A Look Back: The 2nd TIC & VIR Travel Start-up Night 2025 in Munich
For the secondTIC&VIR Travel Start-up Night 2025, we were hosted by Wirelane in Munich. OnJuly 10, 2025, we had the pleasure of welcoming five inspiring travel startups and all our guests to the Bavarian capital.
At exactly 6:30 p.m., VIR Board Member Michael Buller and TIC Office Manager Tim Deisinger kicked off the event by welcoming the guests and startups. They also presented the evening’s agenda, the startups giving pitches, and the rules of the Travel Startup Nights. They extended a big thank you to our host, Wirelane, represented by Constantin Schwaab and Hakan Ardic. The two also offered some words of encouragement to the startups and the audience and expressed their delight at hosting the second TIC & VIR Travel Startup Night 2025.
Opening remarks by VIR Board Member Michael Buller and TIC Office Manager Tim Deisinger
3, 2, 1… Pitch
Ronja Scherzinger of FashionTouri
After the opening remarks, it was time to focus all attention on the startups and their presentations as they competed for a spot in the finals.
The startups took the stage in alphabetical order. Ronja Scherzinger of FashionTouri began her presentation with a look back at her family history and the family business that laid the foundation for her startup. FashionTouri is a platform for anyone who wants to travel globally and shop locally. She highlighted the diversity of small, local fashion and design shops and focused on the target groups of tourists, shop owners, and locals, as well as the target market. FashionTouri combines sightseeing with a shopping experience, allowing its customers to discover cities on their own terms. Through the FashionTouri app, users can not only find new shopping destinations but also stay connected with their favorite shops they’ve already discovered.
Max Hummel and Michael Meyer from GoYoWay
As the second speakers of the evening, Max Hummel and Michael Meyer from GoYoWay kicked off with the statement, “The best way to get to know a country and its people is through their own festivals.” The startup places cultural events at the heart of travel planning and destination selection. In doing so, they focus on authentic experiences rather than mass tourism, generating leads for travel providers and visibility for destinations. In their presentation, they addressed both the market potential and trends in the travel market. Around 85% of travelers want to immerse themselves deeply in the local culture, and 78% prefer destinations where they can experience local life and traditions. To achieve this, they maintain direct communication with the destinations.
Stefan Hechberger of New Travel
After a brief intermission filled with lively conversation among the guests, Stefan Hechberger from New Travel took the stage. New Travel GmbH operates two platforms: go!outdoors and HiddenTours. Both are dedicated to addressing the challenges of digitalization in the specialty travel industry. Due to a lack of digitalization, there remains significant untapped potential, which translates into improved visibility and greater comparability of travel offerings. New Travel GmbH’s approach is based on the uniform provision of data via API, optimization through AI, and data import for travel agencies, OTAs, and end customers. Go!Outdoors serves as the platform for the company’s own travel sales and for OTAs, whereas HiddenTours is a SaaS solution for travel agencies. Stefan Hechberger also emphasized that specialty travel is a hard-to-access but thoroughly significant market for the industry.
Lukas Rissing, Co-Founder & CEO of studypacker
He was followed by Lukas Rissing, co-founder and CEO of Studypacker. With its platform, Studypacker makes it possible to travel and study at the same time. The startup fosters a genuine study-and-travel community and supports students both in selecting international educational programs and by providing guidance on choosing a major, credit recognition, and visa issues. In addition, students can connect with one another and participate in regular networking events. Another key component of the service is support with exam scheduling to ensure that students can complete their coursework while traveling.
Fabian Reinhardt, Founder and CEO of travel-young
To conclude the evening, Fabian Reinhardt, Founder & CEO, presented the concept behind travel-young, a platform for travelers aged 16 to 18. He began by highlighting the challenges faced by underage travelers. These range from the time-consuming research process to obtaining travel authorization, legal hurdles, and a lack of security. travel-young solves these problems and offers young travelers a comprehensive solution. During the trip, travel-young also acts as a direct point of contact for any issues or questions. The target audience of 16- to 18-year-olds is reached through social media, YouTube, as well as influencers, newsletters, and Google Ads. They have already built a community that continues to grow thanks to their social media presence.
Who won Start-up Night?
Following the individual presentations, there was a Q&A session with the audience, during which the founders provided detailed answers. The focus was once again on networking and exchanging ideas with established companies in order to refine the startups’ concepts.
Before the networking event began, both the startups and the audience eagerly awaited the announcement of the evening’s winner.
Ronja Scherzinger from FashionTouri won the competition in Munich. She impressed the audience with an inspiring pitch, beating out Stefan Hechberger from New Travel, who took second place.
A big thank you to all the startups, our guests, and our host, wirelane!
The winners of Start-up Night in Munich
Scenes from Munich:
The next VIR & TIC Travel Start-up Night will take place on September 11 in Berlin!
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