Why the South West is becoming Europe’s innovation hub

Käpsele Innovation Festival: The future needs a spark!

If you want to know where Europe’s economy is heading, look to Freiburg this summer. The Käpsele Festival is no ordinary event – it is the catalyst for ideas, courage and real change.

1 day. 5 stages. 1,500 participants. At the SICK Arena, we’ll be focusing on the issues that will determine Europe’s future viability. With over 90 speakers, including Joe Kaeser (Siemens Energy), AI pioneer Robin Rombach (Black Forest Labs) and tech writer Aya Jaff, we’re turning the south-west into a hotspot for transformation.

• Courage as currency: Why ‘deciding rather than hoping’ is the key to global competition.
• Technology from the region: Why global innovations emerge in the Black Forest just as they do in Silicon Valley.
• Sovereignty & Speed: From digital sovereignty to “China Speed” – we discuss the hard facts of the industry.

Whether it’s a start-up pitch or a high-level panel: here, industry, research and entrepreneurial spirit come together to form a new European ecosystem.

Exciting? You bet! See you on 16 July 2026 in Freiburg.

Take a look at the full programme here. You
can find more information here.