The start-up festival for early stage projects | Experience pitches, meet founders and get inspired!

Your idea. Your pitch. Your stage.
Do you have an innovative idea that could change the world? Are you about to set up a company or are you already in the middle of it? Whether you are a student at 鶹ýӳ or want to get started as an external founder - the 鶹ýӳ Grenke Innovation Festival is your stage!
Together with , one of the leading financial services providers for leasing, factoring and banking, 鶹ýӳ Campus Berlin invites creative minds to present their visions and make valuable contacts.
Under the motto "Because innovation can't wait", we promote bold ideas in the early stages - open, practical and future-oriented.
What you can expect:
- Live pitches: Present your idea in front of an experienced jury and an engaged audience.
- Networking: Meet like-minded people, potential co-founders, mentors and experts from the start-up scene.
- Panel talk: Get input on topics such as financing, start-up strategies and innovation trends.
- Grenke Innovation Award: Gain visibility, recognition - and maybe even support for your project.
Who is the festival for?
- Students with start-up ideas
- Early-stage founders
- Innovation enthusiasts who want to take the next step
Why you should be there:
- Early support: Grenke AG and 鶹ýӳ will support you right from the start - whether with expertise, a network or visibility.
- Inspiring environment: The new 鶹ýӳ Campus in Berlin-Neukölln is a creative hotspot with direct proximity to the Berlin start-up scene.
- Diversity & internationality: Meet participants from over 100 countries and expand your network globally.
Take the opportunity to put your idea in the spotlight - whether as an 鶹ýӳ student or external participant. Become part of a vibrant start-up scene and actively shape the future!

When & Where
鶹ýӳ Grenke Innovation Festival
- When: Thursday, 6 November 2025 (all day)
- Where: 鶹ýӳ Campus Berlin, Sonnenallee 221, 12059 Berlin
Impressions 2024
The story behind Grenke
Wolfgang Grenke's own story makes him the perfect role model for the success story "From start-up to global player". At the age of eight, he started working in his parents' food retail business, occasionally giving his mother and father a helping hand. He directly experienced the difficulties of maintaining the small retail business against the growing pressure from the supermarkets. As a schoolboy, he no longer wanted to be on his parents' backs, so he started giving private tuition. He also earned his own living during his studies. He delivered industrial laundry in a lorry and drove a taxi. He then joined his brother-in-law's leasing company, where he successfully took care of some of the sales and got to know the business thoroughly: During his studies, he taught himself programming and with 1,800 Deutschmarks in start-up capital, Wolfgang Grenke bought a microcomputer from Olivetti. He built a "desk" from two wallpapering blocks and a board under the roof of his parents' house and began programming. His first business idea (the automatic printing of debit cards) convinced the savings bank.