The high-tech winners from Munich: From the laboratory to the market and new solutions for industry
On Monday evening (March 9, 2015), the ten high-tech business ideas in Phase 1 of the Munich Business Plan Competition 2015 were awarded prizes. The winners demonstrate the typical strengths of the start-up landscape in Munich and Bavaria: All ten start-up teams want to realize technology-based business ideas and address industry and business customers with self-developed products and solutions. The winners come from the life sciences, IT, energy, and mechanical engineering sectors. 145 participating teams from Munich and Upper Bavaria participated in Phase 1 of the three-stage Munich Business Plan Competition. A total of BayStartUP By the end of January 2015, around 280 short concepts and pitch decks had been submitted to the Bavarian business plan competitions held in southern and northern Bavaria.
The winners were presented at the awards ceremony, attended by around 500 guests at the HVB Forum hosted by BayStartUP's sponsoring partner, HypoVereinsbank. Andreas Schober, Head of the Southern Bavaria Region at HypoVereinsbank, welcomed the participants and commented on HypoVereinsbank's commitment to entrepreneurs and young companies: "We see ourselves not only as financiers of the German economy, but also as consultants. We seek strategic dialogue with entrepreneurs because we want to truly understand their business. Ultimately, innovative entrepreneurs enhance the future viability of our entire economy."
“Interest remains unbroken”
"Interest in the Munich Business Plan Competition remains unbroken. Honest feedback and intensive support are particularly important, especially at the beginning, for high-tech startups with high entrepreneurial risk and capital requirements," says Dr. Carsten Rudolph, Managing Director of BayStartUP. The judges' assessment in the Business Plan Competition helps each participant finalize their business plan, but also clarifies the true market potential of a business idea. Dr. Carsten Rudolph emphasizes: "Founders face major challenges: Markets are changing incredibly dynamically, which means the development of new products and solutions must proceed particularly quickly. Founding teams should therefore enter their market as early as possible, i.e., while they are still in the development phase. Even early-stage investors today generally want to see functioning prototypes before they invest.
When looking at the industry distribution of all participating teams, business ideas from the information and communications technology sector, which includes software as well as mobile and internet concepts, account for almost half. Around 10 percent each come from technologies and life sciences. "The winners all demonstrate a strong technology and business-to-business orientation. These are excellent prerequisites for particularly high-growth companies," explains Harald Wagner, BayStartUP, head of the Munich Business Plan Competition.
Click here to see the winners of Phase 1 of the Munich Business Plan Competition 2015.
