Connecting Europe: the 2025 Theme

This year’s festival came with a clear ambition: “Connecting Europe.” Founders Andy Bruckschlögl, Felix Haas, and Bernd Storm van’s Gravesande reshaped the format to prioritize action over noise.

• Keynote time was cut by almost 60% to make space for targeted roundtables and sector-focused sessions.

• The new Investor Summit convened over 1,500 venture funds and 300 LPs, positioning Bits & Pretzels as not just a festival, but a serious marketplace for capital and scale-ups.

• With more than 70% of speakers international, the event leaned heavily on its European identity cross-border collaboration was not just rhetoric, but design.

In this environment, GLOBALS On Tour brought its own signature: a mix of curated introductions, unconventional stages, and the unmistakable green glasses.

Monday: Pitch on the Bus + Casino Night

At 17:30 sharp, a bus parked outside the ICM turned into a stage. Dozens of founders had just 60 seconds to pitch in front of investors and jury, including angel investor Michael Brehm. Questions were sharp, answers faster and the goal was clear: real follow-ups, not vanity applause.

The day ended at the Bits Casino Night after-party, with free drinks, high spirits, and dozens of new connections forged outside the conference halls.

Winner of the Pitch

👑 Paul Bittner from Solid Cryo took the crown with a flawless 60‑second pitch, securing investor focus and follow‑up meetings.

Playlist of All Pitches

🔊 All who hopped on the “Pitch on the Bus” stage: Every pitch, every idea — full playlist here.

Tuesday: Serious Conversations

The second day was about depth. GLOBALS focused on intentional matchmaking: founders with clear asks, investors with capital ready to deploy, and partners open to collaboration. Each conversation had to end with a next step an intro, a scheduled call, a demo. Otherwise, it wasn’t counted as meaningful.

Wednesday: A Festival Tested

The third day brought disruption. A house fire in northern Munich led to the discovery of explosives and an unspecific threat linked to the Oktoberfest grounds. Police closed the Theresienwiese, evacuated the area, and conducted thorough sweeps. By late afternoon, the mayor announced the all-clear and the festival reopened safely.

But while the Oktoberfest was silent, entrepreneurship didn’t stop. The Smart Village, led by Lukas and his team, opened its doors to the Bits & Pretzels community. With free food, beer, and one of Munich’s most functional spaces, the day turned from uncertainty into opportunity. Conversations that might have been lost in the chaos found a new home.

Highlights from Munich

• Pitch on the Bus: 60-second pitches, investor Q&A, and concrete follow-ups. Every founder left with a roadmap, not just applause.
• Green Glasses Movement: A visual signal that cut through the noise. Spot the glasses, start the conversation.
• Intent-Based Networking: Matches made on sector × stage × geography × ask/give. No “nice to meet you” for the sake of it every intro ended with an action.

Gratitude

• To e-Residency, for supporting visibility and international connections.

• To Lukas and the Smart Village team, for turning a tense Wednesday into a productive gathering.

• To Andy, Felix, and Bernd, and the entire Bits & Pretzels team, for building the platform that makes these collisions possible.

What’s Next

Munich was just the warm-up. The energy keeps rising as GLOBALS On Tour ignites Europe’s boldest tech stages.

Upcoming destinations where founders, investors, and innovators collide:

• Salamanca, Startup OLÉ– October 15

• Sofia, Crossroads by Start Up – October 17

• Valencia, VDS (GLOBALS On Tour) – October 24

• Lisbon, Web Summit (GLOBALS On Tour) – November 10

• Davos, unDavos (GLOBALS On Tour) – January 20

• Barcelona GLOBALS Tech Festival (GSTF26) – March 1, 2026

This isn’t just a calendar. It’s a countdown to the rooms where growth sparks and partnerships ignite.

Final Word

The temporary closure of Oktoberfest will be remembered as a strange footnote in Munich’s history. But for those building Europe’s future, it was also proof: entrepreneurship doesn’t pause.

Whether on a bus, in a beer hall, or inside an improvised hub like Smart Village, the work continues. Because nothing not even a bomb threat can stop founders from connecting, creating, and scaling.