. Attendees also had the chance to meet some of hubraum’s startups as well, such as our portfolio company Instreamly and Family Cards, a new resident in our Berlin campus. One of the standout aspects of this edition was the focus on diversity, with 25% of the events’ speakers being women (impressive for a male-dominated sector like tech) and a vast number of global startups. One key tech trend we picked up on was clean tech and energy-efficient solutions, with several startups showcasing groundbreaking solutions for optimizing energy consumption and reducing carbon footprints. Healthcare and well-being products were another key focus, spanning cutting-edge wearables that track and improve physical fitness to mental health apps that offer personalized support.