Under the motto "Let's go outside!", start-ups from the region had the opportunity to present their innovative start-up ideas and respond to audience questions on 7 October 2021.
The aim of the event was to promote the exchange between SMEs, start-ups and established start-ups and at the same time to introduce students to founding in a relaxed and interactive way. Over 90 interested participants attended the event both in the FOUNDERS WEEK beer tent and via livestream.
Research assistant Linda Mühlbach and Professor Dr. Daniel Schallmo, head of the Institute for Entrepreneurship, introduced the evening together with the question of what outdoor means to them. The answer: getting out, being free, enjoying the view. And above all, clear your head.
Afterwards, the pitch of the first young start-up "Unbound" began. With his do-it-yourself camper kit, Jonathan Bartel has made it his goal to enable people who love to travel to build their own campervan in just one weekend.
Vanessa Fiesel from "Sparrow Energy" then presented her idea for a modular solar power system that is individually configurable and thus perfectly adapts to the needs of the customer - whether it's a campervan, a tiny house or an allotment garden.
Third to pitch was Simon Josenhans from the social start-up "Right2Ride". As a mechanical engineer, he has developed a mobile phone holder for bicycles to make road traffic more digital and safer. The highlight of the whole thing is that the proceeds are used to donate bicycles to social projects in countries with weak development. These bicycles can be used, for example, to reach new water sources, to take children to school or to drive doctors to patients.
After the three pitches and the respective question rounds of the newcomers, founder Nico Russ from the established startup "Infinite Running" presented his idea of a customisable running shoe. He has thought about how to sustainably solve the wear and tear problem of running shoes for athletes. His running shoe has ten interchangeable plates on the sole and thus only the parts have to be changed and not more shoes have to be bought.
Special guest for the evening was Jack Wolfskin founder and entrepreneur Ulrich Dausien. He presented the idea of "Circular Outdoor Products", a circular economy for outdoor products. Products have to be made of a single material so that they can be processed into new products later on. This avoids waste and gives old garments a new purpose.
Dausien answered the question what his greatest success is to date: "That I'm still curious and that I enjoy participating in events like this."
After this entertaining presentation, the audience had the opportunity to vote for their favourite pitch of the three young start-ups and could thus help to decide on the awarding of the "A.S.I. Newcomer Award". Afterwards, the audience voted for "The Triangle Audience's Favourite", in which the young start-ups competed against the established start-up "Infinite Running" and Ulrich Dausien's idea "COP".
This was followed by a round of talks in which the megatrends of individualisation, mobility and environmental awareness were discussed together. All the companies gave each other tips on how to make their individual products even more sustainable.
At the end of the evening, the prizes were awarded. Jonathan Bartel from "Unbound" won among the young start-ups and received the "A.S.I. Newcomer Award" with prize money of € 500. Nico Russ was chosen as the Triangle favourite of the evening with his modular running shoe "Infinite Running". The interesting evening was rounded off with a relaxed get-together in the beer tent, bringing the successful HNU FOUNDERS WEEK 2021 to a close.
