The Munich Impact Award was presented at the finals of the Generation-D social entrepreneurship competition. The special prize includes a cash prize of €2,000 and a one-year membership in the makerspace. The high-tech workshop at Munich Urban Colab will support Hopfon with twelve months of access to the makerspace and its courses, which promote the creation of market-ready prototypes.
The prize was awarded by the Minister for Labour and Economic Affairs, Clemens Baumgärtner:
"We need visionaries who are aware of the changes of our time and act with foresight to help shape Munich's economy for the future. Hopfon convinced us with an innovative product solution that is ideally suited to making the construction industry and, at the same time, agriculture more resource-efficient in a selected segment."
Munich Impact Award recognizes sustainable solution for the construction industry
The startup has developed a solution for sustainable and compostable building materials made from hop waste. Co-founder Mauricio Fleischer Acuña says about the award ceremony:
"We were amazed and thrilled! It's a great honor for us to be the first startup ever to receive this special award. We will continue to do everything we can to develop circular and sustainable solutions for the construction industry and agriculture."
The founding team aims to develop circular building and acoustic panels, as well as insulation materials, from the remains of the hop harvest. These types of building materials represent an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional construction materials. In addition to regionality, the startup focuses on topics such as the circular economy and the exploration of alternative manufacturing processes.
Hopfon's goal is a product that can be disassembled into its components at the end of its lifespan, thus enabling circular use. The founding team aims to make both the construction industry and agriculture more sustainable. With this idea, the startup won the main prize in this year's Generation D competition and the TUM Idea Award.
