Global GAN Momentum Tour in Hamburg
Global GAN Momentum Tour laid anchor in Hamburg
Wow! We are still amazed struck by the impressions of the GAN Momentum Tour: The lessons learned, insights exchanged, laughters shared and new connections made. We are very happy to have been the regional co-host of the European part of the GAN Momentum Tour in our city. Hamburg was the third stop of the tour right after Pittsburgh and Lima, before traveling to Manama in Bahrain.
What is the GAN Momentum Tour all about?
As the name suggests, GAN builds a global network of accelerators. The regional tour has the purpose of strengthening ties and synergies with and within players of regional ecosystems. The tour is an an exclusive gathering for the members and a big event open to the community — the Momentum Day. The purpose is one: exchange, learn and get inspired by others.
Before fully diving into our recap of the GAN Momentum Tour, here are our 5 insights gained at the tour:
- We are all in this together: Even though we met with accelerator professionals with different focuses (corporate accelerator, impact accelerator, etc.) — we realized we face similar challenges (e.g. ratio of female founders taking part in the program, dealflow, funding)
- We are a global community: The startup ecosystem is thriving around the globe — we were very happy to have international startups take the stage in Hamburg.
- We are stronger united! The GAN network is providing strong ties and connections to reinforce each others businesses/ accelerators.
- Hamburg is a harbour for innovation and the startup ecosystem is its driving force.
- Build lasting partnerships! We are happy to keep in touch with all the other GAN members we met.
Accelerator’s get to meet and exchange in the region
At the offsite, many insights were gained — especially, on how much all the accelerators were alike even though all address different industries. There is a LOT of potential to learn and collaborate. ‘Unconference’ — was the headline to the exchange. In this format, 25 representatives of GAN members from all over Europe and even one Korean (Spark Labs Korea) could meet and discuss about their businesses. It was an unique opportunity to get together with accelerator programs like Maze (Portugal), The Factory (Norway), Sting (Sweden) among others to echange about relevant tools, providing value to startups, building community and making accelerators a relevant actor to drive innovation within ecosystems. Our key learning: We are all in this together! #communitypower
Warming up at WeWork Happy Hour
The Happy Hour at WeWork Europapassage opened with local beer & great networking atmosphere (thanks for having us ❤ ) and building up to the momentum: For Momentum Day more than 100 guests followed the call into the Virtual Reality Headquarters (VRHQ): The day was packed with insightful panels, speakers, keynotes and startups pitches. We are a global community!
The Big Day: Momentum Day
The Founder Panel including Philipp Westermeyer of the Online Marketing Rockstars (one of the biggest Online Marketing Festivals/Conferences in Europe), Tarek Müller of ABOUT YOU (is one of the fastest growing eCommerce companies in Europe and Hamburg’s first unicorn) as well as Hanna Asmussen of the relocation startup Localyze (she recently went through the famous Y-Combinator in San Francisco) brought up some striking insights: On stage Hanna voiced an unusual problem, her company is facing: “We have a hard time getting men for our team! But diversity works both ways”.
Keynotes were held by Matthias Henze of Jimdo, Cécile Wickman of the online vintage store REBELLE as well as Michael Rager of DTCP. As diverse as the program was the audience: Young professional, founders and investors mingled at the event.
Pitches were on fire
The Pitch session included one NMA-startup LAMA alongside six other startups from different branches: Yamuntu, Tuki , Rnters , SitEinander, SentiSquare, CFgO GmbH. In the end Tuki came out a winner of the competition in Hamburg — for the overall win they still have to wait for the final GAN Momentum Tour stop in Manama. Every city winner gets the chance to win the overall prize: A GAN ventures investment.
Summary of the Momentum Day: We are stronger united!
Take it to the Town Hall
Last but not least — the big finale: All tour participants were invited for a Town Hall Reception at the ‘Hamburger Rathaus’ where Undersecretary for Cultural Affairs Jana Schiedek recognized the work of the next media accelerator and the entire startup community as a driving force for innovation in Hamburg. On the agenda of the Town Hall Reception was the last panel for the day: Managing Partner Christoph Hüning moderated the Panel which included Sabela Garcia Cuesta of WeWork, Patrick Riley of GAN and Rita Casimiro of the Portuguese accelerator MAZE. They all were discussing about opportunities for startups in Germany, Europe and the US. Key finding: Hamburg is a harbour for innovation!
Moments go by, Momentum stays
All in all, we felt honoured to be able to host the third stop of the GAN Momentum Tour in Hamburg. We are already looking forward to our next GAN event. Thanks to the fabulous GAN team who put it all together. We ❤ you guys! We love to build lasting partnerships!
