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14. April 2026

Energy Launchpad: A Strong Spring

Vienna – Berlin – Zurich: our institute is a founding partner of the Energy Launchpad, connecting startups, research and industry across Europe to accelerate the scaling of energy innovations.

From Vienna to the World

On 23 October 2025, the Energy Launchpad officially launched in Vienna, a new European innovation platform connecting startups, research institutions and industry across borders to bring scalable solutions for the energy transition into practice, faster.

The initiative unites one leading university and one established energy company per country: TU Wien and VERBUND AG, opens an external URL in a new window from Austria, ETH Zurich, opens an external URL in a new window and Energie 360°, opens an external URL in a new window from Switzerland and the Technical University of Munich (TUM), opens an external URL in a new window, UnternehmerTUM, opens an external URL in a new window and EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, opens an external URL in a new window from Germany.

Energy Launchpad at the Munich Security Conference

Topics such as energy resilience and the scalability of European energy innovations were addressed at the 62nd Munich Security Conference (13–15 February 2026). The Energy Launchpad was represented by all three universities (TUM, ETH und TUW) and Verbund.

Group picture infront of the stage — © Simon Roloff
The Energy Launchpad Team at the Academia Day at MSC 2026

Picture from the paneldiscussion, showing the panelists — © Simon Roloff
Panelists: Rene Hofmann (TU Wien), Jonas Savelsberg (ETH), Franz Zöchbauer (Verbund), moderated by Lars Eiermann (TUM VL)

SET Tech Festival 2026

On 17 March 2026, the Energy Launchpad took centre stage at the 10th SET Tech Festival in the panel "The Energy Launchpad: Getting Energy Innovation to Scale". The panel offered a compelling demonstration of how strong partnerships are critical to scaling energy innovations.

Prof. Dr. René Hofmann represented the institute and TU Wien on the panel, alongside:

Franz Zöchbauer (Director of Corporate Innovation & New Business, VERBUND AG)
Michael Bez (Business Development Digital Utilities, EnBW AG)
Dr. Christian Schaffner (Director, Energy Science Center, ETH Zurich)
Lars Eiermann (Chief Sustainability Officer, TUM Venture Labs)

Geraldine de Bastion (Founder, Global Innovation Gathering) moderated the session. The festival brought together over 1.000 participants, including founders, investors and corporate leaders from the global energy sector.

Picture of the stage during the panel discussion — © Claudius Pflug

Photo of the SET panel discussion during the “Hot Takes” segment, with three participants holding up orange or green cards. — © Claudius Pflug

Zoom of Rene Hofmann speaking during SET Panel discussion — © Claudius Pflug

Summer School 2026: Applications Still Open!

A highlight of the Energy Launchpad programme in 2026 is the Energy Launchpad Summer School, taking place from 8–10 September 2026 at ETH Zurich.

The application deadline is 17 April 2026. For more information, visit our webpage, opens an external URL in a new window.

For general information about the Energy Launchpad, visit our Webpage, opens an external URL in a new window or follow us on LinkedIn, opens an external URL in a new window.

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