SummerUP — One Week of Building & Selling
Join us for an intensive week of creation, mentorship, and growth – all with a 10.000€ Pitch Competition at the end.
📍 CODE University of Applied Sciences, Donaustraße 44, 12043 Berlin
01 – 08th August, 2025
Week at a Glance
1
Friday
KickOff Day
  • KickOff: 10am-11.30am
  • Workshop: 5.30pm-7pm | Lukas Kneip | How to Sell before Building - Validate Ideas before developing them, and how to scale them after.
2
Saturday
Deepwork Day 1
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
  • Founder Talk 1: 12pm-1.30pm | Philipp Ströhemann | Important User Research: Asking the right questions might save your start up.
3
Sunday
Deepwork Day 2
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
4
Monday
Deepwork Day 3
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
5
Tuesday
Deepwork Day 4
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
6
Wednesday
Deepwork Day 5
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
7
Thursday
Deepwork Day 6
  • Builders Breakfast: 11am-12pm
  • Founder Talk: 6pm-7pm | Joel Enayat | Co-Founder & CGO & COO @ pick'em
8
Friday
Pitch Day
  • Final Presentations: 12pm-5pm
  • Awards & Celebration: 5pm-9pm
Friday 01st: KickOff Day
1
10.00 AM
Open Doors & Check-in
2
10.30 AM
Kick-Off Start
Partner Hot Topics / Ideation
3
11.30 AM
Mingling & Networking
Find Team Mates and Ideas
4
until 5.30 PM
Deep Work
5
5.30 PM
Marketing Workshop
with Lukas Kneip
"How to Sell Before Building"
6
7.00 PM
Deep Work & Mingling
Friday 08th: Public Pitch Day
🧭 Logistics
Venue: The Delta Campus, Donaustraße 44, 12043 Berlin (ground floor where CODE is)
1
12.00 PM - 5.00 PM
🏆 Pitch Competition
10.000€ Prize Money
2
5.00 PM - 9.00 PM
Mingling & Celebration
QR Code for Event Registration (Seperate Event, please register)
This will be a public and bigger Event, so you will be pitching in front of a bigger crowd.
We found that the responsibility of pitching publicly greatly enhances quality of work.
Pitch Competition Criteria
Our esteemed jury will evaluate each pitch based on the following key criteria, ensuring a fair and comprehensive assessment of every innovative idea.
Week Progress
We want to foster a fair environment, so it only makes sense to judge how much of what you are presenting has been actually built at SummerUP.
Business Validation & Traction
Can you show concrete proof that real users want what you’re building? Did you engage your target audience through interviews, pilots, or usability tests? Share traction - sign-ups, active usage, retention, waitlist growth, LOIs/partnerships, and especially paid sales - and the key learnings from these interactions.
Technical Execution
How well is the solution built? is it just a mockup or a working MVP/production-ready product, which can/is being used?
Idea & Team Potential
How exciting is the future with Team & Idea in combination? Do your skills compliment each other? Do you have a moat?
Meet Our Jury
These industry experts will evaluate what teams built this week.
Fabian Wittleben
Serial Founder & Investor
@ MVP Founders
Diana zur Löwen
Serial Founder & Investor
@ Rawr Ventures
Leonie Althaus
Co-Founder & CEO
@ traide AI
Louis Buys
Serial Founder & Investor
@ The Delta
Feliks Eyser
Serial Founder & Investor
@ Jetpack
Thorge Lindner
Co-Founder, CODE Alumni
@ WorldWithin
TBA
Meet Our Mentors
Our Mentors will be there on-site throughout the week - you can simply approach them. We ask you to be respectful with their time and come prepared.
Tim Kanik
Growth & Marketing
(more Info)
All Week
Diana zur Löwen
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
Wednesday
Feliks Eyser
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
All Week
Fabian Wittleben
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
All Week
Tim Tepass
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
Friday (KickOff)
Thorge Lindner
Founder, CODE Alumni
(more Info)
Monday - Friday (Pitch Day)
Roland Fassauer
Serial Founder, Investor (also in +30 CODE University Startups) (more Info)
Monday, Wednesday
Lukas Kneip
Growth & Marketing
(more Info)
All Week
Meet Our Experts
Our Experts will be off-site, and bookable via Online Scheduling (Links TBA). We ask you to be respectful with their time and come prepared & on-time.
Tobias Schüle
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
Times TBA
Philipp Ströhemann
Serial Founder & Investor
(more Info)
Monday @ 2-4pm
Jonas Südfels
Founder & Marketing Specialist
(more Info)
Times TBA
Ralf Holtkamp
Serial Founder, Startup Advisor
(more Info)
Saturday - Monday @ 9pm-10pm
Partners
SummerUP is made possible by the generous support of our Partners.
MVP Founders
Berlin's freshest Venture Studio, where Camels > Unicorns.
Learn more @ https://mvpfounders.com
Jetpack Berlin
Awesome Venture Studio, Awesome Podcasts
Learn more @ https://jetpack.berlin | https://foundermode.show/
The Delta
Venture Studio with it's own Co-Working Campus
Learn more @ https://thedelta.io | hhttps://campus.thedelta.io/
CODE University of Applied Sciences
Europe's #1 Tech & Entrepreneurship University | code.berlin
Additional Sponsors
Additionally, these Sponsors generously hopped on board.
RedBull
Drinks to fuel you through long nights.
MyMuesli
Fueling our Builder Breakfast:
Only while stocks last.
Jamie
Get all your Meetings, User Interviews and anything you might need under control.
Paulaner Spezi
Yummy Fun Drinks.
Wring
AWS Connection, more on that later ;)
Fritz Kola
Even More Fun Drinks.
LAP Coffee
Nearby Coffee Shop to fuel you with yummy Coffee.
Milano Vice
Did somebody say Pizza?
Thank You!^
From Builders
felix.holtkamp@code.berlin
+49 176 41601069
For Builders
tjark.lindner@code.berlin
+49 160 5441356
We look forward to an incredible week of building, learning, and community!
Imprint
Angaben gemäß § 5 DDG:
Felix Holtkamp & Tjark Lindner
Donaustraße 44
12043 Berlin, Germany
Kontakt:
E-Mail: felix.holtkamp@code.berlin, tjark.lindner@code.berlin
Telefon: +49 176 41601069, +49 160 5441356
Inhaltlich verantwortlich gemäß § 18 Abs. 2 MStV:
Felix Holtkamp & Tjark Lindner
Hinweis:
Wir sind nicht verpflichtet und nicht bereit, an einem Streitbeilegungsverfahren vor einer Verbraucherschlichtungsstelle teilzunehmen.
Hinweis: Dieses Projekt wird unabhängig von Studierenden der CODE University organisiert. Die Hochschule ist nicht Anbieter:in dieser Website.