MSC Startup Hub

For the very first time, the world’s leading forum for security policy comes along with a dedicated stage for technology and innovation: The MSC Startup Hub.

As official MSC partners, UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs welcome global decision-makers and leading innovators, together with cutting-edge start-ups, to address technological solutions for the geopolitical challenges in these pivotal times.

Dedicated Platform

Sessions

50+

Top Speakers

The MSC Startup Hub will take place on Saturday, February 14, 2026. In walking distance from the Bayerischer Hof, and with kind support of IHK München and Oberbayern, we are introducing a new platform.

In our concept of Europe’s Leading Startup Hub and Innovation Center, we gather a curated selection of top speakers and guests. High-level thought leaders from politics, industry, academia, and the international deep tech and startup ecosystem will shed light on technologies shaping global independence.

Our two days program features ten sessions, and a series of exclusive roundtable talks on the key topics such as autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, energy security, health and biotechnology, critical raw materials, New Space, and semiconductors.

By launching the MSC Startup Hub, UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs are bringing together todays’ crucial ingredients; transatlantic forces are uniquely pooled to promote independence, resilience, and long-term competitiveness worldwide.

Agenda

12.2. Thursday

Time	Format	Session	Speakers	Co-Hosted by
16:45	Panel	New Threats One (cyber) technology to solve them all? 16:45 – 17:35 (50 minutes)	Sarah Theinert Benjamin Bachmann Ben Kliger Torben Leowald Pawel Rybczyk Kseniia Semenova
17:45	Panel	The Scale Awakens Why Europe lacks cyber champions? 17:45 – 18:35 (50 minutes)	Sarah Theinert Lennart Bock Tobias Lieberum Joanna Swiatkowska Fabian Veit

Time

Format

Session

Speakers

Co-Hosted by

16:45

Panel

New Threats

One (cyber) technology to solve them all?

16:45 – 17:35 (50 minutes)

Sarah Theinert

Benjamin Bachmann
Ben Kliger
Torben Leowald
Pawel Rybczyk
Kseniia Semenova

17:45

Panel

The Scale Awakens

Why Europe lacks cyber champions?

17:45 – 18:35 (50 minutes)

Sarah Theinert

Lennart Bock
Tobias Lieberum
Joanna Swiatkowska
Fabian Veit

14.2. Saturday

Time	Format	Session	Speakers
9:00		Kickoff Live-Streaming from Atrium 9:00- 9:30 (30 minutes)	Helmut Schönenberger Manfred Gößl Katherina Reiche
9:30	Panel	Rock Bottom? Europe’s Fight for Critical Raw Material 9:30 - 11:00 (90 minutes)	Abigail Hunter Franziska Brantner Erik Eschen Bernd Schäfer Sam Staincliffe Michael Süß
11:30	Panel	HighTech, Low Impact? Europe’s Fight for Relevance 11:30 - 13:00 (90 minutes)	Larissa Holzki Dorothee Bär Michael Brigl Philipp Gerbert Helmut Schönenberger Sian Tan
13:30	Panel	Lights On? Europe’s Fight for Energy 13:30 - 15:00 (90 minutes)	Varun Sivaram William Chueh Ilka Horstmeier Ann Mettler Francesco Sciortino
15:30	Panel	Silicon Statecraft? Europe’s Fight for Chips 15:30 - 17:00 (90 minutes)	Zanny Minton Beddoes Helmut Gassel Peter Leibinger Philippe Notton Boudewijn Wijnands
17:30	Panel	Superspreader? Europe’s Fight for BioTech 17:30 - 19:00 (90 minutes)	Johannes Frühauf Max Breet Beth Cameron Aurelia Nguyen Donna See Fabian Theis

Time	Format	Session	Speakers
9:00		Kickoff Kicking-off our sessions 9:00- 9:30 (30 minutes)	Helmut Schönenberger Manfred Gößl Katherina Reiche
9:30	Panel	Not Fast but Furious? Europe’s Fight for Innovation Speed 9:30 - 11:00 (90 minutes)	Philipp Gerbert Christian Badia Tarja Jaakkola Fiona Murray Balázs Nagy Sven Weizenegger
11:30	Panel	Outsmarted? Europe’s Fight for AI Sovereignty 11:30 - 13:00 (90 minutes)	Ylli Bajraktari Vilas Dhar Sorin Ducaru Robert Jozic Peter Sarlin
13:30	Panel	Race to the Top? Europe’s Fight in/for Space 13:30 - 15:00 (90 minutes)	Jeanne Meserve Nina Armagno Daniel Metzler Robbie Schingler
15:30	Panel	Huge Yard, no Wall(s)? Europe’s Fight for Knowledge Security 15:30 - 17:00 (90 minutes)	Martin Keller Darrin Jones Sir Richard Moore Oleksandr Potii
17:15	Networking	Closing Reception Drinks & Snacks End: 20:00	TBA

Time	Format	Session	Speakers
9:30	Closed-Door Roundtable	Black Hole? Launching a New Space Industrial Plan for Europe 9:30 - 11:00 (90 minutes)	Claudia Major (Moderator) Josef Aschbacher (Impulse) Daniel Metzler (Impulse) undisclosed
11:30	Closed-Door Roundtable	Critical Raw Materials European Value Chain Buildup for Processing, Manufacturing and Recycling 11:30 - 13:00 (90 minutes)	Roland Gauß (Moderator) Niclas Mauß (Moderator) undisclosed
13:30	Closed-Door Roundtable	From Nano to Giga? Boosting European Industrial Capacity in Security-Critical Technologies 13:30 - 15:00 (90 minutes)	Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (Moderator) Martin Blessing (Impulse) undisclosed
15:30	Closed-Door Roundtable	Powerplay? Rebooting the Transatlantic Alliance for AI Primacy 15:30 - 17:00 (90 minutes)	Philipp Gerbert (Moderator) Martijn Rasser (Moderator) Andreas Liebl (Impulse) undisclosed
17:30	Closed-Door Roundtable	Fishing Chips? Driving Semiconductor Strategies in Europe 17:30 - 19:00 (90 minutes)	Peter Leibinger (Moderator) Laith Altimime (Impulse) Silvia Lenaerts (Impulse) undisclosed

Time	Format	Session	Speakers	Co-Hosted by
11:00	Closed-Door Roundtable	NATO REDI? Rethinking European Defense and Innovation 11:00 - 12:30 (90 minutes)	Philippe Dickinson undisclosed

Time

Format

Session

Speakers

Co-Hosted by

11:00

Closed-Door Roundtable

NATO REDI?

Rethinking European Defense and Innovation

11:00 - 12:30 (90 minutes)

Philippe Dickinson

undisclosed

Time	Format	Session	Speakers	Co-Hosted by
11:30	Walk-In	Can Europe Scale? EU Inc., Growth Capital & the Future of European Competitiveness 11:30 - 13:00 (90 minutes)	Inga vom Holtz Barbara Mehner Iwona Biernat Robert Lacher Ann Mettler Hanno Renner Michiel Scheffer Andreas Schwarz Francesco Sciortino
15:30	Walk-In	Energy Resilience Where technological nuance and economic pragmatism guide big strategic bets 15:30 - 17:00 (90 minutes)	Lars Eiermann Florian Lintl Jimmy Chen William Chueh Rüdiger Daub Maximilian Lechner Noah Streidinger Sian Tan

Time

Format

Session

Speakers

Co-Hosted by

11:30

Walk-In

Can Europe Scale?

EU Inc., Growth Capital & the Future of European Competitiveness

11:30 - 13:00 (90 minutes)

Inga vom Holtz
Barbara Mehner

Iwona Biernat
Robert Lacher
Ann Mettler
Hanno Renner
Michiel Scheffer
Andreas Schwarz
Francesco Sciortino

15:30

Walk-In

Energy Resilience

Where technological nuance and economic pragmatism guide big strategic bets

15:30 - 17:00 (90 minutes)

Lars Eiermann
Florian Lintl

Jimmy Chen
William Chueh
Rüdiger Daub
Maximilian Lechner
Noah Streidinger
Sian Tan

Time	Format	Session	Speakers	Co-Hosted by
9:00	Networking	Networking Drinks & Snacks 9:00 – 17:00
17:15	Networking	Closing Reception Drinks & Snacks End: 20:00	TBA

Time

Format

Session

Speakers

Co-Hosted by

9:00

Networking

Drinks & Snacks

9:00 – 17:00

17:15

Networking

Closing Reception

Drinks & Snacks

End: 20:00

TBA

At MSC Startup Hub, we bring founders, investors, and industry leaders together to tackle mission‑critical challenges. By turning Europe’s deep‑tech strengths into scalable solutions, we strengthen resilience, prosperity, and freedom.

Helmut Schönenberger, CEO UnternehmerTUM

In the TUM Venture Labs we enable our next generation to have an impact in this world through building and scaling deeptech-based entities. We form the 'machine room' of European (Tech) Sovereignty. At the MSC Startup Hub we forge and harden the crucial alliances required to reach this goal.

Philipp Gerbert, CEO TUM Venture Labs

Diplomacy and entrepreneurship share much common ground. Both are enabling professions at the heart of global prosperity and stability and both depend on individual performance and functioning networks. As global security dynamics and rapid technological change push both professions even closer together, we have teamed ...

up with Europe's most successful start up incubator UnternehmerTUM to host a unique platform for policymakers and innovators at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference 2026. We believe that this addition to our existing high-level formats will help to advance crucial debates on many key issues such as resilience, economic security, and defence technology.

Benedikt Franke, Vice-Chairman & CEO Munich Security Conference

The MSC Startup Hub shows how closely economic strength, technological innovation, and resilience are linked. At the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Munich, innovation meets entrepreneurial spirit. By bringing together startups, investors, established companies, and policymakers we join forces. The MSC Startup Hub ...

turns Europe’s deep-tech excellence into scalable business models and sends a clear signal for competitiveness and economic security.

Manfred Gößl, IHK für München und Oberbayern

The Hightech Agenda offers a unique opportunity to reinvent Germany as both an industrial and a technology nation. To unlock this potential, we need focused ecosystems that bring together research, industry, capital, and founders. Innovation only turns into impact when these forces work together—and when we significant ...

ly accelerate our approach to innovation. This is exactly what the MSC Startup Hub is built for.

Michael Brigl, Head of BCG Central Europe

Deep dives into …

Cybersecurity

Autonomous Systems

Artificial Intelligence

New Space

Defense Innovation

Security Innovation

Critical Raw Materials

HighTech Agenda