When I arrive in Hanover, I am immediately in a positive mood: This is partly due to my upcoming visit to CeBIT 2017, and partly to the bright sunshine that I was still missing in the gray Munich early on Wednesday morning.
Upon arriving at the Hannover Messe exhibition grounds, I realize the sheer scale of what I'm dealing with. A vast area stretches out before me, numerous halls filled with the latest innovations and visions of the future. No wonder CeBIT is one of the most important technology trade fairs in the world. With such a broad offering, it's hard to know where to begin. Unless, of course, you're focused on the topic of "startups." Then Hall 11 is the perfect place for you, as it's home to the SCALE11 startup area. Founders from all over the world present their products, concepts, and solutions for a digital world – to investors, business experts, and politicians.
Corporates, startups and Harry Potter
The founders are spread across a total of 17 community areas on various topics, such as VR, AR, future mobility, and more. They are supported by renowned community captains (topic sponsors) from the business world:
- Salesforce: Big Data & Analytics, Cloud & XaaS
- Mastercard: Commerce
- Main Incubator: FinTech
- Volkswagen: Transportation & Logistics, Mobility & Automotive, Smart Cities,
to name just a few.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BR8bc8ijBvY/?taken-by=munich_startup
Over 450 startups are participating. The VR startups are particularly notable, as you can see people everywhere wearing VR headsets, unintentionally mesmerizing their surroundings with incomprehensible, rain-dance-style gestures. A personal highlight: the rotating broomstick, on which users can whizz through the air like Harry Potter.
High quality and lots of variety
In addition to the usual exhibition stands, SCALE11 has a lot more to offer: startup workstations, corporate presentations, industry and investor pitches, matchmaking and speed dating, best practice presentations and workshops, and meeting areas (where you can quickly sit down on a bike bar stool and rack up a few kilometers while chatting): a wide range of offerings that provide plenty of variety and make the time fly by.
Hall 11 is truly packed with everything a startup's heart desires, and I wonder if I'll even have time to look at anything else in such a short time. This certainly speaks volumes about the high quality offered in this year's CeBIT startup area. You can clearly see and feel the enormous effort put into creating something good. This is also reflected in the enthusiastic, large audience, who move from booth to booth, showing great interest in the innovations of the young companies.
Click here for the second part: CeBIT 2017: From delivery robots to high-tech rag collectors
