The session’s core message is that startup growth in Bavaria and neighboring regions should not be treated as a Munich-only story: regional founders can become the next generation of “hidden champions” if they receive networks, capital access, and ecosystem support where they are based. The moderator opened by connecting Bavaria’s long tradition of globally active hidden champions in rural areas with the startup economy, asking what is happening beyond large hubs such as Munich and Nuremberg. The first examples were intentionally regional: Neuramancer from Rosenheim, siOPTICA from Jena in Thuringia, and Eye-Able from near Würzburg, each showing a different model of deep tech or mission-driven scale-up outside the largest startup centers.

Neuramancer presented a research-based AI security layer focused on detecting whether images are real or fake, targeting disinformation and insurance fraud through statistical traces in image artifacts rather than content analysis. siOPTICA’s Markus Klippstein described a Jena-based optics company with a highly international team, experience in exits, and a strong emphasis on loving the customer, staying close to product needs, and being ready to reposition the company. He explained siOPTICA’s switchable visual privacy technology for screens and its move from hardware licensing toward hardware, software, and services, including a very fast optics innovation tool used for synthetic data generation, digital twins, and planned SaaS/API use cases. Eye-Able’s Eric Braun then grounded digital accessibility in a personal story: a visually impaired friend had to abandon chemistry studies because he could not use an online campus management system. Eye-Able’s mission became making websites, applications, terminals, and other digital interfaces more accessible, especially as European B2C companies now face mandatory accessibility standards.

The panel then shifted from founder stories to ecosystem conditions. Bavarian State Secretary Tobias Gotthardt rejected the idea that Bavaria focuses only on Munich or Nuremberg, saying roughly half of new startups are founded outside the greater Munich area and pointing to around 40 startup centers across Bavaria. Carsten Rudolph of BayStartUP echoed that roughly half of the startups they support are not based in Munich and its surroundings, linking regional founders to Bavaria’s strong ranking among European startup hubs. Katja Butzmann of bmt, representing Thuringia, emphasized that growth and capital do not stop at state borders, arguing for cross-border networks, cooperation, exchange of best practices, and trust-based investor relationships.