"Where Growth Meets Impact" set the tone for the Startups for Tomorrow Festival 2025, held on September 9th at smartvillage Bogenhausen in Munich. Over 500 guests, 40+ speakers, and 25 exhibitors came together for a vibrant, diverse program filled with unforgettable highlights.
How do I reach people with my idea? What do I need to consider when marketing sustainable products and what matters when building a brand? And how can I, as a small impact startup, compete against major brands? These and other questions occupied participants at the Startups for Tomorrow Festival in Munich.
Alongside inspiring keynotes covering corporate social responsibility, marketing, business development and current trends, there were many exciting expert discussion rounds that addressed how sustainable startups can successfully tackle the diverse challenges on their journey. During these sessions and the many excellent networking opportunities, ideas were exchanged, good and difficult experiences were shared, and participants encouraged each other to move forward courageously.
With the SFT Festival, the Startups For Tomorrow association has set itself the goal of bringing together young companies that are working with innovative and environmentally conscious products for a better tomorrow. Exhibitors included GOT BAG, RECUP, nucao, happybrush, OYESS and djoon, amongst others.
How Environmental Consciousness and Revenue Orientation Can Go Hand in Hand
Right in the opening panel, speakers discussed how revenue and social engagement can be combined. Julius Palm from followfood, Anna Zipse from Polarstern, Felix Oldenburg from bcause and Benjamin Mandos from GOT BAG shared their experiences around CSR and spoke about whether and how it's possible to increase revenue whilst simultaneously making the world a better place.
"Particularly given the current multitude of crises, it's important not to lose courage and to ask oneself: What can a company do to positively pave the way towards the future? Every idea counts and so does every small step," said GOT BAG founder and managing director Benjamin Mandos.
What brilliant ideas already exist and how the many small steps towards a better tomorrow might look was demonstrated by exhibitors and speakers through best practices, insights and fascinating glimpses behind the scenes of successful startups. Alongside many good conversations and open exchange of experience, the keynotes provided the necessary background knowledge.
The Psychology of Sustainable Consumption
Particularly fascinating was the keynote by Johanna Gollnhofer, CEO & Professor at the Institute for Marketing and Customer Insights at the University of St. Gallen. Her topic: "The 60% Potential: How Impact Startups Can Reach the Mainstream."
Sustainable consumption hasn't really reached the mainstream yet, according to Gollnhofer. About 60 percent of consumers consider sustainable consumption important but associate it with negative connotations such as excessive prices, deprivation and patronisation.
To break down these negative associations with sustainable products, one must create desire for the products and make sustainability "sexy" again. Instead of putting only the sustainability of a product in the foreground, it's essential to also address the purchasing criteria of price, quality, brand and lifestyle fit from a marketing perspective. This scores much better with the mainstream.
Learnings for Branding, PR and Distribution
Equally interesting was the presentation about the difficult balancing act between marketing and morals and how companies can show their stance and communicate properly, by Alexander Nicolaus, founder & CEO of Hot Boys Cry, Raphael Fellmer, founder & CEO of SIRPLUS and Polina Sergeeva, founder & CEO of Menstruflow.
Why a clear brand message is particularly important for impact brands and how a strong brand can be built was revealed by Sophia Rödiger, CMO of 1Komma5° in her presentation. Equally fascinating: Stefan Walter, founder and CEO of happybrush, spoke in his presentation about what makes a brand unique and shared insights about how small brands stand a chance against large corporations.
Christian Fenner, founder and CEO of the fair and vegan chocolate brand nucao, presented the background of some of the brand's successful viral campaigns. Tips for successful collaborations and ways to build a strong community were highlighted by the well-known influencer and founder of Flowers for Society Till Jagla in his presentation. PR tips for startups and what helps to get your story into the press came from Natalia Fritz, founder & CEO of Cléo Public Relations.
The founders and CEOs of beauty brand OYESS, Nadja King and Anna Breidt, reported on their retail strategy. Instead of first focusing on e-commerce as a sales channel, as is widely common, the beauty startup first entered retail – very successfully. Tips and tools for selling sustainable products were shared by Doris Diebold, founder and CEO of hey circle.
Naturally, the topic of AI couldn't be missed. Author Magdalena Rogl spoke about new perspectives on leadership, communication and collaboration through artificial intelligence. "We can look much more positively into the future if we open ourselves to new possibilities and make it clear that we have many abilities that cannot be replaced," said Rogl.
How they managed to raise over 54 million euros in capital and grow sustainably was reported by Kilian Kaminski, founder & CEO of refurbed – a platform for renewed and high-quality products. The most important learnings from nine years of company history were presented by RECUP founder Fabian Eckert in his keynote.
A major player couldn't be missed either: Michael Austermühle, Regional Manager Central Europe at Patagonia, spoke about responsible entrepreneurship at Patagonia and provided insights behind the scenes of the successful outdoor brand in his presentation.
Special Highlights
Besides the exciting keynotes, SFT participants could expect another special highlight: the "Organ Donation Tattoo" campaign by the Junge Helden association. SFT participants had the opportunity to learn about organ donation and get the unofficial organ donation tattoo.
This year's donations supported the NGO Homeless Entrepreneur. The organisation offers a reintegration programme that helps people escape homelessness and assists them in finding employment or starting their own business.
Startups Pitch for Prize Money and Coaching
The crowning conclusion of this year's SFT was the Impact Pitch Night by Founders League: Here, four startups had three minutes each to convince an expert jury of their business idea. The successful winners from eco:fibr received €3,000 in startup capital and coaching from SAP for their idea of producing environmentally friendly cellulose from pineapple plants.
With table tennis games and an aftershow party, visitors rounded off the eventful day in fitting style.
The insight from this year's SFT Festival: When commitment meets community, revenue and impact are compatible – open conversations, exchange of experience and mutual support help with this. We're already looking forward to the next Startups for Tomorrow Festival!
