BITS & PRETZELS 2025: MEASURE, MAKERS & MARKET INSIGHTS

Bits & Pretzels 2025: Our freshest startup insights

At the end of September, we attended Bits & Pretzels in Munich. 
After all, we regularly collaborate with startups and went there specifically to gather fresh customer and market insights: directly from founders, investors, and corporate representatives. 
This year’s festival was themed “Connecting Europe” and brought together around 7,500 participants. For two days, everything revolved around keynotes, masterclasses, and curated matchmaking sessions. Day 3 was traditionally scheduled to take place in the Schottenhamel festival tent. 

An unexpected Oktoberfest twist—and still good conversations
On the third day of all days, things took a different turn: the planned discussion sessions at Schottenhamel had to be canceled at first.
The reason was the temporary closure of the Oktoberfest grounds—a security operation brought the Wiesn to a standstill for several hours before it reopened in the evening. We used the time to deepen our connections—and later still immerse ourselves in the typical Wiesn atmosphere. 
A little lesson on the side: You often meet the most interesting people at the beer bench.

Particularly inspiring: sovereign, European AI with Mistral

A highlight for us: the discussion with Mistral. The key takeaways: 

Bringing innovation to Europe – independence in AI isn’t just a political buzzword, but a technical and economic necessity. 

Open source as an accelerator: 
AI is too important to be kept behind closed doors.
Openness drives adoption and speed. 

In short: Go Europe!

Further takeaways for our work with startups

Connecting Europe – Now with Substance.
The theme was more than just window dressing: Many sessions focused on cross-border collaboration, European tech sovereignty, and AI use cases that deliver real business impact. For product teams, this means: thinking about regulation and go-to-market strategies on a European scale—partner networks are becoming a key feature. 

Capital: More growth funding needed—locally.
A common theme on the Investor Summit stage was that growth financing in Europe is increasing, but often doesn’t come from Europe. Those who want to keep value creation here need local growth funds—and robust metrics (efficiency, margin path for AI apps, clear unit economics). For founders, this means: Establish data transparency early on, test pricing, and demonstrate a path to profitability. 

AI in Practice: Margins Are Coming.
Investors still see thin margins in the AI application layer today—but expect improved economics through new pricing models and more efficient foundation models. Translated into roadmaps: value-based pricing logic, usage/seat hybrids, strictly measure & optimize LLM costs.

Our conclusion

For us, Bits & Pretzels 2025 was a mix of market insights, insightful debates, and very concrete discussions.

Yes, Day 3 didn’t go as planned, but you can’t cancel networking. For our startup projects, we’re taking away this lesson:
Speed + Openness (Open Source, Partnering) beat Perfectionism.
Think European, roll out locally—with a clear story on sovereignty & compliance.
A doer’s mindset: build, test, refine – “just ship it” and learn from real users.

Are you planning an MVP, looking to get a web or mobile app with AI features up and running, or need hands-on guidance on architecture, scaling, and product KPIs?

Get in touch—we’ll take your idea from the pitch deck to reality.