Munich Startup Award: A look back

It all began at Bits & Pretzels 2016: For the first time, Munich Startup presented the Munich Startup Award, endowed with €5,000, to the Munich startup that had performed best in the founders' festival's pitch competition. The ceremony didn't take place just anywhere, but right in the middle of Oktoberfest – except during the coronavirus pandemic, of course. Since this year, however, a lot has changed: The award is now part of the Munich Startup Festival. was awarded at the first edition Deepdrive – and at Bits & Pretzels, the Munich Startup Special Prize will be awarded to the best Munich startup at Bits & Pretzels. This prize is endowed with €2,500. Before that happens, let's take a look back at the Munich startups that have already been honored with a Munich Startup Award at Bits & Pretzels.

Munich Startup Award 2019 - Hawa Dawa
2019: Munich Startup Award winner 2019 was Hawa DawaHawa Dawa's air quality monitoring system enables real-time, comprehensive air quality monitoring and analysis. Hawa Dawa prevailed against the Munich-based competition in the pitch contest at the Bits & Pretzels startup fair. Co-founder and CFO Yvonne Rusche said at the award ceremony in the Schottenhamel: "We are very proud to win the Munich Startup Award as a 'Münchner Kindl'. It demonstrates the incredible support of the Munich ecosystem." In March 2023 it was announced that the Munich startup will be taken over by the Bernard Group. Karim Tarraf, CEO and co-founder of Hawa Dawa, said: “The integration of the Hawa-Dawa solution into the Bernard Group marks a new era in which integrative (environmental) solutions can be offered from a single source.” (Photo: Munich Startup / Tobias Hase)
read more ↓