A key highlight of the ESMT Demo Day was the highly anticipated startup pitch competition. Selected startups presented their ventures before a panel of distinguished judges and potential investors. The winning startups, mika AI and UltiHash, impressed the jury with their solutions and exemplified the power of innovation to address pressing real-world challenges. Mika AI offers an AI-powered tax and accounting co-pilot for small businesses, UltiHash is the first data storage to combine high-performance and efficient use of resources, tailored for AI and advanced analytics. Both startups received a prize money of €2,500 to further their venture. Mika AI was founded by Agnieszka M. Walorska and UltiHash was founded by Tom Lüdersdorf.

In addition to the pitch competition, the event featured a valuable one-on-one networking session, providing startup founders with the opportunity to connect directly with selected investors and potential partners. This year’s Demo Day also introduced a co-founder matching session, designed to connect entrepreneurs with potential co-founders, helping participants build strong, complementary teams.

Previous winners of the competition include Senvo, a last-mile data analytics platform for logistics founded by ESMT MBA graduate Marie Kober, and Optiwiser, AI-powered supply chain planning software by founder Maximilian Koehler, who is an ESMT PhD candidate. These alumni have continued to make significant strides in their respective industries, reflecting the high caliber of startups that emerge from the ESMT community.

Through Demo Day, ESMT Berlin continues to fulfill its mission of bridging the gap between startup founders, investors, and academia, fostering a vibrant and supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem in Berlin.

For more information about ESMT Demo Day, visit the website. More details on the Entrepreneurship Hub at ESMT may be found on the Vali Berlin website.

About the ESMT Demo Day
The ESMT Demo Day is a startup event hosted by Vali Berlin, the entrepreneurship hub at ESMT, where early-stage startups, investors, corporates, and other stakeholders of the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem meet and discuss new ideas. Besides startup pitches, we host panel discussions, keynotes, and fireside chats around the topic of innovation and entrepreneurship to enable connections, networking, and growth for our partners and the ecosystem.