PODIM 2026 – A Recap
PODIM 2026 ran from May 11–13, with May 11 as a pre-conference day and May 12 and 13 as the two main conference days. The "second day" of the event proper is May 12. Here's a breakdown of what happened, and how Infineon was involved.
PODIM 2026 – Two Days in Maribor
The event took place across two locations in Maribor: Maribox (Kinobox) and Narodni Dom for scheduled meetings. May 12 was a packed full conference day running across multiple stages simultaneously.
Opening & Morning
The day kicked off with a Welcome Show by Jay Dance Studio (08:30–09:00), followed by the official opening of Podim 2026 (09:00–09:30), with remarks from organizers, city representatives, and ecosystem leaders including Urban Lapajne, Stjepan Orešković, and the Mayor of Maribor.
Founder Confessions (Future Stage)
The morning stage featured intimate fireside sessions — including “50 Million Users, Zero Investors” with Amir Salihefendic of Doist, “Build, Exit, Repeat” with Maximilian Fleitmann of Wizard Ventures, and “From a Croatian Lab to the World’s Most Advanced FPV Systems” with the founders of Orqa FPV.
Panel Discussions
The Global Tech Race track hosted panels on creating billion-dollar companies from a bottom-up approach, and on building a stronger pan-European startup framework — the latter involving speakers from the European Commission and EUSPA.
Builders Stage (B2B Focus)
The Builders Stage offered rapid-fire practical talks on B2B growth topics — scaling platforms to 3 million users, building high-ownership teams across 12 markets, shortening B2B sales cycles, and account-based marketing for niche markets.
Digital Disruption Track
Afternoon sessions covered AI transformation and fintech, including a panel on “Reinventing Finance in the Age of AI, Embedded Services & Radical Transparency” and talks on the AI gold rush and the hypergrowth playbook for 2026.
Deep Tech Frontiers
The Deep Tech track featured talks on rare earths and material sciences (Dyscovery Magnetics), AI-driven drug discovery (iLoF), and closed with a panel on “Robotics and AI: Deep Tech Powering the Next High-Growth Industry.”
Pitching Competition Finals
The evening culminated with the Final of the Podim Pitching Competition 2026 (18:30–19:30), judged by a panel including representatives from South Central Ventures, Silicon Gardens, Vesna deep tech Venture Fund, Plug and Play, and Slovene Enterprise Fund.
Networking & Party
After the pitching finale, the legendary Podim Party brought the entire ecosystem together — founders, investors, speakers, and changemakers — starting with a networking dinner before moving into a full celebration.
Infineon’s Involvement
Infineon Technologies Austria was involved in two distinct ways on Day 2:
- Demo Studio Session (Monday pre-conference, carried into Day 2 programming context): Infineon presented its Startup Challenge 2026, focused on humanoid robotics — covering areas such as digital twins, artificial skin, environmental sensing, and motor control. Selected startups could receive technical mentorship, prototyping resources, and business coaching, with the opportunity to pitch to industry leaders and investors and join a one-year collaboration program.
- Deep Tech Frontiers Panel (Day 2, Future Stage): Dirk Geiger from Infineon Technologies participated as a panelist in the “Robotics and AI: Deep Tech Powering the Next High-Growth Industry” panel (17:20–18:00), alongside speakers from Shin Rai Robotics, Hidoba Research, and Onsight Ventures, moderated by Daniel Cronin.
In short, Infineon’s presence at PODIM 2026 was squarely focused on the humanoid robotics and deep tech space — both as a challenge organizer inviting startups to collaborate, and as a thought leader on the main stage.