HNU FOUNDERS WEEK has successfully opened the HNU Founders Space

On Monday, 4 October 2021, the opening week of the newly founded Founders Space at Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences kicked off with a diverse programme on the topic of start-ups.

Monday, 4 October: Opening, hand-lettering workshop, Bavarian Tech Demo Day, neighbourhood evening

After the opening by the President of HNU, Prof. Dr. Uta Feser, the three start-ups Osora, Karriereheld and Haus der Nachhaltigkeit, which have already been working on their ideas in Founders Space for several months, introduced themselves. Afterwards, Lord Mayor Katrin Albsteiger spoke about the Neu-Ulm innovation region and wished all the start-ups in Founders Space every success with their projects. Oliver Stipar, Regional Managing Director of the Swabian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, also gave a short speech. District Administrator Thorsten Freudenberger and representatives of Ulm University, Ulm Technical University and Biberach University of Applied Sciences were also on hand.

During the course of the day, Ulm artist Markus Hummel, alias Letterbube, inscribed the main entrances of Founders Space live. In keeping with this, the "Letterbube" held a hand-lettering workshop for HNU students and staff at lunchtime.

In the afternoon, the Bavarian Tech Demo Day took place in cooperation with the Bavarian Representative Office for South America. The start-ups presented their digital solutions and technologies for the B2B market in South America and competed against each other. The three winning start-ups were Osora, nexol AG and celonis. They will now have the opportunity to work on their idea for three months free of charge at the Bavarian StartUp Accelerator WENGAN in Santiago de Chile.

In the evening, the neighbours from the Wiley residential area were invited for a neighbourhood evening under the motto "Meet the Spaces". They are very happy that the young students are given such a "great opportunity" to try out their ideas.

Tuesday, 5 October: Pitch Training Workshop, Founders Lunch, Founders Pitch

On Tuesday, 5 October, we continued with the Pitch Training Workshop, held by Mona Faisst. The former student of the degree programme "Information Management and Corporate Communication" showed the 20 participants how to deliver a pitch that would inspire the audience. This allowed some start-ups to prepare very well for the Founders Pitch in the evening.

At noon, students and staff gathered in the beer tent to enjoy pretzels and cake at the 14th InnoSÜD Founders' Lunch with Andreas Torka, Vice President Research, Development and Innovation from Wieland.

In the evening, the highlight of the HNU Founders Week took place. At the HNU Founders Pitch, 13 start-ups presented their ideas within three minutes to the Founders Board, which consists of representatives from HNU and the regional economy. The teams then answered questions from the jury members and the audience for three minutes. The Founders Board evaluated each start-up according to criteria such as "benefit for customers/society", "novelty in the targeted market", "potential" and "team".

Fourth place went to the Intelligent Sensor Bed team with their intelligent sensor mat. Their AI makes it possible to analyse the sleep of people in need of care and thus recognise whether they will wake up. The caregiver is then warned that the patient will soon get up. This allows them to be proactive, help the patient out of bed and avoid a potential fall.

The OSORA team came in third place. They are currently working on the implementation of a fracture healing simulation, which shows when a healing bone can be loaded again after a fracture and how much, and which therapeutic measures are necessary for successful healing.

Karriereheld came in second place with its recruiting app. Using intelligent algorithms, deep learning and a newly developed psychological team fit speed test, it aims to match job applicants with employers who are a real fit for them.

The Founders Board chose Carina Volk and her start-up Zukunftsfuchs as the winner of the evening. Her idea is to use an app to support children in their future career choices by helping them discover their interests, skills and inclinations in a playful way.

The four founding teams are very excited about the KickStart funding of €7,500 each. After approval by the project sponsor, they can invest these funds in prototyping to further develop their ideas.

Wednesday, 6 October: Social Media Workshop, Presentation Design Thinking Challenge, Party

On Wednesday 6 October, a social media workshop with former HNU student Anna Nguyen took place in the morning. Among other things, 35 participants learned how to use social media strategically to get the most out of their own channel.

At lunchtime, the HNU students, together with the Institute...