“Bavaria should become the number 1 startup country”
On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Munich Business Plan Competition, Ils Aigner highlighted the successes of the competitions on Thursday: “The business plan competitions are a huge success. Around 1,600 companies across Bavaria have emerged from the competitions, 11,400 jobs have been created, and one billion euros in revenue is generated annually.“, said Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs.
Aigner further emphasizes that good business plans alone are not enough: “We also support startups in finding suitable investors and the right financing. Through the BayStartUp financing network, startups have access to approximately 100 institutional investors and 200 business angels. This enables us to broker €20 to €30 million in seed and growth capital annually.."
Focus on internationalization and matching
Aigner also announced further measures for founders.We'll begin matching established and new companies to secure further investments. Internationalization is also becoming a focus for me. I'll explore foreign markets for Bavarian startups. And I'll promote Bavaria as a location to international startups. This is how we're making Bavaria the number one startup region.."
"LfA has supported the Munich Business Plan Competition from its inception as the main sponsor. We also serve as judges in the competition and coaches at seminars. Our active involvement in supporting start-ups is demonstrated by the fact that our subsidized loans enable over 1,000 founders to become self-employed each year.“, says Dr. Otto Beierl, Chairman of the Board of LfA Förderbank Bayern.
“Wide variety of high-tech products”
Dr. Carsten Rudolph, Managing Director of the competition organizer BayStartUP: "The companies that emerged from the Munich Business Plan Competition demonstrate the strengths of Bavaria's startup scene: They offer a wide variety of high-tech products and business models geared toward rapid growth. A number of IT, life science, and tech startups from the early competitions have already achieved successful exits, and the founders have launched new companies or are investors themselves. In recent years, the topic of digitalization has permeated all industries; in this respect, startups have a lot to offer large companies."
On Tuesday, the three winners of the 2015 Munich Business Plan Competition were awarded their prizes in the Wappenhalle Munich.
