Sparking ideas

Start-up Cup awards clever start-up concepts

From intelligent mattress covers to pocket PCR tests – last year, students, employees and alumni of Hochschule BonnRhein-Sieg entered their start-up ideas in the Start-up Cup for the second time. The competition was organised by the “Start-up-Manufaktur” (“Start-up Factory”), the university’s entrepreneurship centre, and more than 20 exciting entries signed up for the competition in advance. Five teams were selected for the public finals on 13 October 2022. There they had exactly five minutes to convince a jury of four of the future viability of their business idea.

“To see the transformation of the teams, from the first “pitch training” session to the finals was very impressive,” says Dr Reza Esmaillie. The H-BRS research associate was awarded first prize together with Dr Robin Bayer for the idea of an inexpensive but highly sensitive rapid virus test that does not require lab work. The biologist and the physician have now founded their start-up “Detechgene” to market the test. The prize money of 2,500 euros, sponsored by the University Society, went towards improving their prototype, which is now more user-friendly and has cut back on waste.

Participation pays off

The second prize, endowed with 1,500 euros and sponsored by the Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and SMEs (CENTIM), went to Jan Geyer and Max Müller with their “Sleepy Systems” concept, a smart mattress cover that uses sensors to monitor sleep. This idea also earned the two students the audience award. The jury awarded third place to Christopher Kossack and Fabian Mierau. They created the digital platform “Meinefasssauna.de” for renting barrel saunas and were awarded prize money of 1,000 euros donated by CENTIM.

Two special prizes had already been awarded in the run-up to the finals. Dr Reza Esmaillie received a scholarship for the MBA programme Start-up Development. David-Lennart Sturz, H-BRS research associate, was accepted into the Accelerator Programme of the DIGITALHUB.DE Bonn with “Nuntium”, a subscription model for newspaper articles from various publishers.

More about the Start-up Manufactur, the H-BRS entrepreneurship centre:

Facts and figures

Number of students

First semester students to academic year 2021/22

Graduates to academic year 2021/22

Degree programmes

Bachelor’s programmes

• Business Management Rheinbach

• Business Management Sankt Augustin

• International Business

• Business Psychology

• Cyber Security & Privacy

Master’s programmes

• Management Accounting and Management Control

• CSR & NGO Management

• Innovation and Information Management

• Marketing

Doctorates

• Computer Science

• Computer Science dual

• Business Information Systems

• Electrical Engineering

• Electrical Engineering –Cooperative Study

• Mechanical Engineering

• Start-up Development

• Business Psychology

• Autonomous Systems

• Computer Science

• Visual Computing & Games Technology

• Mechanical Engineering –Cooperative Study

• Sustainable Engineering

• Sustainable Engineering –Cooperative Study

• Technical Journalism

• Visual Technical Communication

• Applied Biology

• Chemistry with Materials Science

• Forensic Sciences

• Sustainable Social Policy

• Social Security Management –Accident Insurance

• Electrical Engineering

• International Media Studies

• Mechanical Engineering

• Sustainable Engineering

• Technology and Innovation Communications

• Analytical Chemistry and Quality Assurance

• Biomedical Sciences

• Materials Science and Sustainability Methods

• Social Protection

• PhD programme at H-BRS Graduate Institute: 124 doctoral candidates