This year, the Strascheg Award was once again presented to innovative business ideas in three categories. The winners received a total of €30,000 in prize money.
Ideas, projects, or academic papers—these were the submissions for the 2018 Strascheg Award. The decisive criteria for the award were the degree of innovation, market potential, and the prospects for implementation. The Strascheg Award, endowed with a total of €30,000, was presented in the categories "Best Business Idea from a Course," "Best Business Idea During a Student Year," and "Best Business Idea from Science and Practice." In each of the three categories, the first- to third-place ideas received €5,000, €3,000, and €2,000, respectively.
In addition, all winning projects can benefit from the 6-month free support and consulting services of the SCE start-up funding program for the sustainable realization of the project.
All participants also received a personal consultation and qualified feedback on their business idea. The Strascheg Award is sponsored by the Renate & Falk Strascheg Foundation.
And the winners are…
Category 1 – Best business idea from a course:
1st place
ROOFR offers homeowners turnkey rooftop systems, such as solar and wind power systems, with an installation time of less than 30 minutes. They take care of everything – from commissioning, regulatory procedures, and the necessary contracts to final installation on the roof.
2nd place
CycleBox: Creating a sustainable alternative to shipping boxes and tackling the daily growing mountains of waste paper – that's the team's vision. CycleBOX has the positive properties of cardboard, but is made entirely from natural materials, can be reused multiple times in a circular economy, and is ultimately compostable.
3rd place
LOOK+: An accident, but no one there but you. Do you dare to be a first responder? Around 34% of Germans don't. With Look+, users receive professional support and visual guidance to provide the best possible assistance to the injured person until emergency medical services arrive.
Category 2 – Best business idea during your studies:
1st place
URGROW offers a self-sufficient, modular, and interactive hydroponic system for growing herbs and vegetables at home. The system fits into any home, takes less than 20 minutes of maintenance per week, and provides all the information users need via an app.
2nd place
RETOURO: Never wait in line at the post office again! Retouro handles returns processing, from your doorstep to the logistics service provider. Return pickup can be booked via the Retouro app, conveniently, individually, digitally, and across all providers. With its own bicycle couriers, Retouro is transforming inner-city parcel logistics, making it sustainable and green.
3rd place
INNOVATIVE LASER HAIR REMOVAL: Numerous appointments, high costs, and persistent skin irritation are typical side effects of permanent hair removal. With the help of the new laser technology from Innovative Laser Hair Removal (ILHR), treatments will now be more affordable, energy-efficient, and, above all, gentler.
Category 3 – Best business idea from science and practice:
1st place
TramTrainer is a novel digital training and testing system for training tram drivers. TramTrain is the first system to use real route videos with authentic traffic scenes. The use of TramTrain is intended to make training faster, more effective, and more sustainable!
2nd place
CLONCK is an app for car mechanics. Its vision is to collect the practical knowledge of all car mechanics worldwide on a single platform. This will be done in a completely new way – using detailed 3D models. Thanks to the 3D models, important information, such as repair or parts information, can be read directly on the corresponding car part, eliminating time-consuming research.
3rd place
Alpinia Motorcycles: E-Mobility – The Mobility of Tomorrow. With its new drive concept, the electric motorcycle from Alpinia Motorcycles combines the advantages of e-mobility with increased range and reduced costs. The powerful performance gives the rider a dynamic, rollercoaster-like riding experience at speeds up to 200 km/h. With a quick-charging function, the motorcycle can be fully charged in around 30 minutes. Using an integrated app, it is possible to adjust the power to the rider's ability in a matter of seconds.
