Dr. Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut, Minister of Economic Affairs, Labor, and Tourism, visited the startups Aurivus, Proteba, Envola, and NVision; the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW); the site of the new Ulm Campus for Artificial Intelligence (KICU); and the Startup and Innovationszentrum for the Ulm/Neu-Ulm region (TFU). The focus of her trip was on discussing with the startups the state of Baden-Württemberg as a hub for startups, as well as the support services offered by the state and the Ulm region.
“Today’s startups are the small and medium-sized businesses—and perhaps even the large corporations—of tomorrow that we need to ensure prosperity and employment. With their innovative strength, startups are among the key drivers of technological progress. With Start-up BW, we have therefore launched a statewide campaign that brings together the state’s entire startup community and provides targeted support and promotion for innovative startups. It stands for increased entrepreneurial momentum, a new entrepreneurial spirit, and a different risk culture,” the minister explained during her visit. To meet today’s challenges, she continued, we need creative people more than ever who want to actively shape the future. That is why it is important to increase the state’s visibility and appeal as a startup hub.
“What makes me very optimistic about the future is the fact that we now have a broad presence throughout the state. While startups in city-states and other states with large territories tend to concentrate primarily in one or a few startup hubs, those in Baden-Württemberg are more widely distributed across the entire region and among the state’s various innovation centers,” said the Minister of Economic Affairs. “As today’s events confirm, an exceptionally active and attractive regional startup ecosystem has emerged in the Ulm region. We must now work together to further consolidate and expand it.”
More information about the individual startups:
Startup Aurivus
Aurivus GmbH was founded in late 2019. The company’s business focus is “Scan-to-BIM,” which involves transforming a 3D scan (point cloud data) into a digital building model using AI. The startup is considered a pioneer in the industry. Its innovative solution is revolutionizing the digitization of buildings, industrial facilities, and infrastructure. Until now, 3D laser scans had to be painstakingly traced by hand in order to digitally analyze building data. Areas of application include renovation, modernization, facility management, conversion and demolition planning, real estate valuation, and much more. The startup has already received multiple awards and has benefited from several state startup support programs.
Startup Proteba at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW)
Proteba is a spin-off of ZSW and was founded in early 2023. The most critical safety issue with electric vehicles is what is known as “thermal runaway,” as the recent fire on the car carrier “Freemantle Highway” clearly demonstrates. Proteba’s battery materials prevent fires and offer a cost-effective solution for meeting future safety standards. The technology is based on phase-change materials that absorb large amounts of thermal energy. These are embedded in a high-temperature-stable matrix to withstand temperatures exceeding 300°C. They help automakers and battery manufacturers make their lithium-ion batteries safe and prevent major battery fires in the future. The startup is currently receiving seed funding through the Start-up BW Pre-Seed program.
Startup Envola
Founded in 2019, Envola GmbH has set itself the goal of driving the energy transition forward through forward-looking, climate-friendly, and highly efficient building climate control. With its “Smart Energy” slogan, Envola emphasizes that its approach ultimately focuses on the integrated optimization of all energy flows within a single building. With storage heat pumps, Window HVAC room air handling units, and a circulation-free hot water system optimized for heat pumps, Envola offers the market unprecedented levels of energy efficiency, enabling energy cost savings of around 40 percent during operation. Consistent modularity, system integration, and a high degree of prefabrication also enable significant investment savings of approximately 20–30 percent. Envola holds six patents, has filed for twelve more, and currently employs around 50 people from twelve countries. The strongly technology-focused company is funded by the European Innovation Council and through innovation grants from the state agency Invest BW.
Startup NVision
The NVISIONS polarizers and agents developed by the life sciences startup, founded in 2015, enable the non-invasive visualization of key metabolic parameters in patients using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They thus enable important applications such as the early assessment of the effectiveness of cancer treatments. The German-Israeli founding team employs 60 people from more than ten countries, over 50 percent of whom hold doctoral degrees. NVision has already raised 50 million euros in public and private funding from global venture capital firms and is the recipient of prestigious awards, including the EC Innovation Radar Prize.
Startup and Innovationszentrum of the Ulm/Neu-Ulm Region (TFU)
The shareholders of TFU—the cities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm, the Alb-Donau District and the Neu-Ulm District, the Ulm Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and the University of Ulm—share the common goal of supporting young companies that are economically vulnerable and have not yet established themselves in the market. TFU promotes business start-ups and innovation, operates a technology factory, an Innovationszentrum, and a biotechnology center in Ulm, a technology and Gründerzentrum in Neu-Ulm, and serves as the operator of the Creative Energy Accelerator—funded as part of the state’s “Start-up BW” campaign—which focuses on creative energy, energy conversion and storage, and quantum technology. Through the state’s “Start-up BW Pre-Seed” funding program—of which the TFU is a program partner—the TFU has now supported over 40 startup funding projects.
These include the startups HKK Bionics and upVisit, with which the Minister of Economic Affairs also spoke during her visit. upVisit is an innovative platform that enables companies—or museums, for example—to offer on-site digital experiences, increase their visibility, and boost their revenue. HKK Bionics develops and markets a motorized, bionic hand orthosis designed to restore the grasping function of paralyzed hands.
About the State-wide “Start-up BW” Campaign
The state-wide “Start-up BW” campaign, launched in 2017, laid a solid structural foundation for supporting innovative and growth-oriented startup projects, which continues to evolve dynamically.
Among the successfully established initiatives are the 18 Start-up BW state accelerators, the early-stage financing instrument Start-up BW Pre-Seed, the EXI consulting vouchers, the innovation vouchers for startups, the Startup Summit, the state-level competitions “Startup BW Elevator Pitch” and “Founder-Friendly Municipality,” the new mezzanine financing, the MBG Fund, and the central information and communication platform Startupbw.de.
The focus of future development is on further increasing the international visibility of the startup hub, raising the proportion of female founders, adopting a more startup-friendly approach to grant awards, and the targeted expansion of thematic priorities such as GovTech and social impact.
More Information
You can find photos from the themed trip here: https://t1p.de/4k06q
For more information on the Start-up BW campaign: www.startupbw.de
