Hey, dear reader!
It's time to flex your pitch muscle. On November 25, we're teaming up with 12min.me for Startup Slam, what might be the coolest pitch event of the year.
12 teams, one big stage, 144 seconds each.
If you're building in AI, deep tech, or any other field with a strong tech focus, apply and try your luck. No other strings attached. You just need a convincing case for why you should be on that stage.
Send your pitch to [email protected] with a few lines on why it should be you.
Hugo is one of the jurors but don't expect mercy :) A few investors will be in the room too.
If you’d rather watch others pitch, grab your ticket.
And in other news: October keeps delivering. For Hamburg startups, this is the best month of the year so far in terms of capital raised. Alongside 1KOMMA5, Rabot Energy and Procuros, energy startup hansetherm just announced a €10M seed round.
That's €150M in a single month! For context: Hamburg startups raised €176M in all of 2025.
I know of a couple more sizable rounds coming before year's end. And we're working on something new to go behind the numbers. More on that in the coming issue(s).
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🗓️ Startup Events
Handpicked for this week.
🤖 AI Everywhere
Wed, October 28
Grok Bot Meetup (English): Meet people building bots, from work automation to personal assistants, and live demos.
🧑💻 Tech Bite
Tue, October 27
Traffic Wars Coding Challenge x CHECK24 (German): Team up for a four-hour coding challenge, and compete for prizes, with coaches and food on hand.
🔨 Startup 101
Mon, October 26
Co-working Day (English): Work alongside founders and operators, start with a round of introductions and get fresh eyes on whatever you are stuck on.
Tue, October 27
Public Speaking Workshop (German): Practice body language, voice and storytelling with a moderation trainer, then try free speaking in front of the community.
Wed, October 28
IP Basics for Startups (German): Learn about which rights exist, what is actually worth protecting and which pitfalls catch early-stage founders.
Fri, October 30
build fridays (English): Work on your own startup alongside other founders doing the same, and end the week with something shipped.
✨ Get Inspired
Tue, October 27
Energy Stammtisch #4 (English): Meet grid operators, utilities, startups and consultants for relaxed conversations about the energy industry.
Thu, October 29
Climate Coffee (English): Meet people building, funding and supporting climate solutions over coffee, from founders to investors and researchers.
Thu, October 29
Founders' Tap Autumn Edition (German): Meet around 30 curated founders over cocktails and snacks, with talks on the Hamburg founder ecosystem.
Sat, October 31
Founders Running Club (English): Run with founders, investors and creatives, then stay for coffee and conversation.
📍 Monthly Highlights
Wed-Thu, November 4-5
code.talks (English): A two-day conference for developers and CTOs. Save 15% on any ticket with code FOUND15.
Wed, November 4
AI day-to-day: Product Management (English): See how product people use AI in their day-to-day work.
Wed, November 11
Autonomous Intelligence Forum #2 (German): Find out what AI agents can really do, who is liable when they act alone and how to run them in-house.
Thu, November 12
Deep Tech Afterwork #3: Advanced Manufacturing (English): Meet people building in deep tech over drinks.
Sat, November 14
Founders Court x Founders Running Club (English): Run with founders in a special community edition.
📬 found recommends
Two newsletters worth a subscribe.
Alsterrunde — Our community member, Mert, is sharing his takes on Hamburg city life, from local politics to everyday moments, new discoveries, and hidden gems.
Handpicked Careers — From chief editor of Handpicked Berlin, Igor Ranc. Jobs, hiring news and career advice from across Germany, every Thursday.
📣 Open Calls
Startup grants, programs, and opportunities.
BattleVerse — For defence and dual-use AI startups. Up to €60,000 as a lump sum, no equity, for a six-month experiment in LLM mission planning, simulation or swarm AI. Deadline: November 16.
SECURE — For software companies selling in the EU. Up to €30,000 toward Cyber Resilience Act compliance, covering half of your project cost. Deadline: December 11.
South Summit Startup Competition — For startups at any stage, from anywhere. Free to enter: 100 finalists pitch to 2,100+ investors in Madrid, June 2 to 4, 2027. Deadline: January 31.
💼 Job Picks
3 open roles worth a look this week.
Senior PHP Engineer at SCAYLE, an enterprise commerce platform spun out of ABOUT YOU.
Account Manager at Nect, an AI startup behind identity verification for banks and businesses.
Head of Marketing at ai-club, an online platform teaching practical, applied AI.
Want to feature your job and put it in front of 1.400+ readers? Submit it here.
That’s a wrap!
Check out the tune of the week from the found playlist
🏄♂️
See you next week,
Kyrylo from found