DIY Trend Scouting Around the World

Explore your favourite cities with a new twist and a tech perspective. There’s tech to discover and experience in every major city — so add these travel tips to your itinerary and don’t miss them the next time you visit Hamburg, Shanghai, or New York. Trend scouting never stops!

Hamburg

1. Google Zukunftswerkstatt: an absolute must when in Hamburg! Google offers free workshops on all things digital in its “future factory”. Whether online marketing, rapid prototyping, or digital wellbeing, there’s a course for everyone.
2. meetup.ai in Hafencity: regular MeetUps at Wunder Mobility’s (mobility platform) offices on, you guessed it, AI. At every event, AI startups introduce themselves, their work, their aspirations. Great to get insights and stay up to date on what’s happening in Hamburg’s AI scene.
3. betahaus Hamburg: always worth stopping by, there’s something going on every day at the coolest coworking space in town. betabreakfast is on Thursdays, with the chance to meet a different start-up every week, and Space and Lemon (that’s us!) is on the second floor — stop by for a coffee any time.

meetup.ai at Wunder Mobility in Hamburg

Berlin

Factory coworking space in Berlin

1. Factory Berlin: The home of an international community of innovators, startups, and freelancers, also housing the CODE University of Applied Sciences. For the digital pioneers of tomorrow, CODE offers a unique kind of study program in the German university sector. When in Berlin, definitely check the latest public events at Factory and try to get in touch with some of the inspiring students of CODE.
2. The Place Berlin: Located in the center of Berlin’s startup ecosystem right between Plug and Play accelerator, betahaus and Rocket internet HQ, startup hub “The Place” offers coworking and mentoring for aspiring early-stage founders. “The Place” also hosts a range of public events, workshops, and networking. One worth checking out is the weekly event TGIF.
3. interFace (eSports/Gaming/Bar): After an intense Berlin tech day, this is the perfect bar to enjoy a cold drink and compete in epic video game tournaments with other casual gamers.

Copenhagen

1. AL2: an open coworking space by the local Arbejdernes Landsbank. Very design-y, very busy. And just off the fantastic covered market at Nørreport.
2. Space 10: the IKEA lab in the iconic Flæsketorvet. Visit the gallery with the theme “Technology and the Furniture of Tomorrow”, running until the end of February.
3. The Danish capital grew to a culinary capital with exceptional bistro food. Favourite is Pluto, with tapas-like Scandinavian specialties. Do check it out after a long day of trend scouting!

AL2 open coworking by Danish Arbejdernes Landsbank

London

The iconic Glossier bag, at the London Covent garden pop-up store

1. MeetUp at Plexal, Innovation Center and Coworking Space of East London: Europe’s largest innovation hub (100.000 square meters) is located at the HERE EAST innovation and technology campus at the Olympic Park represents the rising innovation ecosystem in East London. It offers accelerator programs, in-house professional services, prototype facilities, financing options, a state of the art tech hub, entrepreneurship training and mentorship.
2. Glossier at Covent Garden. This pop-up store is open for the rest of the year after a successful 2 months (100k visitors!) and showcases products by the online cosmetics company for Millennials and Gen Z. Pop-up in every sense of the word, with instagrammable wallpapers and matching floors, a London rooftop scene for Insta-selfies, and an Apple Store-like personal checkout without fixed tills.
3. Huckletree is London’s original coworking space with a strong creative community and an in-house tech enterprise accelerator (4 locations around London). Founded in 2014 specifically for innovation tech businesses, VC-funded companies and startups targeting Millennials and Generation Z Huckletree is now a dynamic hub for collaborative innovation.

Amsterdam

1. Spend a day at A LAB: a huge coworking space opposite Amsterdam central station. Once you crossed the river (it’s in between the train station and A LAB, but the ferry is free and fast) you enter the building and the first sight is a view into the future: vertical farming. For a day you can work in the Werkhotel space. In general, A LAB is organised in 10 labs from music to robotics. A highlight is the education space with the IMC Weekendschool which, on weekends, provides high-class education for kids from low-income families. All in a fun way. Talk to them, it’s inspiring!
2. Visit Albert Heijn, always open to modern, seamless shopping experiences. One of the first supermarkets in central Europe with self-checkout, smart displays, dynamic pricing and no cash accepted anymore (at some stores). And a very fast and affordable lunch option.
3. Visit World AI Summit! AI is the challenge of our generation. World AI Summit Amsterdam is one of the biggest AI festivals in the world. A gathering of some of the smartest people, great startup booths and interesting talks and workshops. If you are in Amsterdam while it is happening, it is a total must to go there.

AI Summit Amsterdam, 2019

New York City

Nike flagship store in NYC

1. Samsung 837: the flagship location of Samsung that is not a store but a hands-on showroom to experience Samsung products, applications, innovations. A lot of VR/AR, with a DJ, café, and amphitheatre. Almost like a cool interactive museum and hangout spot, also hosting cool events.
2. A/D/O by Mini: a coworking space in industrial Brooklyn with a focus on designers and creatives, and dedicated spaces to invite the public. Also with a shop, a café, exhibition areas with featured designers and artists, an accelerator program and event spaces, all powered by Mini.
3. Nike Flagship Store: over 5 floors with an indoor basketball court, an expert lab where you can book appointments for consultations, and a mini fab lab where you can personalize products in store. A focus on athletes and showcasing the innovation in their products. A great example of a flagship concept with deep integration of the app in-store — scan to shop the look, get another size or instant check-out.

Beijing

1. Sanlitun Taikooli: Beijing’s hippest shopping area is full of tech, retail, and instagrammable. On the main plaza, you’ll find a pop-up store at nearly all times, like by Lancôme here for Singles’ Day with super instagrammable product displays and gift bag vending machines — showcasing the best of Chinese retail.
2. Tmall x Intersport concept store: a project between the Chinese e-commerce giant and the sports chain, full of tech trials — smart mirrors for virtual try-ons and instant style recommendations, RFID tags on all products to display information and videos on large screens when picking them up, and interactive online games. All tech and software by Alibaba.
3. Haidilao Hot Pot: more than just a restaurant — it’s a $12 billion chain with over 200 locations worldwide. Its hallmark: impeccable service. Waiting areas with snacks, manicurists, board games, branded aprons and even Zip Loc bags to protect your phone from splashes (the food is amazing, too).

Lamcôme pop-up store at Sanlitun Taikooli Plaza for Singles’ Day 11.11

Shanghai

HeyTea with its ultra-hyped cheese tea topping

1. Luckin Coffee: the largest coffee store chain in China by far, having opened 4.500 stores in 36 cities since December 2017 — and zooming past Starbucks (4.100 stores in China). The brilliant concept and success factor behind this growth: mobile-only ordering an the majority of stores being pick-up only. Download the app or use the WeChat/Alipay mini program and get some coffee, made in China!
2. First Aldi store in China: Located in Jing’an Sports Center and full of tech: scan products with an app to add to basket, Taobao integration, virtual check-out and pay-with-phone — typical for Chinese retail but new for Aldi, now with flagship stores.
3. HeyTea: with the claim to “make tea cool again”, this chain is still all the rage for Chinese Millennials and beyond. Only a handful of stores throughout the country, including Shanghai. Get some artisanal tea with a hyped topping: cheese, sweet and savory at the same time. Don’t miss it!