Innovation Meets Capital: “Venture Dates” in Landau Bring Startups and Investors Together

On 4 November, startups and investors from Germany, France, and Switzerland will gather at the Landau campus of the Rhineland-Palatinate Technical University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU). In a speed-dating format, founders will have the opportunity to present their business ideas and engage with potential investors. The event is part of the EU project “KTUR² – Knowledge Transfer Upper Rhine,” led by the University of Strasbourg, which promotes cross-border exchange of knowledge, technologies, and entrepreneurship in the Upper Rhine region.

“The Upper Rhine region is innovative and rich in investment opportunities, but ideas and capital are often not in the same place,” says Dennis Steininger, Professor of Entrepreneurship at RPTU. Promising ideas often go unrealized due to a lack of funding or because capital doesn't find its way to investable business concepts. The Venture Dates aim to change this – across borders. To achieve this, the trinational KTUR partners have identified and mapped key contacts, who will now come together at this speed-networking event.

An Innovative Networking Format for Startups and Investors

The event kicks off at 12:00 PM with an exclusive program for startups and investors. In a speed-dating format, investors rotate between stations where startups pitch their business ideas. The goal is to enable as many encounters as possible for exchange, feedback, and to spark investment opportunities.

Starting at 4:15 PM, the event opens to the public. Alongside inspiring talks on entrepreneurship and trinational collaboration, the spotlight will be on pitches from the top three startups, as nominated by the investors. These startups will present their products or services in a dynamic format. The event concludes with an awards ceremony and networking session. Participation is free of charge, and registration is available at www.venturedates.com.

A Network for Innovation in the Upper Rhine Region

The Venture Dates event focuses on three countries in the Upper Rhine region: Germany, France, and Switzerland. It offers a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship in a trinational context. The KTUR network consists of 15 partner institutions, including RPTU.