2026 kicked off with an exciting start for the Burda Principal Investments team.
Throughout the second week of January, we gathered our portfolio companies for our Global Portfolio Conference, celebrated BPI’s 10-year anniversary, and launched our new gaming initiative, BurdaGP, at the DLD conference in Munich.
Global BPI Portfolio Conference 2026
We began the week with our bi-annual Global BPI Portfolio Conference, bringing together our portfolio companies in Garmisch-Partenkirchen for three days of workshops, discussions, and peer-to-peer learning. This year’s edition was particularly special, with workshop sessions held at the top of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain.
Across the agenda, we focused on topics that are top of mind for our founders today, starting with AI and its impact on how companies are built and scaled. Sessions ranged from case studies on operationalising AI to broader discussions on the global economic outlook and its implications for venture-backed growth. Our portfolio companies also shared best practices on how they are leveraging AI to optimise internal operations, making the exchange highly practical. Workshops also covered storytelling as a tool for scaling, as well as boards, governance, and people processes, providing a mix of strategic perspectives and actionable leadership lessons.
Beyond the sessions, the conference created space for what matters just as much: time to connect. Shared experiences, informal conversations, and moments outside the workshop rooms allowed founders and the BPI team to exchange openly, build trust, and get to know each other beyond day-to-day business. These three days offered the opportunity to deepen relationships and foster collaboration across the portfolio.
Celebrating 10 Years of BPI
After our Portfolio Conference, we returned to Munich to celebrate a major milestone: the 10-year anniversary of Burda Principal Investments. We gathered at the Burda Box for a celebratory dinner and party, bringing together founders, investors, Burda colleagues, alumni, and long-standing partners from across our network. It was an evening dedicated to reconnecting, sharing memories, and appreciating how far BPI has come since its early days.
BPI’s CEO, Christian Teichmann, reflected on the journey of the past decade, expressing gratitude for the trust, collaboration, and shared ambition that have shaped BPI along the way. Rather than looking back alone, the focus was very much on the community that has grown around BPI and the collective effort it takes to build, support, and scale companies over time.
A central moment of the evening was the talk by Bastian Bergmann, who spoke about why gaming is rapidly becoming a strategically relevant layer for companies across industries. He outlined how games have evolved into participatory environments where people don’t just consume content, but actively engage, learn, and build identity over time. As gaming increasingly spans generations and use cases, it is no longer a niche category, but a powerful interface for attention, interaction, and commerce. His perspective strongly resonated with the broader conversations of the week and underscored why BPI is committing to this space with initiatives like BurdaGP, to support founders who are building products and platforms for this shift.
Above all, the evening was about celebrating together. With great food, good music, and many familiar faces, it was a joyful reminder of the relationships that have accompanied BPI over the past ten years. We are deeply grateful to everyone who joined us to celebrate this milestone and to all those who have been part of BPI’s journey so far.
DLD Conference and Launch of BurdaGP
The week concluded with the DLD Conference in Munich, a flagship event within the Burda ecosystem. Once again, Steffi Czerny and the DLD team curated an outstanding agenda, bringing together founders, investors, researchers, and operators to explore the technologies and ideas shaping the future.
BPI’s CEO, Christian Teichmann, also joined the stage as a moderator across three panels, starting with Thursday’s session on photonic computing. He spoke with Michael Förtsch (Q.ANT) about how computing paradigms are shifting beyond incremental advances and what this could mean for future technologies. In the panel Game On: Why Every Company Needs a Gaming Strategy, he discussed gaming as a mainstream engagement layer alongside Bastian Bergmann (Solsten) and Prof. Johanna Pirker (Technical University of Munich), exploring why gaming has become strategically relevant far beyond entertainment.
Christian also moderated a final session on space as a new asset class, joined by Bulent Altan (Alpine Space Ventures), Julie Böhning (Pave Space), and Joram Voelklein (Alpine Space Ventures), highlighting how space technologies are evolving into investable and commercially relevant ecosystems. We also had several BPI portfolio companies, including Kaleidoscope, Kasagi Labo, and Uluu, join DLD and contributing to the exchange on and off stage, further reinforcing the strong ties between BPI, its founders, and the broader innovation ecosystem.
On Thursday evening, we hosted the DLD dinner Europe: Game On, marking the kickoff of BurdaGP, our new European gaming initiative developed together with UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs. Founders and industry leaders from across Europe came together to discuss why gaming has become relevant far beyond entertainment, as a cultural force and a driver of digital innovation. The evening highlighted the depth of Europe’s gaming talent and the growing momentum of the ecosystem, while underscoring BPI’s commitment to supporting the next generation of gaming founders through a structured combination of venture building, research, and investment.
Looking Ahead
This week exemplified BPI’s approach: fostering connections, celebrating milestones, and nurturing innovation across industries. From the calming mountains of Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the vibrant energy of Munich, the week was a reminder of the power of community, shared ambition, and forward-looking thinking. We are more than grateful to everyone who joined us, contributed their insights, and made these few days so memorable, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the months ahead.