The welcome session positioned the investor stage as a deliberately focused program designed to create maximum value for investors, institutional LPs, and, ultimately, founders attending Bits and Pretzels in Munich. The hosts opened by greeting the audience and explaining that this is the third edition of the investor program, hosted by Andre and Felix. They framed the third year as the point at which the format has become something of a tradition, while emphasizing that the original idea three years ago was not to introduce investors to Bits and Pretzels for the first time, but to create a dedicated program specifically for investors and LPs.

Felix described the program’s development as an iterative process. In the first year, the goal was to bring top investors and LPs to Munich. In the second year, the team improved the format, and in the third year they again made “a lot of little adoptions” and changes. The stated purpose of these adjustments was precise: to provide maximum value to investors and LPs, while also supporting founders. Andre then expanded the current scale of the event, saying that more than 2,000 investors are present at Bits and Pretzels in Munich, with several hundred additional participants joining online because they cannot attend physically. He highlighted that this is the first time the audience has been extended in that way.

A central point of pride was the presence of more than 330 institutional LPs. Andre described the effort to bring international LPs from all over the world to Munich as significant, and said the hosts were looking forward to the conversations ahead. He then set expectations for the two-day agenda: more than 60 speakers across more than 20 sessions, designed around deep and honest conversations. He contrasted this approach with conferences that rely on ten- or fifteen-minute panels, explaining that the investor stage is intended to go deeper into specific topics already known to matter to the audience.

The welcome concluded by outlining additional networking opportunities and announcing a new report. Beyond the stage program, attendees were pointed to GP-LP matchmaking, the investor lounge, exclusive formats such as LP Fifty connected to Oktoberfest, and more open formats across the days. Andre then announced that the team had collected convictions from several speakers about the next five years and compiled them into a report published that day. Attendees can access the convictions report through a QR code in front of the investor lounge and later online. He closed by thanking the contributing speakers, the Bits and Pretzels team, and cohost Felix for making the program possible.