Program with Many Highlights

This year, too, a range of high-profile international speakers will enrich Heilbronn Slush'D.

• Best-selling author and management thought leader Christian Busch will speak about the importance of serendipity in business. His book "Connect the Dots" is highly recommended by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. Christian Busch teaches at the renowned London School of Economics (LSE) and is part of the expert circle of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

• Magnus Grimeland, founder of Antler, a global early-stage venture capital firm, will share his insights into the venture capital market. Antler is the world's most active seed-stage investor, having invested in over 1,000 startups and is present in more than 30 locations worldwide.

• Dr. Larissa Leitner is a co-founder of Empion, a startup specialising in AI-based headhunting. AI technology helps to address individual needs and values in hiring. She recently published a study with 400 SMEs in the Harvard Business Manager, emphasising the importance of the cultural match for the success of recruiting and the company as a whole.

• Kathrina Meisl, who leads customer and strategic projects at secunet, a German IT security company. Secunet’s clients include federal ministries, over 20 DAX corporations, and other national and international organisations. She is an advocate and speaker for topics such as women in IT, modern leadership, and equality.

• Elias Schneider, founder of Codesphere, began his computer science studies at 15 and worked at Google at 19. His cloud platform optimises the software development process, and he has been named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

• HyImpulse recently conducted the first successful private rocket launch in Germany and received a £5 million grant from the UK Space Agency. Christian Schmierer, co-founder of the space startup from the Heilbronn region, will speak about the industry's challenges and his company's successes.

These speakers provide impulses for our European economic location in key future technologies such as AI, Cloud, Greentech, Industrial Tech, Cybersecurity, and NewSpace.

The programme of Heilbronn Slush'D 2024 includes keynotes, panels, and fireside chats, offering in-depth insights into current topics in the tech industry. In addition to the startup pitch competitions, various networking formats will be offered, enabling direct exchange between participants, exhibitors, and speakers. Last year alone, several hundred meetings were arranged in just one afternoon.

Winning Opportunities for Startups

Heilbronn Slush'D 2024 offers startups various pitch competitions with attractive prizes. The ONE Hundred Award includes an investment of €100,000 for pre-seed startups with a B2B focus that are in an early development stage and have already generated initial market interest. The winners will be selected by a jury of industry experts, successful entrepreneurs, and investors. The ONE Shared Vision Award offers a prize of €10,000 for innovative and disruptive technologies in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The Campus Founders Community Award includes a prize of €5,000 exclusively for startups that are members of the Campus Founders Community. The winners will be determined by live voting during the event. Finally, the CyberOne High-Tech Award, sponsored by the state of Baden-Württemberg, will present awards in the categories of Digital Tech, Med Tech, and Industrial Tech. The finalists will present their pitches at Heilbronn Slush'D.

Further information about the awards and application process is available on the website.

Success Stories of Slush'D Alumni

Heilbronn Slush'D has produced numerous success stories in the past. SemorAI won the "Golden Ticket" for the AI Founders Accelerator Program in 2022 and later received investments from the Campus Founders Venture Studio & D11Z Ventures. The company has since acquired several blue-chip clients from the automotive industry and opened an office in Heilbronn in 2023. Ventus secured the €100,000 investment in 2023 and has since won notable customers such as Mercedes, Toyota, and Hyundai. Act’ble, the developer of the world's first 3D-printed pointe shoe, won a cash prize at Heilbronn Slush'D 2022. Since then, the team has achieved many viral successes on social media, including a collaboration with Joy Womack, the first American ballerina to be accepted into the Russian Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The first edition of their ballet shoe sold out immediately.

About Heilbronn Slush’D

Heilbronn Slush’D is the startup festival in Heilbronn, specifically aimed at founders, startups, SMEs, and investors since 2022. The focus of Heilbronn Slush’D is on technological and societal topics, particularly collaboration and networking between founders and companies. With the Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI), the largest AI center in Europe is growing in the successful SME region of Heilbronn-Franconia. Thanks to the Rise Europe Initiative, the Campus Founders, organisers of Heilbronn Slush’D, are closely networked with leading innovation centers such as Oxford, Zurich, and Paris. More information: heilbronnslushd.com