Music WorX Founder Award 2025: Award for Postal Sounds

The international start-up Postal Sounds impressed the jury at this year's Music WorX 2025 pitch on 4 December with its idea of bringing cities to life through music. The team, based in Barcelona and Madrid, received the €2,500 prize for the strongest development in the programme. The award once again confirms Hamburg's special appeal for international founders in the field of music and technology.

Postal Sounds presented a music mapping platform that guides users through cities via curated music routes. The team led by Omar Andrés Díaz Molina and Juan Camilo Riva Acevedo combines urban cultural stories with the musical identity of different places - an approach that made a lasting impression on the jury.

The specialist jury included industry experts such as Marec Lerche, Head of Business Development at Warner Music Germany, and Agnes Chung, Freelance Consultant and Strategist. The most significant further development of the business idea in the course of the Music WorX Incubator was particularly emphasised.

The award is therefore not only a milestone for Postal Sounds, but also a confirmation of Music WorX's comprehensive support programme, which helps start-ups at the interface of music and technology to successfully bring their ideas to market. The incubator was restructured in 2025 and divided into three core phases: "Clarity", "Storytelling" and "Connection". The participating teams develop a clear vision, strengthen their communicative impact and expand their network in a targeted manner.

The teams Just 4 Noise, ohr, Sounts and NOVER Audio Services also impressed with their innovative concepts. The jury emphasised how challenging the decision was in view of the high quality of all the ideas presented.

Music WorX sends out a strong signal in favour of Hamburg as a European hub for creative technology start-ups. The international diversity of the participants, combined with the close connection to established Hamburg companies and experts, creates a platform that not only promotes innovation but also facilitates new business relationships. This approach is increasingly making Hamburg a magnet for forward-looking creative companies from all over Europe.

The Music WorX expert jury in 2025 consisted of:

• Oke Göttlich (CEO Göttlich GmbH)
• Johannes Rösing (Department of Music, Ministry of Culture and Media)
• Dr Astrid Bernicke (Music Department, Ministry of Culture and Media)
• Agnes Chung (Freelance Consultant & Strategist)
• Lena Ingwersen (Managing Director Music Cities Network, Keychange Innovator)
• Julian Krohn (Director Music & Audio, Scholz & Friends)
• Marec Lerche (Head of Business Development, Warner Music Central Europe)
• Katharina Köhler (Music Manager Deichkind, female force mgmt)
• Jakob Höflich (Co-Founder & CMO, Cyanite)

The Teams 2025:

• Just 4 Noise develops generative AI tools for the audio sector that support creativity instead of replacing it. With simple prompts, high-quality one-shot samples are created in seconds.
• ohr is building a community-orientated platform for club culture. It connects DJs, producers, organisersand fans through fair remuneration and social interaction.
• Sounts is a social music platform that enables musicians worldwide to collaborate asynchronously and without stress. This makes making music accessible regardless of time and place.
• NOVER Audio Services creates new access to professional music production through a sustainable studio fleet and digital platform. The offering is aimed at semi-professional musicians and focusses on flexibility, inclusion and fair working conditions.
• Postal Sounds is a platform that makes cities tangible through sound and visualises local music cycles. It combines cultural stories with geodata, technology and music.

About the Music WorX incubator
The Ministry of Culture and Media has been using Music WorX to specifically promote the development of innovative business models in the music industry since 2011. It has been organising the Music WorX Incubator together with Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft since 2014. Successful companies such as Sofa Concerts, Tinitracks, Ikonphon, Groovecat/Cyanite and NOYS VR have already been supported in the programme.

About Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft
Hamburg Kreativ Gesellschaft is the city's economic development agency for Hamburg's creative industries. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, it is part of the Ministry of Culture and Media and has been the direct contact and service centre for all players and companies in the creative industries in the Hanseatic city since 2010. In the areas of consulting and training, real estate and urban development, funding and financing as well as networking, it implements innovative and customised formats and offers on relevant topics of the creative industries. With the Cross Innovation Hub, Kreativ Gesellschaft has been a pioneer in promoting the linking of the cultural and creative industries with traditional economic sectors since 2015 in order to develop innovative solutions for social and economic challenges. With the Design Zentrum Hamburg, Gamecity Hamburg and nextMedia.Hamburg, it also has three location initiatives that each focus on specific submarkets.