Summary
The available transcript presents the Golden Pretzel Award pre-round as a deliberately redesigned pitch format: 11 handpicked startups are not only pitching to investors, but appearing alongside the investors who selected them. Host Flo Akinbiyi frames the session as a high-energy, audience-supported competition at Bits and Pretzels 2026, with six minutes for each startup-investor presentation and three minutes for concise jury questions. The jury is introduced as Anna Fedulov of Rotom Capital, focused on underrepresented founders; Inge von Holz of UnternehmerTUM, described as leading startups and investments; and Jan Reicherheit of 10x Founders, noted for building and selling Mendeley. The first company, Arch, is presented by Antler’s Christoph Klink together with founder Eli Waxman.
Key Topics
5 key topics from Christoph Klink, Eli Waxman, Christian Stiebner, Frederik Brammer and 7 more speakers at Bits & Pretzels 2026 | Founders Festival in Munich. Thicker branches were mentioned more often in the talk.
Key Takeaways
- Design AI products around access, context, and continuity.
- Use live demos to prove workflow value on stage.
- Target early adopters already hacking AI into daily routines.
- Prepare concise metrics for technical defensibility questions.
- Address privacy architecture before investors raise concerns.
“We do believe that this will be the next big category in personal computing.”
Up Next
Next in agenda
Welcome
Also on startup pitch
Golden Pretzel Award - Grand Finale
Also on venture capital