Challenge
The purpose of Xathon is to empower female talent across the world and inspire their entrepreneurial spirit by providing a platform for them to grow and develop their business ideas. This was our second time delivering Xathon alongside the Henkel dx Ventures team, and after a virtual ideation hackathon in 2020, we were pleased to be able to plan for a hybrid event in Berlin in 2021.
We were tasked with bringing Xathon to the next level whilst creating different environments for female founders to join the event safely, either from the comfort of their homes or physically. As an official Henkel dx Ventures event delivery partner, we supported the Henkel dx team from all angles on this project. From content & programme curation, speaker booking, event strategy, pre-planning, and project management on the live day. In addition, Marble were also tasked with the creative & technical production, as well as the design of the virtual & physical assets of the event, like the virtual platform, signage, branded assets, and a unique Xathon 2021 curated magazine.
Highlights
- 100+ attendees
- 5 hubs (4 in Berlin & 1 virtual)
- 19 speakers
- 4 jury members (Gülsah Wilke, Tijen Onaran, Bettine Schmitz & Carmen Zwahr)
- 16 keynote & panel sessions
- 68 pitches, 6 finalists, 1 winner
- Attendees from around 17 countries in 2021 (vs. 13 in 2020)
- 87% of attendees said that they really enjoyed this year’s Xathon
- 72% thought our award winning digital event platform was great to use
- 95% of attendees found the event beneficial to their role or company
- 91% plan to arrange future meetings with the connections that they made during the event
- 95% said that they would attend another Henkel dx Ventures Xathon
Solution
Spanning virtual and hybrid formats, Marble delivered the annual Xathon event, connecting female founders from 5 separate hubs over a 3 day hybrid experience. 4 of the hubs were spread across Berlin, and 1 was virtual for attendees joining remotely.
Over the course of the weekend, 100 early stage female founders got together for the ideation hackathon, with an ultimate goal to advance their businesses, make connections and get the mentorship and expertise they need for their start-ups. The agenda consisted of motivational talks and keynotes from sector experts, inspiring leaders and entrepreneurs. It was followed by high-pace sprints designed to deep dive into the founders’ business ideas and prepare them for a chance to present their pitch to the jury (and win a prize of €25,000!)
Amongst the inspiring keynote sessions and knowledge sharing, we heard ‘Female Empowerment through Networks’ by Alexa Gorman (SVP, Head of SAP.iO Foundries EMEA at SAP); ‘Building an Early Prototype & Establishing Product Market Fit‘ by Clare Jones (CCO, what3words); and ‘Pitching for Investment’ by Fridjtof Detzner (Co-founder of Jimbo, Founder of PlanetA). While the 100 attendees could hear these sessions live from Berlin, we also created a unique hybrid event hub where every session was broadcast from the studios to remote attendees – who joined us from all over the world.
The event concluded with 5 pitches from founders who had taken part in the weekend’s events, who were given a chance to present their business ideas to a panel of well respected female jury members: Gülsah Wilke, Tijen Onaran, Bettine Schmitz, Carmen Zwahr. The jury then voted for the top pitch which received a monetary prize of €25,000 dedicated to advance in their business.
As always, we look forward to working alongside Henkel dx for their next series in 2022.