The “Berlin on the 1” campaign sparked a debate about competition with other startup cities – especially Munich. But that’s just a misunderstanding, says WeFox founder Julian Teicke. That’s really what it’s all about.
Berlin wants to be the startup capital again: Wefox founder Julian Teicke invited people to the “BAD1 – Berlin on the 1” event at his Delta Campus in Berlin-Neukölln in February. At the launch event of the campaign of the same name, Berlin’s mayor Kai Wegner was present alongside founders and investors.
The campaign aims to position Berlin as Europe’s top city for developers – for founders, engineers, researchers, investors and innovators – including their own merch. According to the organizers’ own statement, Berlin should develop into real AI and deep tech power.
What the campaign is really about
The slogan polarizes and sparks a debate in the startup bubble (especially in the comment columns on LinkedIn). Because startups are not only founded in Berlin.
Munich in particular is another relevant player. Without further ado, someone starts a kind of counter-movement; “Munich on the 1 (MAD1)” – a Linkedin group (which so far only has two members). It suddenly seems to be about comparing German startup strongholds: Who does it best? Who is the real startup capital? But is that effective?
There is actually no “Berlin versus Munich,” as it was said shortly afterwards in a Linkedin post by the BAD1 initiative. “There is a big misunderstanding,” it continues. BAD1 does not want to start a fight between Berlin and Munich, but rather the campaign should stand for Europe in order to strengthen the startup ecosystem compared to the USA.
But what does the campaign want? And why was the name of the campaign chosen that way? That’s what founder scene Julian Teicke asked.
In an interview with Gründerszene, he emphasized: It’s about positioning Berlin as a leading European technology hub in global competition with the USA and China.
In competition with China and the USA
“America and China both have blatant hub logistics. In China, a hub is built for each area in which all ecosystem players, including all capital, are concentrated. The speed that this creates is simply gigantic,” says Teicke.
“I believe that in Europe we have to decide on one, two or three hubs that we as Europe really focus on.” Teicke is convinced that Berlin is suitable as such a hub. But he also says: “If Munich becomes the hub where everything really comes together, then it’s good for me as a European.” Ultimately, he wants to achieve European tech sovereignty.
The fact that the claim “Berlin on the 1” polarizes is intentional. He sticks to it: “We didn’t want to have something totally soft-spoken as a slogan. It should be a bit edgy.” According to Teicke, the statement caused a dynamic to form around BAD1, supporters came in and new ideas emerged. “The whole ecosystem ends up rolling up its sleeves and that’s what it took.”
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