iF Pioneers Sprint Winter ‘26
One weekend to turn a spark into a startup idea. €500 for the winning team.
The iF Sprint is a weekend for students, researchers and anyone curious about Deep Tech startups. From Friday afternoon to Sunday evening you form a team around an idea, develop it with experienced mentors, and pitch it to a jury on Sunday. You don’t need any founding experience.
Why join
€500 prize for the winning team
External mentors from Hamburg’s startup and Deep Tech ecosystem, all weekend
Expert sessions on problem-solution fit, business models, pitching and funding
Your team: students, PhDs, engineers, scientists and business people from across Hamburg
€15 ticket with food and drinks included all weekend
Who it’s for
Students from any field, PhDs, researchers, engineers, developers, designers, and anyone else who wants to see what building a startup feels like. What matters is curiosity and the will to get an idea into shape in a short time. Participants must be 18 or older.
Do I need an idea?
No. If you have one, you get 60 seconds on Friday to pitch it to the room. Ideas that attract enough people become teams for the weekend. If you don’t have an idea, join the team whose idea excites you most. Almost any idea is welcome, even ones you think are crazy.
The weekend
Friday, 11 Dec: kick-off and team formation
Doors open at 16:00. After a welcome and opening keynote, participants pitch their ideas in 60 seconds. Then teams form and you start working.
Saturday, 12 Dec: build, learn, iterate
Most of the day you work in your team. In between, short expert sessions give you what you need when you need it: problem-solution fit · business model · pitching · investment. Mentors support your team throughout the day.
Sunday, 13 Dec: pitch and finale
You sharpen your concept and rehearse your pitch. Then every team presents to a jury of founders and investors. The weekend ends with the award ceremony at approx. 19:00.