On 20 and 21 May 2026, more than 3,000 deep tech founders, corporate leaders, investors, and policymakers will converge on Wilhelm Studios Berlin. They are coming for DTM26, Europe's largest deep tech marketplace, and the flagship event of Deep Tech Week Berlin.

This is not a conference where audiences sit and listen. It is a marketplace where startups pitch to corporate buyers with spending power, investors run curated deal meetings, policymakers shape regulation in real time, and armed forces members brief founders on frontline needs. Two days. Six verticals. Hundreds of structured connections designed to turn into contracts, investments, and partnerships.

Here is what to expect.

The Programme: Two Days, Six Verticals

DTM26 is built around six market verticals: Defence, Space, Energy, Advanced Materials, Manufacturing and Robotics, and High-Performance Computing. Each vertical has its own stage programming, DTM100 semi-finals, and curated matchmaking.

Day 0 (19 May): The Investor Dinner brings DTM's inner circle together at a single Berlin location. Invite only. This is where relationships are seeded before the main event opens.

Day 1 (20 May): Opens with the Titans of Europe: Defence and Space, featuring Europe's most influential defence and space innovators on the main stage. In parallel, DTM100 semi-finals run across High-Performance Computing, Manufacturing and Robotics, Energy, Defence, and Space. The CXO Sovereignty Summit, co-hosted by BCG, gathers 50 senior policymakers, founders, and CXOs to shape regulation for faster deep tech commercialisation, with a focus on the state as anchor customer. Day 1 closes with the Deep Tech Awards, where Berlin's Senate prizes the founders reshaping the city and continent, followed by the LP-GP Apero hosted by Redalpine.

Day 2 (21 May): Opens with the AI Productivity Summit, co-hosted by Merantix and HarmonicAI, bringing 100 enterprise customers and startups together to launch 100+ new AI collaborations in a single morning. The Titans of Europe: Manufacturing and Robotics and High-Performance Computing take the main stage. DTM100 semi-finals continue for Advanced Materials and Enterprise AI, building to the DTM100 Finals at 13:00, where the winners of Europe's top deep tech pitch competition are crowned. The afternoon belongs to the CVC and Venture Clienting Summit, co-hosted by 27pilots, where 100 corporate innovation leaders make venture clienting and startup partnerships a board-level priority.

Running both days: Investor Connect delivers curated 1:1 meetings between deep tech investors and companies. Guardian Connect brings 300 enterprise innovation leaders face to face with founders across six verticals, generating PoCs, pilot projects, and partnerships. Signals from the Frontline assembles 50 armed forces members and Europe's top primes and neo-primes to translate NATO operational needs into next-generation defence capabilities.

The architecture is deliberate. Day 1 is geopolitical: defence, space, sovereignty, policy. Day 2 is industrial: materials, energy, AI, corporate engagement. Both days converge on the same goal: turning deep tech innovation into deployed capability.

Who Will Be There: Speakers to Watch

DTM26's speaker lineup spans four categories. Each signals a different dimension of the European deep tech community's maturity.

Government and Policy

Two German Federal Ministers will speak: Karsten Wildberger (Digital Affairs and State Modernisation) and Dorothee Bar (Research, Technology and Space). Franziska Giffey, Berlin's Senator for Economic Affairs and Mayor, will preside over the Deep Tech Awards. Ben Wallace, the United Kingdom's former Minister of State for Security, brings the defence policy perspective. From the European Commission, Roberto Viola (Director General, DG CONNECT) and Kerstin Jorna (Director-General, Internal Market) represent the EU's industrial and digital strategy. Michiel Scheffer, President of the European Innovation Council, and Martin Blessing, the Federal Chancellor's personal representative for investments in Germany, round out a policy bench that would be at home at a ministerial summit.

Corporate Leaders

Dr. Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Infineon Technologies, and Frank Appel, Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Deutsche Telekom, bring the weight of European industrial giants. Mathias Pillin, CTO of Bosch Mobility, and Michelangelo Masini, Head of Corporate Research and Technology at ZEISS, represent the corporate R&D pipeline. Thomas Gottschild (MBDA Germany) and Sven T. Heursch (Hensoldt) speak for the defence primes.

Deep Tech Founders

Helene Huby of The Exploration Company (EUR 147 million Series B, reusable orbital vehicles), Francesco Sciortino of Proxima Fusion (fusion energy), and David Reger of Neura Robotics (humanoid robotics) represent the next generation of European deep tech scale-ups. Ricardo Mendes of TEKEVER (defence drones), Philippe Notton of SiPearl (European sovereign chips), and Daniel Schall of Black Semiconductor (graphene-based chips) are building the hardware layer of European sovereignty. Alexander Hammer of Dunia (AI materials discovery), Dr Lilian Schwich of cylib (battery recycling), and Taavi Madiberk of Skeleton Technologies (energy storage) cover the materials and energy frontier.

Investors

Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners and one of Europe's most respected deep tech investors, is joined by Hendrik Brandis (Earlybird), Christian Miele (Headline), Tae Hea Nahm (Storm Ventures), Thomas Oehl (Vsquared Ventures), and David Cohen (Techstars). From strategy, David Chinn (McKinsey, co-leader European Defence Mission), Michael Brigl (BCG), and Tobias Henz (McKinsey) provide the advisory overlay.

Five Sub-Events That Define DTM26

DTM26's distinctiveness lies in its sub-events. Each targets a specific decision-maker with a curated format.

1. DTM100 Pitch Competition. Semi-finals run across seven verticals: High-Performance Computing, Manufacturing and Robotics, Energy, Defence, Space, Advanced Materials, and Enterprise AI. Europe's top early-stage deep tech founders compete in front of investors and corporate buyers. The finals on Day 2 crown the winners on the main stage.

2. CXO Sovereignty Summit (co-hosted by BCG). Fifty senior policymakers, founders, and CXOs in a closed-door session. The agenda: how to make the state a more effective anchor customer for deep tech, and how to streamline regulation so European startups can commercialise faster. This is where policy meets procurement.

3. AI Productivity Summit (co-hosted by Merantix and HarmonicAI). One hundred enterprise customers and AI startups, one morning, one goal: launch 100+ new AI collaborations. The format is structured for speed: rapid-fire pitches, curated matching, and on-the-spot scoping of pilot projects.

4. CVC and Venture Clienting Summit (co-hosted by 27pilots). One hundred corporate innovation leaders making venture clienting a board-level priority. The focus is on how corporates across six deep tech verticals can become first customers, not just investors, for deep tech startups.

5. Signals from the Frontline (DTM.Defence). Fifty armed forces members and Europe's top primes and neo-primes, turning NATO operational needs into procurement-ready specifications. This is where the military meets the startup ecosystem directly, without intermediaries.

Who Attends DTM26 and Why

DTM26 serves three distinct audiences, each with a different reason to be in the room.

Startups and SMEs:** Access to 300 corporate leaders with spending power who can shortcut procurement processes. Access to investors with deep tech mandates. The chance to compete in DTM100. For founders who have spent months sending cold emails to corporate innovation teams, DTM26 compresses six months of outreach into two days of structured engagement.

Corporates: The Guardian Program assembles 300 enterprise innovation leaders and gives them direct access to deep tech founders across all six verticals. The output is tangible: proofs of concept, pilot contracts, and partnership agreements. The CVC and Venture Clienting Summit takes this further, making startup collaboration a strategic priority rather than an innovation theatre exercise.

Investors:** Investor Connect provides curated 1:1 meetings with pipeline companies. The LP-GP Marketplace connects fund managers with deep tech-focused limited partners. The Growth Capital Club brings soonicorn and unicorn founders together with growth investors. For VCs who cover deep tech, DTM26 is the most efficient two days of deal sourcing in Europe.

Berlin in May: The Deep Tech Week Context

DTM26 does not happen in isolation. It sits at the centre of Deep Tech Week Berlin (18 to 22 May), a decentralised conference series spanning 70+ events, 30,000+ tech professionals, and 400+ speakers across Berlin. Arrive on Monday. Stay through Friday. The Deep Tech Awards, hosted by the State of Berlin with Senator Franziska Giffey presiding, will be presented at DTM26 on Day 1, signalling government commitment to the city's deep tech future.

Berlin in May is becoming what Davos is to finance in January: the fixed point on the calendar when the community assembles.

How to Get Your Ticket

Early-bird pricing saves EUR 600 on all passes if booked before 20 April. DTM26 offers dedicated passes for corporates, startups, and investors. Guardian applications are open for senior corporate leaders. DTM100 applications are open for early-stage deep tech founders.

-> Secure your DTM26 pass before 20 April