We are excited to present this Silicon Valley-inspired format in collaboration with Waterkant Festival, KI.SH and Digital Hub for Logistics & Commerce to bring it back to the Future Stage. 

In just 5 minutes, hidden champions and global market leaders will present their most pressing challenges. The audience? Over 90 startups, tech talent, and AI experts from Northern Europe—ready to jump right into the conversation.

Reverse Pitch: Companies Pitch Challenges – Startups Solve Them // June 19, 2026, 3:00 p.m.

Companies benefit from direct feedback and connections, as well as from solutions that may come from a completely different direction than expected. This was also evident in the many discussions that took place immediately following the pitches.

Whether you’re a startup looking for your first client project, need a pilot project, or want to know what challenges are truly pressing in established companies—here, you’ll gain more market intelligence and contacts in 45 minutes than you would through weeks of cold calling.

Reverse Pitch 2026 featuring
WALTERWERK KIEL – Global market leader in the construction of industrial wafer baking systems. Topics: new materials, production automation, sensor technology, predictive maintenance, industrial AI.

Benkana Interfaces GmbH & Co. KG – Usability testing for medical devices. Seeking partners to develop proprietary, secure AI tools. Relevant for MedTech, UX/AI, or compliance tech.

EWS GmbH & Co. KG – One of Germany’s leading photovoltaic wholesalers. Challenge: How can you prevent “shadow AI” without undermining the culture of innovation?

Phi-Stone AG – High-tech active ingredient manufacturer with large volumes of production data. Goal: AI-driven process optimization.

zufall.lab ZUFALL Logistics Group – A digital twin has been built for the transshipment warehouse – now gamification is set to make jobs on the warehouse floor more appealing.