Did you know you can develop your next electronic product in Bosnia & Herzegovina, just 50 km from the EU border? That's the message we took to Bits & Pretzels 2026 in Munich, our first conference of this size, made possible by SystemEU Valley as part of the Audience Award we received at the SystemEU Summit.
What we took away
- AI is everywhere. Roughly three out of four startups we met had AI somewhere in their product. The question is no longer whether to use it, but how to make the most of it in everyday engineering and product development.
- Europe wants its production capabilities closer. With critical supply chains, reliable partners, shorter lead times and more control over development and manufacturing matter more than ever, which is a real opportunity for engineering companies in our region.
- Being a partner, not a supplier. At a round table with Oliver Hanisch (Campus Founders) and Matthias Notz (Start2 Group), one point stuck with us: as an external engineering partner for startups, it's not enough to show what you can build. Founders and their investors need to feel comfortable with the cooperation, through IP, documentation and knowledge transfer, and through genuine commitment to the product's long-term success.
Three days of meeting potential customers, learning and sharing what we're building, plus the Oktoberfest networking. We came to Munich hoping to make a few good connections, and we did a little better than that. Now it's time to put it all to work.