The City of Munich and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs are supporting five young, innovative companies that would like to be inspired and further developed in Austin at the SXSW 2019. Which startups were selected in 2019 and why Austin is better for certain things than New York or the Bay Area.
The Competence Team Cultural and Creative Industries of the City of Munich in cooperation with the Free State of Bavaria takes five startups to the SXSW, the world’s largest cultural and creative industry festival. The startups Viond, Varia Media, Uber Eck, the Science and Fiction Festival and Plantura Garden have successfully applied for 2019.
“Inspire, socialize and broaden horizons”
The ‘Uber Eck’-Animation Studio focuses on motion graphics as well as on new AR / VR techniques. Niklaus Hofer, one of the founders, explains what excites him and his co-founders at the SXSW: “As a creative studio, we always try to stay up-to-date and fresh, and we are happy to follow the latest trends as technology-loving creatives. Whether it’s the latest VR technology or flying LED drones, or whether a new render engine is used. ”
For the people of Munich, the latest trends are just one of many reasons that attracts them to the SXSW. Hofer explains: “We want to be inspired by this unique festival, make contacts and broaden our horizons.”
The Munich-based media startup Varia also has good reasons for participating in the SXSW 2019. Just as with Plantura, the digital gardening magazine, the Munich-based entrepreneurs want to establish contacts with US media companies, among other things. In addition to its digital magazine, Plantura has also launched various bio-fertilizers on the market and has been intensively involved with internationalization for a long time. So the startup was already able to explore with the Media Lab New York.
Austin or New York?
Speaking of New York: Startups tend to visit expansionist strategies in New York or Silicon Valley than Austin. What is to be gotten for startups only at the SXSW 2019? That’s what we wanted to know from Jürgen Enninger, who is going to Austin for the fifth time this year. For the head of the Cultural and Creative Industries competence team, creative added value is characterized by network work and network work, again characterized by coincidences. He explains it this way:
“The principle is called serendipity or serendipity. Now a startup or creative company can systematically and structured prepare for appointments or plunge into a congress crowd to make as many outstanding contacts from the scene in the shortest possible time. ”
Serendipity at the SXSW 2019
For Enninger this is where the added value of the festival lies. Created from a music happening, this groove still holds the Congress in his opinion. Although there is a program, the German House also offers a lot. But most of the visitors are driven by topics, people and exciting speakers (Munich Startup also had this experience!), Meet people in queues and get carried away with a cup of coffee from many new international ideas, according to Enninger. He adds:
“This is how serendipity, innovation and thus value creation in startups work. The structured dates in Silicon Valley or in New York can still be done. After sorting his business cards, slacks, whatsapp groups or trellos. ”
So the conclusion is: first to the SXSW, because then there are the focal points for many ongoing discussions – be it in New York, the Silicon Valley, or simply in the hometown of Munich.
Also published on Medium.