Frankfurt, Germany, October 18, 2019 — Out of 13 startups who joined the pitching competition event yesterday only the best performing three were chosen. We were fortunate enough to get a press invitation for the event and here are some of our impressions from the day.
Why pitch?
Turning your vision into reality is what drives many entrepreneurs to found a startup company. Some are driven by profitability and the hope of making a living with their product and others just want to have a positive impact on the world.
In either case, it’s not easy to start a business with just an idea. You need to have some sort of capital to pay all the expenses too and this is often required even before you make it to recurring stable revenue and cash flow. In order to convince investors to give you funding, you best have a working prototype as well to show everyone that your dream is not just fiction but can be achieved.
On Friday, the German Chapter of the IPIEC and partners hosted a pitching competition event at the location of the IHK in Frankfurt, Germany. Representatives from 13 startups attended to introduce their work to the world but only three of them could make it to the shortlist and join the final competition in China against the best of the world.
Who attended?
- Aixatech (a volume manufacturer of aluminum nitride templates on sapphire and silicon reducing manufacturing costs)
- Flissade (the future of the balcony)
- Aixway3D (nano-sized metal 3D-printing)
- Kraftwerk (fuel cell to augment EV battery)
- Aquarray (cell cultivation, ultra high throughput screening, and biochemical assay platforms)
- Magment (magnetized concrete for EV charging)
- Bbiotica (inhaler device to prevent smoker’s lung)
- Parknav (parking navigation without sensors)
- BeeSafe (beehive theft protection and GPS tracker)
- Rapid Plasma Melting (large metal 3D-printing)
- Cognaize (AI-based processing of financial information)
- Refresherboxx (freshen up laundry without washing, next phase product to remove stains)
- Cynteract (VR glove for rehabilitation with gaming)
Processing
At the start of the competition, the founders and representatives had to do a lucky draw to determine the sequence of the pitches throughout the event. Then the pitches are held within a timeframe of only five minutes, followed by a Q&A with the panel of judges. By the end of the afternoon all the pitches were made and after a short moment for the judges to reconvene the winners were announced.
Winners
Even though we heard about a lot of great ideas, the judges had to choose their favorite three to make it to the shortlist. The winners, without a ranking to it, are:
- Kraftwerk
- Cognaize
- Refresherboxx
It was an interesting event and I wish the finalists best of luck for the final pitching competition in China. We are looking forward to the next events.
YouTube: IPIEC GLOBAL 2019 German Chapter
Photo credit: The feature image is owned by the event-hosting company and affiliated groups. The presented photos were taken by Christopher Isak for TechAcute.
