MDBA students at FAU gain first-hand insights into Berlin’s start-up scene
Once again, 20 students from the MDBA program at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the Berlin start-up scene. This year’s “Digital Field Trip” took place from November 17th to 19th and was accompanied by Professor Voigt, Dr. Oscar Pakos and Isabella Harrer (WFA). In the course of the field trip, the students visited three successful Berlin companies and received exciting insights into the business model, working methods and challenges of the respective environment from selected company representatives such as Benjamin Molzahn (CFO | Fit Analytics), Christian Hafner (Head of Academy | Enpal), Luise Schuler (Employer Branding Specialist | Enpal), and Sebastian Schleicher (CTO | Blinkist).
Fit Analytics (founded in 2010) is based in Berlin and Chicago and supports partners across six continents by delivering accurate sizing recommendations to millions of shoppers worldwide every month. Fit Analytics uses the power of machine learning to give leading brands and retailers all the tools they need to solve sizing, sell smarter, and turn data into actionable insight. In 2021 they were acquired by Snapchat.
Enpal (founded in 2017) leases solar systems, wall boxes and batteries to its customers over a period of 20 years. At the end of the term, the installations can be taken over for a small fee. In doing so, they are making a significant contribution to the energy transition in Germany and are currently the fastest growing start-up in Europe (>3.000 employees). At the end of last year, Enpal was the first German start-up in the renewable energies segment to break the one billion dollar valuation and is therefore considered as a “unicorn”.
Blinkist is a German start-up founded in 2012 and mostly a fee-based service that summarizes non-fiction books and educational podcasts in English and German to the most important core statements. The more than 20 million users worldwide have access to content as text and audio files with a length of 15-25 minutes to develop professionally or take on new perspectives in private life.
Besides these excellent startup experiences, we also enjoyed good community, delicious food, and the fascinating city of Berlin! We would like to thank Benjamin, Christian, Luise and Sebastian for their great hospitality and their valuable insights. We are already looking forward to coming back to Berlin soon!