Munich Startup: Congratulations on your tenth anniversary! For those who don't know Baystartup yet: Why should a future Munich startup have you on their radar?
Carsten Rudolph, Managing Director of Baystartup: Thank you very much! Every Munich startup should have Baystartup on their radar, because we are one of the most comprehensive support programs for young, early-stage companies. The Munich Business Plan Competition, which was the first of its kind and is considered a kind of seal of approval even beyond Bavaria, gives founders the opportunity to obtain individual expert feedback on their business idea at a very early stage. Around 250 teams take advantage of this opportunity every year. Our goal is to support startups from the initial idea through to the growth phase. We connect founders with investors and industry partners, offer needs-based coaching programs, and optimally prepare them for market entry. Our investor network, the largest of its kind in Europe, makes us the first point of contact for startups seeking early-stage financing and strategic sparring.
Networking, financing and individual coaching
Munich Startup: What specific role does Baystartup play in Munich’s funding and support landscape?
Carsten Rudolph: Baystartup's services provide comprehensive support for founders from the start through the first five or more years of their entrepreneurial journey. We provide basic entrepreneurial know-how, networking, individual coaching, and more. There's actually only one thing we don't offer: space for startups. In this area, we work closely with all startup centers in Munich (and throughout Bavaria).
From a founder's perspective, Baystartup's unique highlight is its unique access to a network of 400 business angels, family offices, and 200 venture capital firms, with whom we actively and purposefully connect startups after investor-focused preparation. A highlight of this is our exclusive VentureCons, a conference format that regularly attracts over 100 investors.
Munich Startup: What were your most important milestones?
Carsten Rudolph: The most significant was certainly the merger into a pan-Bavarian network ten years ago. There are many others: With the introduction of the "Startup Demo Night," we were the first to create an event format that showcases startups to a broad public and regularly attracts 1,000 visitors. Another highlight was the "breaking" of the half-billion-euro capital that the startups we supported were able to raise through the investor network eight years after we founded it. In subsequent rounds, the startups then raised six billion euros!
Proud of the successful startups
Munich Startup: What are you most proud of when you look back on the last ten years of Baystartup?
Carsten Rudolph: I am particularly proud when I see how far startups have come that we have been able to accompany into the market. When I get into a Flixbus or learn about the expansion to India when I see students in the lecture hall with their Airup bottle on the table, or – even if the topic itself is not a pleasant one – about the support of Ukraine by the Surveillance drones from Quantum Systems And, of course, to the developments of "our" founders in the healthcare sector that improve people's lives: Intensive care beds from Reactive Robotics, support for Caregivers through Navel Robotics and numerous other applications in medicine.
Munich Startup: In your opinion, what has changed most in the Munich startup landscape?
Carsten Rudolph: The startup landscape has evolved significantly. Startups are now much better prepared and better connected, and there is more capital available in the early stages. At the same time, however, the demands on startups have increased: competition for investment is more intense, and professionalism is essential from the very beginning. Topics such as sustainability and social impact have also gained greater importance, influencing the priorities of many founders.
Creativity, sophistication and perseverance
Munich Startup: What do startups most demand? And what do they need most, in your opinion?
Carsten Rudolph: Many startups initially come to us with the desire to raise capital as quickly as possible. Whether they always need this capital is a question we are happy to clarify in many coaching sessions. There are often workarounds such as frugality (!), supplier credit, initial sales, and other things that give a startup a better negotiating position in the capital market. This often requires creativity, sophistication, and perseverance. This is where we come in, working with the founders to develop the best overall package. After all, a financing round is not an end in itself, but rather a means of turning a startup into a company.
Munich Startup: In the future, you plan to increasingly support startups that focus on sustainable growth. How do you define that?
Carsten Rudolph: We repeatedly experience that founders have the ambition to steadily develop their company over many years. The exit orientation that VC financing inevitably entails is not suitable for this. The focus here is on permanent and, above all, rapid growth. For such startups, we develop a complementary offering that supports this – quite complex – path to growth. Often, several types of financing are used simultaneously, which need to be coordinated.
More sustainable growth for startups
Munich Startup: What is the goal of your additional new direction and what kind of support can startups expect here?
Carsten Rudolph: The goal is to provide such startups with a solid start and to create access to financing sources suitable for more moderate—but perhaps more sustainable—growth. Options for this include equity financing, of course, but also (promoted) loans, grants, or strategic investments from industry partners.
Munich Startup: What other projects are you planning?
Carsten Rudolph: We are working on further expanding our offerings in the area of industrial collaborations. This involves connecting startups with potential technology and sales partners, especially in SMEs. We are also strengthening our internationalization program to support startups in their expansion, especially in Europe. Here, we are creating offerings that support startups in nearby markets as early as possible.
Real European “Champions”
Munich Startup: What do we talk about when we travel ten years into the future?
Carsten Rudolph: We talk about how, together, we have succeeded in building true European "champions" who, in addition to their own entrepreneurial success, have also contributed to putting Europe back at the forefront of the "world innovation map." And they do so with topics that address current social and ecological challenges.
