And that with a colorful stage, exhibitor and workshop program, Aperol and a ball pit?
Does that seem impossible to you? Bad news! Together with all visitors, corporate, ecosystem and startup exhibitors, DJs, bands, panel participants and our great speakers Janna Ensthaler, Diana zur Löwen and Marc Ebinger Have we proven that with the STARTUP OPEN AIR (SOA) Not only can you spend a fun and wonderful summer day, but also an inspiring and entrepreneurial summer day. One highlight followed the next. Our very personal highlights were...
“... to see that the first OPEN AIR STARTUP is so well received and achieves its goal of networking and promoting the start-up ecosystem.” (Eiko Gerten, Board & CEO)
“... to realize once again that our start-up ecosystem in NRW is at home here and that we are strong together.” (Vera Zimmermann, Board Member & Co-CEO)
“... see the lively flood of ideas live at the workshops.” (Hannah Weigelt, People and Operations Manager)
“... to meet so many familiar and new faces and have exciting conversations.” (Samir Et-Talée, Project Controlling Manager)
“... join Founders Fight Night.” (Leon Oxenfart, Senior Accelerator Coordinator)
“... to have over 100 startup ideas demonstrated and explained face to face.” (Ron Gerber, (Junior) Startup Scout)
“... not only to make new acquaintances in the ball pool, but also to create great memories” (Moritz Bernzen, community coordinator)
“... to end such a long, successful day with the aftershow party.” (Urwand El-Mizory, community coordinator)
“... to meet so many cheerful people and spend a legendary summer day with them.” Mauro (community coordinator)
“... capture wonderful moments and experience them for yourself.” (Katharina von der Kall, Social Media & Brand Manager)
“... to celebrate what we've all achieved with motivated people at the live bands.” (Julian Kepka, Senior IT & Performance Coordinator)
“... to see how investors, startups, business, science and people interested in founding a company connect at a Kölsch.” (Sarah Mahlmann, public relations and content manager)
Do you want even more goosebumps? Then take a look at our event film to SOA24 — enjoy!
One thing is clear: Without all of you, the SOA could not have taken place on this scale. Together we made the day unforgettable. Unforgettably innovative, unforgettably exciting, unforgettably funny, unforgettably beautiful.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts:
THANK YOU to the State of NRW, without which we wouldn't be standing here today. THANK YOU also on Paul Frederik Höller, who as Secretary of State of Ministry of Economics, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia presented the NRW Startup Reports 2024 for the first time at SOA: NRW continues to be an attractive and growing location for startups!
THANK YOU to all exhibitorswho inspired us all day with their ideas and companies.
THANK YOU to all Speakers and Speakers, who have created new ideas, perspectives and motivations for us with their keynotes, panels and workshops.
THANK YOU to all partners, including the Sparkasse KölnBonn, Laocoon SecurityM, L3montree Security, the IHK Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, The technicians, the Rhein-Sieg district, the dhpg, the Stadtwerke Bonn, SAP LeanIX, the University of Bonn, the Federal City of Bonn, Taktsoft, the Telekom and goodride as well as the Volksbank Köln Bonn And the NRW.BANK, without which the event would not have been possible to such an extent.
THANK YOU to all Ecosystem partners, who always support us and the start-up ecosystem, even outside the SOA.
THANK YOU to all Network partners, who made a lot of noise together with us even before the SOA - in a positive sense.
THANK YOU to all SOA satellite partners, who have created unique SOA moments of anticipation with us.
THANK YOU to the bands Outskirts of town and robbers as well as our loyal DJs, which created an even better atmosphere.
THANK YOU to all visitors, who made the day unforgettable!
THANK YOU to all Supporterwho stood by us at all times and supported us with words and actions.
And last but not least: THANK YOU to our fantastic HUBTEAM, that many hours of work have gone into this event. We can say with a bright and proud smile: It was worth it! 💜
Good news! After SOA is before SOA! We want to work with you to drive the start-up ecosystem forward again next year and have lots of fun doing so! Of course we'll do that day in and day out anyway, but one day in particular it's time again: Let's STARTUP OPEN AIR! Am 27.08.2025 It's that time again and the SOA is moving on to the next round. Add the date to the calendar now and get here Your ticket!
Why should you visit SOA (again)? Because it's getting bigger, more innovative and even more colorful! How is that possible? Especially through one thing: Yours feedback! We know that giving feedback isn't most people's biggest hobby, so we'll make it short: Just take 3 minutes timeto provide us with your feedback and wishes and thus the SOA25 to make it even more relevant for you. So use the train journey, the supermarket queue or even the commercial break for our short survey and Make your SOA wishes come true!
In order to be able to really respond to you, we have created a separate survey for corporate and ecosystem exhibitors, startup exhibitors and visitors:
Survey for all corporate and ecosystem exhibitors
Survey for all startup exhibitors
We leave the time until SOA25 Pass faster and provide lots of moments of anticipation! Sign up for our newsletter HUBDATE and in particular the List of events On and follow our SOAlinkedin and -instagramchannel so you don't miss out on important SOA news anymore and get in the mood.
We'll see you at SOA2025 no later than 27.08.2025!
Dein DIGITALHUB team
