Report on the Saxon Start-up Forum III in Chemnitz

On May 7, 2025, the Saxon Start-up Forum III took place in the inspiring atmosphere of "die fabrik" in Chemnitz. Under the motto "Presenting & communicating your own idea convincingly", founders, people interested in innovation and experts gathered to work together on the art of effective pitching.

Caroline Pechmann, Senior Project Manager at futureSAX, opened the event in the pitch area of the fabrik in Chemnitz. This was followed by an inspiring keynote speech by Peter Wöckel, pitch trainer(Pitch Partner, Dresden), who showed how a vision can become an effective reality through convincing communication.

Key learnings from the keynote:

• "Emotion is king" - pick people up with emotions, not with overly detailed facts
• Be ready to pitch at all times
• the pitch is the business card, the business planning tool, the key to the right door and identity

Key learnings from the keynote:

• "Emotion is king" - pick people up with emotions, not with overly detailed facts
• Be ready to pitch at all times
• the pitch is the business card, the business planning tool, the key to the right door and identity

Following the keynote speech, the individual and parallel pitch training sessions began. While the nominees for the Saxon State Awards honed their 10-minute pitches in separate rooms, the Pitch Area offered all other participants the opportunity to present their 3- or 7-minute pitches and receive valuable feedback. Anika Lorenz, Project Manager for Ideas Phase & InnoStartBonus, led the pitch training here, which offered an ideal training opportunity, especially for the candidates of the second evaluation round in the current InnoStarttBonus funding call 13. Andre Uhlmann (location manager and start-up consultant, start-up network SAXEED, Freiberg) and Christian John (investment manager, TGFS and S-Beteiligungen, Leipzig) provided feedback on the pitches. FutureSAX alumna Regina Hessenmüller-Lampke (CFO and co-founder of CMMC GmbH, Chemnitz), who was one of last year's nominees with her company, provided exclusive insights into the upcoming jury meeting for the Saxon Start-up Award, supported by Caroline Pechmann. The nominees for the Saxon Innovation Award were accompanied by pitch coach Peter Wöckel, together with futureSAX project manager Dörte Rex.

Networking and exchange

The event concluded with a get-together where participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas and make new contacts in a relaxed atmosphere. The Saxon Start-up Forum III provided an excellent platform for sharpening presentation skills, receiving feedback from experts and networking with like-minded people. An all-round communicative event that gave founders valuable inspiration and exchange for their entrepreneurial journey. Now we are looking ahead to the big highlight of the year - the Saxon Innovation Conference - where innovation from Saxony will be honored with three state prizes that convinced the juries in the second round of judging.