Insights, stories, and updates from Europe's leading startup ecosystem

At the 8th edition of Gründerszene x The Delta, Dr. Gero Decker shared the full story behind Signavio: from a nerdy kid building a computer game for Zaha Hadid, to turning down Hasso Plattner's HANA project, to a cash crisis caused by two months of unwritten invoices, to a bazaar-style negotiation that ended in a 957 million euro acquisition by SAP. It is a founder story about picking the market everyone calls boring and proving them all wrong.

Hackathons stopped being about free pizza and toy demos. The new kind is curated, challenge-driven, and built around real problems. When the right builders meet the right space, the output speaks for itself. Here's why the best ones run at The Delta.

Al Gore opened it. 500 hand-selected founders, investors, and builders filled the room. And it was conceived, built, and delivered in under 90 days. Here's what it actually takes to produce a flagship event at that level, and why the venue you choose makes all the difference.

Most startup teams want their events to feel polished and memorable. Most startup teams also have tight budgets. The good news is that premium experiences are not built on spend. They are built on intention. The right venue, the right atmosphere, and a focus on what actually shapes how people feel. Get those right, and expensive production becomes unnecessary.

Most founders treat an IPO as an arrival point. At the seventh edition of Gründerszene x The Delta, Dr. Patrick Andrae explained why he never saw it that way, and what the years since listing have actually looked like. From a pandemic fundraise that hit a wall, to a counterintuitive decision to go public in the middle of the travel shutdown, to a company that has delivered on every public commitment while the stock has not yet caught up, it is one of the most grounded accounts of public company life from a European founder we have heard.

At the seventh edition of Gründerszene x The Delta, Dr. Patrick Andrae shared the full story behind HomeToGo: from a 15-year-old redesigning a website nobody asked him to redesign, to a decade-long education at Rocket Internet and home24, to co-founding one of Europe's most ambitious marketplace businesses. It is a founder journey built not on a single breakthrough idea but on compounding curiosity, hard-earned execution instincts, and the willingness to evolve the business even when that was the harder choice.

Most founders slow down after a major exit. At the latest edition of Gründerszene × The Delta, Verena Pausder explained why she didn't and why she believes Europe's startup ecosystem can't afford for its best builders to stop, either. From co-founding FC Victoria Berlin to leading the Startup-Verband, she made the case that the most important work often begins after the company is sold.

Berlin has no shortage of event venues, but the best events are not defined by space alone. They are defined by energy, people, and connection. This piece explores why The Delta Campus has become a go to for events that feel more human, more engaging, and more impactful.

Startup events are no longer about packed agendas and scheduled networking. Founders are looking for experiences that create real connection and momentum. This piece explores how experience design, environment, and community are reshaping what meaningful events look like.