Connect, collaborate, commercialise: automatica 2025 Start-up Arena

Where startup visionaries become industry leaders

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Start-up Arena
Organizer & Program
Focus Photonics
Start-up Challenge
Impressions 2023

The robotics and automation sector is booming, fueled by groundbreaking startups and increasing investor interest. But turning potential into reality requires access to potential clients, partners and investment. automatica 2025's Start-up Arena is the ecosystem designed for start ups to thrive. It's where innovation meets opportunity, where ideas ignite, and where the future of automation, robotics and photonics is being written in real-time. It’s exactly where the next generation of industry leaders takes shape.

Start-up Arena provides a dynamic platform for innovation, facilitating connections between industry expertise, financing know-how, and the entrepreneurial spirit of the startup community. Located in Hall B4, its open design encourages interaction and the exploration of new partnerships.

This dedicated area showcases innovative newcomers presenting their technological solutions and prototypes at the leading exhibition for smart automation and robotics. A central feature is the stage, a platform for startups and experts to engage in presentations and pitches, promoting collaborative opportunities.

The audience includes diverse participants, from startup representatives and key industry players to financial analysts, venture capitalists, asset managers, and entrepreneurs. This environment encourages valuable exchange and the potential for mutually beneficial collaborations.

Participants 2025

For more information on the participants, please visit our subject area.

Expertise that pays off.

The event is organised by FundingBox, Europe’s Largest Deep Tech Funding Ecosystem, and the city of Odense, which is not only one of the up-and-coming robotics competence centers in Europe, but also looks back on many years of experience in the development and international networking of start-ups. Thus, the Start-up Arena offers companies and investors perfect networking opportunities at the pan-European level to initiate beneficial business partnerships.

Start-up Arena's stage will be a dynamic hub throughout automatica 2025, offering a focused program of pitching sessions, expert panels, keynotes, and networking events. Each day offers a focused program designed to maximize connections and opportunities. June 24th will focus on industrial automation and robotics. June 25th will highlight photonics and investment, June 26th will center on smart manufacturing and finally, June 27th will explore digital innovation—all accompanied by keynotes, expert panels, startup pitches and more.

Photonica

In collaboration with PhotonHub Europe and Laser World of Photonics, Start-up Arena will host a half-day event aiming to link investors with photonics start-ups. The event will start with an inspiring keynote speech outlining the opportunity photonics solutions can bring to the manufacturing industry followed by an expert panel discussing the latest technology areas. Finally, the audience will be able to witness a pitching competition by hand-picked European startups showcasing their products on stage.

CHALLENGE: EUROPE'S BEST ROBOTICS STARTUP

Odense, the World’s Leading Robotics city invites innovative robotics startups to pitch their ideas in front of a jury and compete for a chance to win 5,000 Euros. On the 25th of June at 2 PM, we will take over the Start-up Arena.

The host, Lukas Ziegler, will guide you through the program, where you will get a sneak peek at some of the future robotics innovations and where a jury of investors will award Europe’s Best Robotics Startup.