As part of the "Start-up BW ASAP" competition, 28 finalists competed yesterday for the title of overall winner and as winners in seven different categories. Among them were three teams from the HFT that had previously gone through the HFT's own incubator programme STARTPLAN of the PLAN G start-up initiative.
The Start-up BW Academic Seed Accelerator Program (ASAP for short) is a state-wide competition for the best start-up ideas from all Baden-Württemberg universities. It aims to motivate students to advance and implement the creative ideas they develop during their studies into business models. A total of 120 teams from 25 universities and colleges applied. 30 of them made it to the finals and were allowed to present themselves on a large virtual stage yesterday. They had 90 seconds to convince the jury of themselves and their idea. Among them were the three HFT teams: improveMID, lawable and PrintToScan. To the great delight of those involved, all three teams won in one category each: Most Innovative, Social Impact and Technology. In addition, improveMID won the overall prize. For the first time since the competition was established, HFT teams applied. The fact that three of them made it to the finals and won shows the high start-up potential at our university.
improveMID OVERALL WINNER & MOST INNOVATIVE AWARD.
We help SMEs address mental stress in the workplace through a tool that analyzes mental hazards to suggest the appropriate yet cost-effective measures for each company.
Diana Kovaleva, Ina Haug and Marion Riedel are studying together in the Master of Business Psychology. They decided to use their practical semester for their own start-up project. Within one semester, they developed the idea and gained their first paying customers and cooperation partners. As winners of Start-up BW ASAP, they win €1,000 in prize money, jobs in code_n's co-working space and a wildcard for the launch event of the next Gründermotor Meisterklasse.
Instagram: @improve_mid Website: improvemid.de
lawable SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
We facilitate the entry into entrepreneurship for people with language barriers by providing learning units on a multilingual and comprehensible platform, thus guiding users step by step in their start-ups.
Luca Stanzl is studying infrastructure management and launched the idea with his childhood friend Ahmet Deniz (teaching degree, University of Passau). They have built up a Facebook community with 700 members in just two months. Their next step will be to offer online learning courses, bringing them a step closer to their dream of a large platform. Their win - jobs and support from the Social Impact Lab - will go a long way in helping them achieve this.
Instagram: @lawable Facebook: facebook.com/groups/lawable
PrintToScan TECHNOLOGY AWARD
With our new measuring method, we help CAD users in companies to digitize physical components quickly and cost-effectively. For this purpose, we have developed our own measuring system including software.
Marcel Grießhaber, Hannes Plott and Robin Härtl are studying for a Master's degree in Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics. They already invented a new measuring method in their Bachelor's degree and are constantly developing it further. They have already been able to test it with the first pilot customers. Adrian Schäffler recently joined the team. He is studying business administration at the University of Hohenheim and is helping to develop the idea into a viable business model. With their prize money of 500 € they can further develop their prototype. PrintToScan will be applying for an Exist start-up grant, so their prize - an Exist consultancy - is a perfect fit.
Instagram @printtoscan Website: printtoscan.co.uk
All three teams have previously gone through HFT's own incubator program STARTPLAN. Under the motto "in eight weeks to a start-up" they concretized their idea, built prototypes and validated their idea through contacts with first customers. At each step, they were supported by experienced mentors and were also able to meet a successful founder every week. The high quality and effectiveness of the programme is demonstrated by the fact that three out of ten teams in ASAP made it to the final and won. In the coming summer semester, the start-up plan will go into the second round. Interested parties can already pre-register at gruenden(at)hft-stuttgart.de You have a start-up idea, want to become part of the community or are just curious? Get in touch:
Email: gruenden(at)hft-stuttgart.de Instagram: @plan_g_hft LinkedIn PLAN G - Time to Start.