

AI NATION Berlin Connect – Co-Founder Matchmaking for Future AI-Startups
You have an idea and need the right co-founders or you want to join a promising AI-/tech-driven project with your skills?
AI NATION Berlin Connect is a matchmaking event using speeddating for aspiring founders from Freie Universität, Humboldt-Universität, Technische Universität and Charité Berlin. Over the course of 120 minutes, you will meet potential co-founders from design, business, technology and domain fields such as psychology, life sciences, social sciences and more.
Our goal: bringing together around 50–80 participants with complementary backgrounds, who have an interest in applying for the AI NATION funding program, and are still looking for a strong, interdisciplinary founding team.
Who is this for?
We especially welcome:
Master’s students (ideally close to finishing their degree), curious about entrepreneurship or joining an early-stage team
PhD candidates and postdocs with research or data-driven ideas
Highly motivated individuals with skills in
Design, UX, product
Business, strategy, operations
Technology (AI, ML, software, hardware, robotics),
Domain expertise (e.g. health, social sciences, life sciences, etc.)
You do not need a finished business plan. Curiosity, openness and a willingness to collaborate are enough.
What can I expect?
Curated speeddating rounds (3–5 minutes) to meet many potential co-founders in a short time
Matchmaking across the clusters Design, Business, Technology and Domain
The option to give a concise 30-second pitch of your idea (for those who already have one)
A short introduction to the AI NATION Grant - and why team composition matters
Fingerfood, a soft drink & informal networking with participants and innovation managers after the structured part
Before the event, we will cluster participants based on what they bring and what they are looking for.
What should I prepare?
Think about what you bring: skills, experience, research field, networks
Think about what you are looking for: co-founder profile, problem space, domain
If you want to pitch, prepare a 30-second pitch:
The problem you want to address
Your idea or approach to a solution
What kind of people you are looking for
To increase your chances of finding the right match, we recommend joining our digital matchmaking space on Match’em:
👉 https://matchem.science-startups.berlin