TUM São Paulo: Innovation & entrepreneurship event with focus on Colombia

News, TUM Global, TUM São Paulo |

For the second time this year, the TUM liaison office in São Paulo hosted a webinar focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. The workshop was also a call for applications for the TUM Global DeepTech Venture Initiative (GDTV) and the Munich Global Impact Sprint. Nearly 160 startup-savvy students and researchers from across South America joined to learn more about the innovation ecosystem in Munich as well as opportunities locally.

Screenshot of the digital event with all participants
TUM liaison officer Sören Metz with local partners from Colombia and colleagues from TUM. Photo: Screenshot TUM São Paulo

The webinar was offered by TUM São Paulo together with TUM ForTe and UnternehmerTUM (UTUM) specifically for startup-savvy students, scientists and startups from Latin America.

New at this event: the involvement of local partners, this time with a focus on Colombia. For example, the DAAD regional office in Bogotá presented the program for stays in Germany, which includes both studies and innovation-relevant research. The German-Colombian Chamber of Industry and Commerce was also represented at the workshop. AHK Colombia offers specific programs to help startups - including international ones – enter the Colombian market.

Latin America event of global interest

With nearly 240 registrations and over 150 participants, the one-hour event was well attended and featured impressive regional diversity: 58% joined from Colombia, 14% from Peru, 13% from Brazil, 12% from Ecuador. The remaining participants came from Europe, India and Australia.

There was particularly strong interest in learning how to start up in Germany and in South America, and how innovation and start-up work in Germany in general. Around two thirds of the participants have not yet founded a company. Among those willing to found a company, Colombia ranks first as a target country for founding, with 17% of participants considering founding a company in Germany and 13% in Brazil. In addition to financing options, the speakers also discussed details such as the use of AHK Colombia Co-Working Spaces or formal requirements for DAAD scholarships and TUM programs during the Q&A session.

TUM Global DeepTech Idea Award & Munich Global Impact Sprint

One of the main points of the event was the presentation of the TUM Global DeepTech Venture Initiative. The program aims to attract potential start-up teams from other countries to Munich in order to bring transformative technology developments to market-driven implementation. This time, the focus was specifically on the TUM Global DeepTech Idea Award – a prize worth a total of 80,000 euros that is aimed directly at international entrepreneurship talent. A jury of experts evaluates the most convincing idea from the DeepTech knowledge fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, additive manufacturing and sustainable mobility.

Another program presented was the Munich Global Impact Sprint (MGIS), an intensive biannual program to support international entrepreneurship talent in their journey through the Munich ecosystem. The MGIS is an initiative of Munich's three universities, the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Munich University of Applied Sciences (HM) and the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU).


More information about the TUM Global DeepTech Idea Award

More information about UnternehmerTUM

More information about Munich Global Impact Sprint