Munich Startup: The Bits & Pretzels founders festival is launching its first themed conference in late June. Why did you pick healthtech as the topic?
Christian Lohmeier: Healthtech is an exciting field where there is extremely dynamic development in the ecosystem right now. We also believe that technology provides the most powerful leverage for making positive changes in the healthcare sector. And when you find partners as strong as Roche and EIT Health, who have the ambition to establish something with us over the course of years – then you have the opportunity to create a new home for everyone who wants to make a change.
“The will to change things is perhaps even greater in the healthcare sector than in other fields”
Munich Startup: What aspects of the topic do you find particularly interesting?
Christian Lohmeier: What’s particularly fascinating is the exceptional dedication of the founders in this field, which goes above and beyond even the level of commitment in the startup scene in general, which is already high in itself. In some cases, it stems from being affected on a personal level. The will to change things is perhaps even greater in the healthcare sector than in other fields.
Munich Startup: What can conference visitors expect?
Christian Lohmeier: Bits & Pretzels HealthTech aims to be a class reunion for everyone who really wants to make a change. From visionary talks to content-based deep dives, our curators have put together an excellent program.
On top of that, a lot of fantastic founders will be introducing themselves and more than 60 startups will be showcased with their own booths. And, as is the Bits & Pretzels way, we’ve also come up with a few surprises.
Munich Startup: Which Munich startups and players from the Munich healthtech scene will be there?
Christian Lohmeier: The feedback and interest from the scene was really strong in recent weeks. The majority of the relevant startups and players will be at the conference next week. From Munich alone, more than 250 different startups and companies will be participating.
Quality above quantity
Munich Startup: The Bits & Pretzels founders festival will be held from September 25 to 27 in its usual form. Will the topic of healthtech also be included, and if so, in what form?
Christian Lohmeier: The topic will definitely play a part there as well. At Bits & Pretzels in September, participants will benefit from our new contacts with players and speakers in the healthtech scene. But obviously, our founders festival will cover a broader scope of content than the HealthTech Conference next week.
Munich Startup: Are further topic-based conferences planned for the future?
Christian Lohmeier: If we do something, we want to do it really well. Should something new come up, we obviously won’t rule it out. In principle, however, it’s about quality above quantity. With our high standards of quality, you can’t host ten events a year. The HealthTech Conference is initially planned for three years, hopefully for longer – the high level of interest and sale of more than 1,000 tickets give us good reason to be confident.