On 6th December 2022, we celebrated the 100th edition of our Startup Lounge event series. The MCEI Startup Lounge is your place to get inspired to create something new and to meet and mingle with the Mannheim Startup Ecosystem. You can meet startups and creative minds to discuss great ideas in a laid-back atmosphere. Every Startup Lounge features an inspirational talk by a (usually early-stage) venture to get the discussion going. After the pitch there is always the opportunity to ask questions and give advice.
The 100th edition of the Startup Lounge was also the last Startup Lounge of this semester and per tradition, it had featured our course startups from MAN 631! The winners of the Pitch Battle were announced in the Startup Lounge and pitched again to a larger audience. Surprisingly, we had two winner teams: Cosconnect and Griffin's.
The mobile application "Cosconnect" addresses the unmet needs of cosplayers in the social media landscape and provides a platform for cosplayers to connect and interact. And, Griffin’s offers ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails.
Looking back: We held the first Startup Lounge on 19th November 2013, and had a great development ever since. We were able to welcome many amazing founders from all over the world as guests in the Startup Lounge and were able to connect many students, founders, and investors over the past years. Among them were so many awesome teams that it is simply impossible to name them all. Some of them have grown very big in the meantime such as "Acao" who are DMs main supplier for sustainable energy drinks. Others impressed us with their will to help during covid times like "Erntehelfer-gesucht" or "Tutorspace". While many startups also have a very positive impact on society such as "Mentalport" who help students in mentally difficult situations.
In addition, we were able to develop interesting cooperations with various partners. In doing so, we teamed up with MARS, the startup center of the Hochschule Mannheim, which led to more technically orientated startups in our Startup Lounges. Another more recent collaboration is with MARCIE, the Mannheim Research Group in Culture, Innovation & Entrepreneurship. The latest collaboration was with ENGAGE.EU, an alliance of seven European Universities while the University of Mannheim is also part of this alliance. Another great partner over the last years was NEXT Mannheim who supported us in many Startup Lounges! Thanks to all partners for their great support!
When we started, the Startup Lounge was held in Café L3. Unfortunatley, Café L3 had to close due to construction plans, and we had to move to another location. While there were also some Startup Lounges at Tiffany Club, the Startup Lounge moved eventually to the Café AGÁTA at MAFINEX. Now, we are looking forward to many more startups and Startup Lounges to come! Just come by the next Startup Lounge in Spring 2023!
