Demo Day 2025: A True Community Celebration of Innovation and Creativity

Once again, it’s that time of year:

Our Hardtech Innovation Accelerator is wrapping up, and the startups of Batch 4 are nearly ready to chart their own course.

As with the three batches before, the program ended with our biggest celebration of the year—Demo Day—held last Friday at MotionLab.Berlin Alt-Treptow. But this wasn’t just a pitch competition or the close of a program. Demo Day has become something more: a moment where Berlin’s boldest, most creative, and hands-on deep tech and hardtech community comes together to connect, exchange, and celebrate everything that’s been built—together.

Art, Hardware, and Everything in Between

For the fourth year in a row, May marks a special moment at MotionLab.Berlin. As the latest batch of the Hardtech Innovation Accelerator prepares to graduate, we get ready for Demo Day. What may have started as a simple pitch competition—though no less meaningful for our team—has grown into something much more: a true celebration of community.

This year’s Demo Day brought together builders, creatives, founders, researchers, corporates, and curious minds from across the MotionLab.Berlin ecosystem to showcase what they’ve been working on. From climate tech and hardtech to art, engineering, and bold experiments—Demo Day was all about sharing real projects, not just ideas.

Our guardians, longtime community members, and fresh startups stood side by side. Eric Medine (AVJam), Yagiz Cinar (Black & Blue), Corinna Morell, Robin Baumgarten (Wobby Labs), Simon Woywood, and Duncan Cornes showcased their projects and art installations alongside the accelerator startups—Yamakoe, CIYANO, Climalyst, ENGEL Systems, and Flux Cap Energy Tech.

And they weren’t alone. Medical drones from Labfly, a modular meteorological system by Orbisens, and Blue Skies Minerals’ prototype tackling toxic metal pollution, and a futuristic cyber bus from Dell Technologies packed with state of the art technology were just a few of the standout examples from the broader MotionLab.Berlin ecosystem.

It wasn’t just a display—it was an invitation to explore, touch, and question. This is what happens when deep tech and hardtech meet art, and community fuels innovation.

A Place Where Innovation and Creativity Collide

“We see artists, makers, and creatives, as well as startups and strategic partners, as part of the same ecosystem. They share a mindset—a willingness to test limits, rethink what’s possible, and work across disciplines. That’s why we’re so intentional about bringing these worlds together under one roof at MotionLab.Berlin, and this Demo Day was no exception,” says Melinda Varga, our Community Manager, who curated the diverse exhibition with members and friends from across our extended network.

This mindset—where innovation and creativity are not opposites but co-drivers—shaped more than just the exhibition. It extended to the stage program as well.

Lori Baldwin, award-winning interdisciplinary artist and creative strategist (Atmosphere Creative Agency), and Florian Tiller, Co-Founder and CEO of Ucaneo, joined moderator Dan Shor, founder of Ohmnum UG (a venture from Innovobot Labs) and mentor in our Hardtech Innovation Accelerator, for a conversation that explored creativity as a catalyst for change.

Coming from completely different fields, Lori and Florian shared how both artists and deep tech founders are often asked to challenge conventions and tackle questions with no obvious answers. They spoke about working through ambiguity and building solutions that aren’t always visible on the surface—solutions that require a different way of thinking, one rooted in experimentation.

Both agreed that being in a place like MotionLab.Berlin, where ideas are constantly being prototyped, tested, and shared, profoundly shapes how people create, collaborate, and push boundaries.

“When diverse minds and practices come together under one roof, unexpected things can emerge. And we need that novelty—conversations that jolt us out of routine, experiences that reawaken our senses, and environments that bring us back into our bodies. A sense of play and openness is much easier to cultivate live and in person than alone in front of a screen”, summed up Lori Baldwin.

A True Community Celebration

If you couldn’t make it, here’s a quick recap of the highlights on stage: CIYANO took home the €5,000 jury prize, while ENGEL Systems won over the crowd and claimed the Audience Favorite award—earning a free Ecosystem Startup Membership at MotionLab.Berlin. We’re excited to have them around for (at least) another 12 months.

With the final pitch concluded, the spotlight shifted—and the celebration began. The campus buzzed with conversations over food and drinks, including a special wine tasting hosted by Weinhaus-Siering. Guests roamed the exhibitions, reconnected with old friends, met new ones, and took time to dive deeper into the ideas, artwork, and prototypes on display.

Even Berlin’s moody May skies couldn’t stop the energy. A live jam session by our friends at The Pool brought people together outside, setting the vibe for what came next: a full DJ line-up that kept the dance floor alive well into the night.

And just when you thought it was winding down—our Demo Day tradition continued with a Midnight Special: a breathtaking performance by Michiel Tange van Leeuwen, curated by Atmosphere Creative Agency, adding that extra layer of surprise and magic.

Building Bridges for the Future

Of course, Demo Day isn’t the end—it’s a milestone. As the accelerator wraps up, the connections built over the past months are only beginning to take shape. Within the program and across the wider MotionLab.Berlin ecosystem, the Batch 4 startups are laying the groundwork for what’s next. We’re excited to share more about their journeys soon.

We also hope that Friday’s celebration set the tone—not just for those who joined us on campus, but for everyone in our network—to keep building, collaborating, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in climate tech, deep tech, and hardtech.

A huge thank you to everyone who made the day what it was—from our incredible accelerator startups to every guest who brought energy and curiosity to the space. And special thanks to our Demo Day sponsor, Berliner Sparkasse, whose tailored financial services—from retail and corporate banking to real estate financing—help support innovation in Berlin and beyond.