Start-up

KIT Entrepreneurship Talk with Tim Stracke – Before the idea, there must be a founder’s spirit

Posted on by Alexandra Drivalos
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Tim Stracke von Chrono24

Before the semester break, the last KIT Entrepreneurship Talk of the summer semester took place on July 16, 2015. This time, Tim Stracke, co-CEO of Chrono24, was invited as a guest. Stracke entered the online marketplace for luxury watches in 2010. Today, the company is among the leading global market places in this sector. The success was recently crowned by an investment – the company will receive 21 m. EUR from Insight Venture Partners. Congratulations!

Stracke studied industrial engineering at the University of Karlsruhe TH (which is the KIT today) and also received his MBA at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. After his studies, Stracke worked in consulting but founded his own company soon after. Before becoming a CEO of Chrono24, he was able to gather a lot of experience in the startup scene. At the E-Talk, he shared his lessons learned as a founder and entrepreneur and gave the audience personal recommendations and tips.

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RESTUBE brings the 2015 German Startup Award to Karlsruhe

Posted on by Alexandra Drivalos

On 06/30/2015, this year’s Deutscher Gründerpreis (German Startup Award) was awarded in Berlin. The competition is hosted by the partners stern, Sparkasse, ZDF, and Porsche and is one of the most meaningful distinctions for founders and entrepreneurs in Germany. Every year, this prize is awarded in the categories Student, StartUp, Shooting Star, Special Award, and Lifetime Achievement. This time, two KIT startups made it into the finals and had high hopes at the festive award ceremony.

Preisträger RESTUBE, Kategorie StartUp |Bildquelle: Franziska Krug / Deutscher Gründerpreis

Image source: Franziska Krug / Deutscher Gründerpreis

The startup RESTUBE GmbH competed against Customized Drinks GmbH and OnPage.org GmbH in the category “StartUp.” RESTUBE develops, produces, and sells inflatable buoys for water sports. In a critical situation, a buoy inflates using a gas cartridge. This way, the user can save him or herself from drowning. RESTUBE is so-to-speak the inflatable backup for all athletes in water sports. On the evening of the award presentation, RESTUBE asserted itself against its competitors with its worldwide unique “life buoy.” The team headed by Christopher Fuhrhop and Marius Kunkis won the German Startup Award in the category “StartUp.” We congratulate the team on this great success!

The KIT spin-off Nanoscribe GmbH, founded in 2007, competed in the category “Shooting Star” next to Jimdo and Little Bird. Nanoscribe was nominated for the Startup Award due to technical and entrepreneurial competency as well as the leap from pure research to market success. The company manufactures 3D printers on a micro and nanometer scale and offers photoresists and process solutions for an array of uses. Unfortunately, the jury ultimately chose a different team, honoring Jimdo with the German Startup Award in “Shooting Star.” Nonetheless, getting to the final round gives the Nanoscribe team great recognition.

We are especially proud that two KIT teams made it to the Startup Awards this year. We are delighted to see the development of the startup culture at the KIT and in the “fan city” of Karlsruhe. We congratulate both teams on their successful participation in the renowned competition and on their special recognition for outstanding entrepreneurial performance in Germany!

For more information about the German Startup Awards, visit www.deutscher-gruenderpreis.de

KIT Entrepreneurship Talk – Silicon Valley meets Karlsruhe

Posted on by Petra Nitschke
Dr. Guido Appenzeller (Quelle: abusix)

Dr. Guido Appenzeller (Source: abusix)

As part of the special event “Silicon Valley meets Karlsruhe,” hosted by Karlsruhe startup abusix, the KIT Entrepreneurship Talk with Dr. Guido Appenzeller took place on May 12, 2015.

Dr. Appenzeller studied physics in Karlsruhe until 1996, writing his thesis at the KIT Institute for Anthropometrics and Robotics (IPR) with Prof. Dr. Dillmann. He then finished his doctoral dissertation in 2005 in the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University, where he was also an advisor as a junior professor from 2008 until 2010.
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“From Invention to Innovation” – Patents, licenses, and the perspective of founding

Posted on by Steven Richter

On March 16, 2015, the first of two advanced training events of this year for professional patent use began. KIT employees interested in the protection of intellectual property and technology utilization were invited. Using the title “From Invention to Innovation,” the KIT Innovation Department in cooperation with the Center for Advanced Technological and Environmental Training (FTU) informed its participants about the most important foundations and services at the KIT.

The half-day events of the program for advanced training WaTT (Wissensaufbau und Technologietransfer – Knowledge building and transfer of technology) were directed toward inventions that can develop into innovations through protection, e.g., in the form of patents ranging to commercialization. Innovations can thus find their way into the industry in the form of license agreements (technology transfer) or can form the basis of a spin-off. Technology transfer in the form of a spin-off plays an increasingly important role at the KIT. Therefore, part of the lecture concentrated on the offerings and founding services at the KIT. All participants received insight into the world of startups and spin-offs of the KIT. At the following get-together, there was enough time to reflect on the topics together with the participants. This way, for instance, the question could be resolved whether the spin-offs developed through the institute belong to the KIT or are independent.

Similarly, the advanced training also concretely helped two scientists interested in founding. They had already advanced their startup idea at the KIT accelerator upCAT and were now grateful about the expanded knowledge from the seminar on patents and licenses. Thus, nothing stands in the way of a spin-off. We are crossing our fingers for their startup project!

The next “From Invention to Innovation” advanced training session will take place on October 6, 2015. Mark your calendar or register directly at the FTU. You can find the seminar in the program using the FTU shorthand MB431.

Innovation – Curse or blessing!?

Posted on by Steven Richter

The crisis is barely over, and the whole country is already calling for innovations. In times of flourishing information technology, a shift in energy, and the question about our future mobility, we definitely can’t do without them. But are innovations truly the panacea for our problems, and does innovation really make it or break it when it comes to success? Continue reading →

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