Europe's leading university start-ups compete for more than €5 million in prizes. RWTH start-up FloodWaive takes home three awards.
This year, Stage Two brought together the brightest minds in European university startups, setting a new standard for early-stage innovation. Held in Berlin on 30-31 October, the competition featured more than 45 startups from over 40 universities across 20 countries, offering an impressive €5 million in prizes. Now in its fourth year, Stage Two has established itself as Europe’s premier competition for early-stage university startups and a must-attend event for innovation-driven corporates and VCs.
An Unparalleled Platform for Innovation and Collaboration
Stage Two’s two-day format emphasized intensive networking and collaboration. The first day, titled “An Awakening,” was an insightful day of workshops and discussions hosted by industry experts such as Bertelsmann Investment, Orrick, Google for Startups, Siemens, Arvato Systems, Start2 Group, Riverty, as well as the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. Participants also had opportunities to connect in an Academic Roundtable and an Investor Speeddating session. Between workshops, attendees joined an exclusive fireside chat on “Founding vs. Investing” with Alina Bassi (Ananda) and Iris ten Have (Visionaries). The day concluded with a panel discussion on “Commercializing Tech,” featuring Klaus Löckel (Siemens), Sven Przywarra (LiveEO), Sofía Benjumea (Google for Startups), Frédéric du Bois-Reymond (Earlybird), and Daniel Kob (RTL).
The second day showcased the core of Stage Two: the pitch competition. With the semi-final rounds spanning business and tech innovations, judges had the challenging task of selecting finalists from the very best in European university startups. Eight teams advanced to the finals, where they pitched groundbreaking ideas to a distinguished jury. Alongside the competition, participants attended insightful fireside chats, including “Building Bridges – The Role of Gen AI in Europe’s Deep Tech Revolution” with Gianna Lengyel (Mistral AI) and Tobias Henz (McKinsey), and “Building a Personal Brand” with Pip Klöckner (Doppelgänger Tech Talk) and Diana zur Löwen (Rawr Ventures). The second day showcased the core of Stage Two: the pitch competition. With the semi-final rounds spanning business and tech innovations, judges had the challenging task of selecting finalists from the very best in European university startups. Eight teams advanced to the finals, where they pitched groundbreaking ideas to a distinguished jury.
Building the Future of European Innovation
Stage Two has established a reputation for driving impactful innovation across Europe. And the event’s success aligns with the organizers’ mission of preparing research-intense startups for long-term success. Over the years, Stage Two participants have continued to secure venture capital, with winners raising an average of €1.5 million within 12 months. This year’s event saw continued support from over 55 VCs and 25 corporate partners, Stage Two remains a leading platform for academic-driven startups, empowering visionary founders and advancing Europe’s position in the global startup landscape.
In a special segment called “Celebration of Nations,” the cultural diversity of the community was honored, spanning universities from Portugal to Estonia and Scotland to Greece. For the first time, Ukraine was represented, with a team from the Kyiv School of Economics, highlighting Stage Two’s inclusive vision for a unified European startup ecosystem.
RWTH team FloodWaive secures three awards for high-impact AI technology
One of this year’s innovative solutions emerged from RWTH Aachen University. The Aachen team Floodwaive has developed an advanced AI-driven flood forecasting and risk analysis system, offering precise, real-time predictions of flood events and their potential impacts. Leveraging cutting-edge algorithms, Floodwaive’s technology can perform high-resolution simulations in seconds—significantly faster than conventional hydraulic modeling, which often requires hours. With flexible, scalable models, the system can adapt to various needs, from small city districts to large regions, integrating sensor and detailed mapping data to enhance accuracy. Floodwaive’s groundbreaking approach to flood risk management earned them significant recognition and awards at Stage Two, including €250,000 from Atlantic Labs and €300,000 from Earlybird as investment prizes. Additionally, the team secured the Fast-track-to-IC accelerate prize, sponsored by FoodLabs, further propelling their mission to transform flood preparedness and resilience.
Winners of Stage Two 2024
The event concluded with a celebration of the winning teams, whose groundbreaking solutions and vision for change earned them prestigious investment, skilling and accelerate prizes.
Skilling Prizes
Tech for Good Award, sponsored by value for good: Sealeo (better ventures Impact Wildcard)
Start2explore UAE Award, sponsored by Start2 Group: NAYA (NTNU Trondheim)
Accelerate Prizes
Fast-track-to-IC, sponsored by SquareOne: RayVen (Ruhr University Bochum)
Company building with Chemovator, sponsored by Chemovator: BioFragment (Oxford University)
Fast-track-to-IC, sponsored by APEX Ventures: Belfort (KU Leuven)
Fast-track-to-IC, sponsored by Armilar: Belfort (KU Leuven)
Fast-track-to-IC, sponsored by FoodLabs: Floodwaive (RWTH Aachen University)
Accelerate Award, sponsored by HV Capital: Nanomation (University of Cambridge)
HTGF German Deep Tech Award, €850K: Nanomation (University of Cambridge)
Seaya Investment Prize, €1M: Belfort (KU Leuven)
World Fund Investment Prize, €1M: nextract-energy (Siemens Industrial Innovation Wildcard)
IQ Capital Investment Prize, €1M: Belfort (KU Leuven)
Stage Two Movement Award (€100K Media Cash Prize), sponsored by DvH Ventures + Skilling Award “Problem Solving Workshop”, sponsored by McKinsey & Company: GaltTec (University of Tartu)
Stage Two
Stage Two ist der größte paneuropäische Wettbewerb für universitäre early-stage Start-ups. Organisiert wird der jährlich stattfindende Wettbewerb von der RWTH Aachen University und der HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. Stage Two bringt visionäre Köpfe aus ganz Europa auf und abseits der Bühne zusammen: Unter dem Motto „For Our Beyond“ treten die besten Start-ups europäischer Universitäten vor hochkarätigen Investor*innen und Expert*innen aus der Industrie in Berlin bei einem exklusiven Pitch-Wettbewerb und Networking-Event gegeneinander an. Dem Finale in Berlin geht eine lokale Hochschulrunde (Stage One) voraus, in der die Entrepreneurship Center der teilnehmenden Universitäten jeweils ihr bestes Start-up auswählen, das dann auf internationaler Ebene antritt. Die Hauptveranstaltung ist eingebettet in eine wachsende internationale Community aus Start-ups, Universitäten, Unternehmen und VC-Firmen. Abseits der Bühne fördert die Stage Two-Community den kontinuierlichen Austausch von Wissen und Best Practices zwischen den teilnehmenden Universitäten in regelmäßigen Roundtables, um so das gesamte Innovationspotential Europas nutzbar zu machen. Stage Two wurde im Rahmen der Initiative EXIST-Potentiale des Bundesministeriums für Wirtschaft und Klimaschutz initiiert und wird darüber hinaus von diversen Kooperationsunternehmen unterstützt.
