Celebrating 5 Years of the EuroTeQ Collider: Alumni Gather in Munich

On Friday, 13th February, the first EuroTeQ Collider Alumni Event took place at the Technische Universität München, marking five years of the Collider program. Alumni, ecosystem board members, and partners from industry and academia came together to explore Entrepreneurship for Impact from a European perspective.

The evening highlighted a central idea: the Collider fosters an entrepreneurial mindset and enables participants to create meaningful impact across Europe.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Gerhard Müller, Executive Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, emphasized the role of the EuroTeQ Engineering University in strengthening this mission. From the scalable Course Catalogue and the Collider as a challenge-based learning format to joint executive programs and deeper academic collaboration, EuroTeQ is building structures that prepare students and professionals to act entrepreneurially across borders. Impact, he noted, requires preparation and collaboration.

Stefan Drüssler, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of UnternehmerTUM, addressed another key challenge: Europe’s scaleup gap. While Europe performs strongly in research and innovation, scaling solutions across markets remains complex. Emerging initiatives at the European level are working to improve these framework conditions and make cross-border entrepreneurship more accessible.

A highlight of the evening was hearing directly from alumni Ishan Sahni, Maitreyee Gupte, Marie-Louise Heß, and Ahmed Abdelazim. They shared how the Collider experience shaped their professional paths and strengthened their ability to turn ideas into tangible societal and economic impact. Their stories demonstrated that the competencies gained during the five-week program continue to influence their work long after the Collider ends.

Bakir Kreso, Startup Consultant for AI & Robotics at TUM, presented the support structures available for innovative teams and illustrated how Collider activities connect naturally with the broader startup ecosystem.

The event was made possible thanks to the dedicated support of colleagues across the network, the TUM Think Tank for its organizational excellence, as well as Diane Baumer for hosting and Itziar Ayerbe Lasagabaster for facilitating the discussions.

Five years after its launch, the EuroTeQ Collider continues to connect talents, ideas, and institutions across Europe. The Alumni Event demonstrated the strength of this growing community and reaffirmed a shared ambition: to empower teams, foster collaboration, and contribute to a stronger and more connected European entrepreneurship ecosystem.

The next Collider edition kicks off on 16 April 2026, bringing fresh opportunities for innovation and creativity.