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ELABbyTUM.ai

12 weeks from kickoff to the Final Pitch.

ELAB is TUM.ai's equity-free AI startup incubator, in person in Munich; its ventures have raised €8M+ so far. Apply alone or as a team, with or without an idea. You don't need to be enrolled anywhere.
Applications closed
Tau RoboticsInvertix
Every dot is a team that applied. Be the one that stands out.

Every team passes the same gates.

Each bar is drawn to scale: the teams that reach a gate, out of every team that applied. Between the gates, you build.

  1. Applications

    700+ founders apply, alone or as a team, with or without an idea. No university enrolment needed.

    More than 500 team applications

  2. Admitted to the cohort

    The teams that start the program together at the Onboarding Weekend.

    15 to 20 teams

  3. Onboarding Weekend

    3 days

    16 to 18 October 2026: the program's first three days, for team alignment and ideation.

  4. Phase I: Ideation

    6 weeks

    Co-founder matching in week 2, then problem fit, rapid prototyping and core tech, from desks at TUM.ai's headquarters, with weekly sessions from founders who have done it before.

  5. Selection Day and Midterm Pitch

    Selection Day picks 10 teams. On 27 November 2026 they demo their MVP to the jury.

    10 teams

    A participant asks a question into a microphone at a dinner table during the ELAB Midterm Pitch
    ELAB Midterm Pitch, June 2026

  6. Phase II: Build & Race

    6 weeks

    Workshops and build sprints: user testing, go-to-market, legal and pitch polish, with warm intros and real feedback from European funds.

  7. Final Pitch

    On 22 January 2027 the finalists pitch to investors and graduate from ELAB.

    6 teams

    Two hosts on stage in front of a full hall at the ELAB Final Pitch, partner logos on the screen
    ELAB Final Pitch, July 2026
    The winning team CarthAgents and the organisers on stage with a €54,000 cheque
    CarthAgents win the ELAB Final Pitch, July 2026

One team, all the way through.

Spherecast came out of ELAB 1.0, went on to Y Combinator, Summer 2024 batch, and now plans supply chains for consumer brands.

ELAB gave us the foundation to build Spherecast from idea to YC. The community and mentorship were game-changing.

Leon Hergert

Co-Founder @ Spherecast

  1. Applications
  2. Admitted to the cohort
  3. Selection Day and Midterm Pitch
  4. Final Pitch
  5. Y Combinator, Summer 2024 batch
  6. Agnes, an AI supply chain manager for consumer goods brands such as AG1
  7. Offices in Munich and San Francisco
  8. Sphereworld, its own forum for supply chain leaders, held in New York in September 2026

€8M+raised so far by ventures from 5 ELAB cohorts.

Founders from past batches

  • Invertix (opens in a new tab)ELAB 4.0

    AI agents that run solar, wind and grid assets.

    pre-seed
    $2.2M
    ARR
    ~$224K
    team members
    8
    from founding to YC
    7 months

    Backed by

    Y Combinator F26

    Round led by Vireo Ventures. Also invested: Italian Founders Fund.

  • Spherecast (opens in a new tab)ELAB 1.0

    AI that plans what consumer brands produce and ship.

    pre-seed
    $500K
    ARR
    Est. $1M
    employees
    9
    from founding to YC
    11 months

    Backed by

    Y Combinator S24

    Also backed by altitude, EWOR and Operator Stack.

  • Tenmin (opens in a new tab)ELAB 3.0

    A mobile app for learning languages.

    pre-seed
    $170K
    users
    300K+
    installations
    480K
    new monthly installs
    89K

  • Tau Robotics (opens in a new tab)ELAB 3.0

    Humanoid robots that clean homes in San Francisco for $30 an hour.

    pre-seed
    $2.6M

    Backed by

    EWOR

  • Explaino (opens in a new tab)ELAB 1.0

    Turns company documents into explainer videos to automate training, support and internal operations.

    ARR
    $388K
    paying enterprise customers
    25+
    SaaS product teams
    40+
    clients
    Schneider Electric · AOK

Our partners

The companies and investors behind ELAB FALL ’26, and those who backed earlier cohorts.

Past ELAB partners

Founders and investors on ELAB.

Founders from earlier cohorts, and investors and partners who work with ELAB.

Founders

  • ELAB 3.0
    We went from zero to being a funded startup - ELAB accelerated our journey far beyond what we thought was possible.

    Viktor Shen

    Founder @ Tenmin

  • ELAB 2.0
    ELAB is probably the best program for creating top-end entrepreneurs out there. It's simply incredible.

    Benedikt Wieser

    Winner ELAB 2.0

  • ELAB 3.0
    Structured, fast, and insanely effective. Every founder should experience this.

    Leonardo Benini

    Founder @ Stealth Startup

Investors and partners

  • The density of real builders at the ELAB Final Pitch is exactly what Tier-1 venture funds look for at the pre-seed stage

    Alexandra Reinert

    Partner @ Accel

  • Mentor & Investor
    The quality of founders coming out of ELAB is exceptional. We're proud to be part of this community.

    Oliver Schoppe

    Principal @ UVC Partners

  • Truly impressive what the team has built. 🚀 We’re just getting started

    Axel Täubert

    Head of Startups @ Google Cloud

Get involved

Get involved with ELAB.

Connect with ambitious AI founders, gain visibility in Munich's startup ecosystem and help shape the next generation of startups.

venture@tum-ai.com

Frequently asked questions

Every Final Pitch starts as one of 500+ team applications.

Applications for ELAB FALL ’26 are closed. The next round is announced on LinkedIn.

Follow TUM.ai on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)

For investors and companies

Mentor a team, give feedback and meet the founders at the Final Pitch.

Become a Partner