Paderborn University's start-up center – garage33 – the "Center for Entrepreneurship" at Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences and the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, together with the VerbundVolksbank OWL, are calling for the tenth annual start-up ideas competition "Call for Ideas". The winners not only receive prize money of up to 1,500 euros, they also have the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality with the support of the university's business start-up centers. The aim of the competition is to further promote the development of innovative business ideas in the region. The application deadline is Sunday, April 28. Further information can be found on the event website.
To take part, all you need to do is submit an idea paper on two A4 pages, either alone or as part of a team. The "Call for Ideas" is open to all interested parties from the greater OWL region, regardless of age, degree or profession. In addition to the business idea, they should present the benefits, the market and the feasibility. The idea can come from the product, service or research sector. The social and societal added value of the idea is included in the evaluation of all ideas.
Preparatory workshops at garage33
Interested parties who are still missing the right idea or who would like to develop their idea further before submitting it can attend the free "Find your Idea" workshop at garage33 on Thursday, March 21 or Monday, April 15. Participants will develop their ideas in a relaxed atmosphere and with the help of creative methods in the shortest possible time. Registration for the workshop is also possible online.
Engine for the development of innovative business ideas from OWL
All participants in the "Call for Ideas" 2024 will receive professional feedback and can thus put the feasibility of their concept to the test. The best teams will be able to present their idea to an expert jury at the big pitch final on Thursday, July 4. "Our aim is to encourage young people with creative ideas. If we can encourage the teams to let us accompany them on their path to entrepreneurship, then we have all won," says Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Kabst, Scientific Director of the Paderborn University Start-up Center.
Last year, the jury selected the "Puraite" team as the winner of the "Call for Ideas" 2023. The founders Karlson Pfannschmidt, Vitalik Melnikov and Shahin Baki received 1,500 euros in prize money from VerbundVolksbank OWL. Their idea is a semantic search engine that makes it possible to analyze research results in medicine. The use of artificial intelligence is intended to enable more effective drug treatment for patients. The team is working on the implementation of its idea at garage33 and has already launched its website last year, participated in numerous start-up schools and took to the stage at the first Paderborn start-up summit "moonshots & moneten" in February of this year.
This text has been translated automatically.
