German Startup Awards: Voting now open, Pia Wülfing from PINK! nominated
The German Startup Association has announced the finalists for the German Startup Awards 2026. The awards are presented in eight categories, including ‘Impact Entrepreneur of the Year’. Prof. Dr Pia Wülfing from Hamburg, founder of PINK! gegen Brustkrebs, is one of the nominees, and votes can be cast for her until 3 May.
PINK! helps breast cancer patients
Pia Wülfing and PINK! owe their nomination to a comprehensive range of counselling and support services for breast cancer patients. This includes an app, the costs of which are covered by health insurance, as well as psycho-oncological courses, webinars and a conference. Also in the running for Female and Male Impact Entrepreneur of the Year are
Kathrin Mikan, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of SUPERHELDENKIDS (Regensburg)
Ruth von Heusinger, CEO & Founder of ForTomorrow gGmbH (Berlin)
Ali Abderrahmane, CEO & Founder of JUHI GmbH (Berlin)
Alexander Leutner, CEO & Co-Founder of Cellbricks Therapeutics (Berlin)
Felix Oldenburg, CEO & Co-Founder of bcause GmbH (Berlin)
Female Newcomer of the Year 2026
Elise Chen, CEO & Co-Founder of Syn2core (Munich)
Dr Lena-Marie Pätzmann, CEO & Co-Founder of Sitegeist Robotics (Riemerling)
Ruth Bosse, CEO & Founder of Ark Software GmbH (Munich)
Male Newcomer of the Year 2026
Christian Ninstel, CEO & Founder of Droidrun (Osnabrück)
Maurits Zevering, CEO & Co-Founder of neXtract energy GmbH (Berlin)
Dr Philip Schmitt, CEO & Co-Founder of mechIC GmbH (Bochum)
Female Founder of the Year 2026
Julie Lepique, CEO & Founder of Femtasy (Berlin)
Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, CTO & Co-Founder of tozero (Munich)
Nina Heine, CEO & Co-Founder of Shit2Power (Berlin)
Male Founder of the Year 2026
Felix Pörnbacher, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of DeepDrive GmbH (Garching near Munich)
Dr Jarek Kutylowski, CEO & Founder of DeepL (Cologne)
Malte Kosub, CEO & Co-Founder of Parloa (Berlin)
Female Investor of the Year 2026
Judith Dada, General Partner at Visionaries Club (Berlin)
Miki Yokoyama, Partner and Managing Director at Aurum Impact (Bielefeld)
Dr Tanja Emmerling, Partner & Head at HTGF (Berlin)
Male Investor of the Year 2026
Dr Andre Retterath, General Partner at Earlybird Venture Capital (Munich)
Mathias Ockenfels, Partner at b2venture (Berlin)
Simon Schmincke, General Partner at CREANDUM (Berlin)
The awards ceremony will take place on 21 May in Berlin.
