Future Tech Fest 2024: Startups to watch for!

On 22nd of August, I had an amazing time at the Future Tech Fest in Düsseldorf, Germany's largest B2B Startup Expo and Conference. I love going to such conferences to stay up to date with what’s happening in the industry, but actually get to hear about it in person from people passionate about what they’re doing, rather than just reading it online… Sorry that you have to read about this online since you couldn’t be there yourself ;) But there is always next time, so maybe you want to already pre-register to FTF2025 so you don’t miss this chance again!

Another reason I love going to such conferences is to stay close to startups. While my 14 years of experience were spent in agencies and corporations, including being a solopreneur for a few years, I have always appreciated startups and what they brought to the table, that corporations mostly couldn’t: having the passion and agility to innovate. So if you want to learn about where an industry is going, watch out for its startups.

On that note, here are 3 startups I encountered at FTF2024 that I believe, personally and professionally, would have a bright future:

Experial

Experial was founded by two consumer research doctoral students, Dr. Tobias Klinke and Nader Fadl , from the University of Wuppertal in Germany who believed that companies today are too disconnected from what people actually want. As I have worked on many projects around “customer centricity”, I know firsthand that it is a challenge getting companies to really talk to their customers and get their feedback. The excuse is often that market research can be costly and time-consuming or company executives fall into the trap of believing that they know what their customers want from experience. Even when companies are willing to invest in market research, the data they collect and analyzed is mostly siloed in some reports, and not readily available to derive actionable insights from, especially when further customer feedback is required. Moreover, anyone who’s worked in consumer behavior research (or like me is a behavioral economics nerd!) knows that even when you do ask customers what they want, many biases can influence their responses or even our interpretation of their responses, that you don’t really end up with what they actually need, but what they believe they want. These are some of the main challenges that Experial aims to solve by creating “digital twins” of your customers for you to “interview” at any point in time. By molding twins or personas of your target audience from third-party (e.g. social media and review platforms) or first-party (e.g. CRM, market research data, etc.) data sources, you can then query digital copies of your ideal customers in a chatGPT like format and get answers in 30 seconds! And even when there isn’t existing data to answer your question, you can choose to have the AI extrapolate answers based on your customers’ personalities.

Opportunity for growth: digital twins that can emulate your customers' feedback based on different emotional states and scenarios... Like a VR room where you can show your product to a focus group of your digital twins and gauge their nonverbal or emotional reactions.

InnerBuddies

Innerbuddies is a digital health startup that was born out of Maastricht University in The Netherlands, that specializes in microbiome analysis and translates the results into nutrition advice. Is anyone else a fan of the sitcom Scrubs? Because this song is the first thing that came to my mind when I learnt about this startup:

Indeed everything comes down to poo, as our gut health and our well-being are closely connected! Your gut flora can help you understand more about your digestion, weight, energy/mood, brain health, skin and immune system. So instead of taking generic nutrition and health advice from digital influencers or doctors who are in too much of a rush to explain your medical results to you, you can send out your stool sample and digital food diary to Innerbuddies to get personalized nutrition advice that can improve your mental and physical health. Innerbuddies makes use of the qualified laboratory of Maastricht University to analyse the stool samples, using the latest, most advanced technology and know-how available to perform the analysis. Such advances in digital healthcare are revolutionizing the way we approach medical treatment, enabling more personalized care and health monitoring, and giving us more control over our health, especially in critical areas like obesity, diabetes, and healthy ageing. While InnerBuddies are currently looking to partner with supplements brands and recipe websites, Roy Lenders tells me they are currently conducting clinical studies that may allow them in the future to partner with with healthcare professionals and institutions, and insurance companies for medical coverage.

Opportunity for growth: Meal kits designed for customers specifically based on their microbiome results!

Haz Sam

Haz Sam is quite different from the above two, and frankly any other startup at the fest, which is why it got my attention! While most industry conversations make it seem like there is a serious competition between digital and physical landscapes, a more winning strategy is learning how they can complement each other, rather than override each other, creating a "phygital" experience. Haz Sam is a fashion design startup that does this beautifully by experimenting with emerging technologies and integrating them into one end product, while maintaining multiple aspects such as sustainability, craftsmanship, collaboration, and innovation. Using technologies like 3D designs, 3D printing, and VR, Haz Sam designs fashion pieces that are then handcrafted... which aptly earned him a spot at the Fashion Trust Arabia 2024 Finalists for the "Fashion Tech" award .

Haz Sam's designs themselves look like they were concocted by Generative AI through crazy imaginative prompts… Which got me thinking that, while many creators and professionals can fear the impact of AI encroaching on their turf, those who will excel will learn how to grow and co-create with technology rather than shun from it.??

Opportunity for growth: Footwear that can be tailored to customers' measurements and 3D printed combining design and functionality, because how come we can tailor our clothes which is only for aesthetics but we don't tailor our shoes where a wrong fit can cause a myriad of physical issues?!

I’m sure there were other startups at the Future Tech Fest that deserve a mention (and rounds of investment!) but these were the ones that stood out for me personally. Do you agree with my choices?

If you have startups that you are quite fond of, feel free to boast about them in the comments or let me know about your own startup! Better yet, I will also be attending Seamless Europe 2024 in Munich on September 10 - 11, if you are attending and have a startup that you'd like us to hear about, let's get connected and grab a tea at the conference!