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The following text has been machine translated from the German with no human editing.
A total of 31 teams have undergone an intensive programme over the past three months, including more than 30 workshops, company visits and pitch training sessions, in order to further develop their business ideas. At yesterday's Demo Day, the finalists pitched not only to around 100 guests, but also to a six-member jury for attractive prizes.
The winning team, LAHA, wins the Sparkasse Saarbrücken grand prize worth €2,000 and can also look forward to sales coaching from the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute (AWSI) worth €500. Second place goes to carnAIvore, which receives €500 in prize money from SWG – Saarländische Wagnisfinanzierungsgesellschaft mbH. This team also wins an additional prize in the form of workshop credits worth €2,000 donated by the former university start-up Ergosign. Third place goes to Kyuchess, which wins €500 in prize money from PwC – PricewaterhouseCoopers.
This year's special prize from the Chinese Yangtze Delta Region Institute of Tsinghua University (YIT) in Zhejiang goes to marisol and, once again, the team LAHA. Together, the two will take part in a trip to China as part of this year's 'Zhejiang Tour of Global Talents'. (See below for brief information on the winning teams.)
Economics Minister Jürgen Barke: "Every year, Demo Day shows how much innovative power and creativity young founders in Saarland bring to the table. They are highly committed to developing solutions to current challenges. The fact that 31 teams applied for the Saarland Accelerator this year proves the attractiveness of the format."
Results and significance of the Accelerator
Since the Saarland Accelerator was launched in 2018, 80 teams have completed the programme, 35 of which are still active today. A total of almost €16.5 million in funding has been raised in recent years. "Especially in the early stages of a start-up, there is often a lack of sufficient financial support – yet this is precisely when the need is greatest. With our ecosystem and formats such as the Saarland Accelerator, we lay the foundation for a successful start and provide intensive support to the teams. But money alone does not make a start-up successful. What is crucial is the team's determination to pursue the idea against resistance and not to be discouraged. This perseverance is often the decisive factor," says Jens Krück, summarising the challenges faced by young founders.
Winning teams of Demo Day as part of the 8th Saarland Accelerator:
- LAHA is developing a novel hearing aid based on laser technology. The key feature: instead of a conventional loudspeaker, a laser fibre is used to generate sound directly at the eardrum. This allows specific frequencies to be amplified in a targeted manner.
- carnAIvore is an AI-supported nutrition app that provides dog and cat owners with simple, fast and reliable support and advice on healthy, individual fresh feeding – with automatic adjustments to health and everyday life.
- Kyuchess is working on an online platform for chess that aims to promote fair play and prevent manipulation. Low-cost tournaments and modern training opportunities are planned. In addition, the establishment of a community will facilitate exchange between players and offer support.
- Marisol is an innovative technology that makes it easy to capture buildings using a smartphone or 3D scanner. The recorded data is automatically used to create a precise, industry-ready 3D model. This saves architects and construction professionals valuable time, as manual recording is no longer necessary. It allows them to understand more quickly and accurately how a building is constructed – or how it can be renovated efficiently.
Jury members:
- Jürgen Barke, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy
- Markus Kühner, Ergosign GmbH
- Sascha Benecke, Sparkasse Saarbrücken
- Sandra Ehlen, Managing Director, AWSI – August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute
- Michael Schmidt, Managing Director, SWG – Saarländische Wagnisfinanzierungsgesellschaft mbH
- David Szabo, PwC – PricewaterhouseCoopers
BACKGROUND
The Saarland Accelerator is part of the Impuls project, which is jointly run by the Triathlon – Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transfer at Saarland University and FITT – Institute for Technology Transfer at the Saarland University of Applied Sciences. The Impuls project is funded by the Saarland Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalisation and Energy and the European Union.
About Triathlon: Since 1995, Saarland University has been systematically supporting founders from the scientific community. In 2023, this long-standing experience was bundled into the central institution "Triathlon – Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transfer". Triathlon offers broad support and guidance for start-up, technology and knowledge transfer ideas and translates these into economic and operational implementation. Over the past decades, more than 550 start-ups with a good 4,000 jobs have been supported from within the university. On average, the Triathlon team supports 120 start-up projects per year, resulting in around 30 start-ups. www.uds-triathlon.de
About FITT: FITT gGmbH, the Institute for Knowledge and Technology Transfer at the Saarland University of Applied Sciences, is an innovative and applied research institution. We offer a wide range of consulting and support services in the areas of research and development, start-ups, and qualification, making us a reliable partner for companies and local authorities, public institutions, as well as those interested in starting a business and start-ups. www.fitt.de
