Young Founders on Stage: RWU Start-Up Night

On October 22, the RWU Start-Up Night, organized by the Kilometer 1 university association, took place at the Linse. In front of an audience of over 80 attendees, six different teams presented their ideas on stage in the movie theater—ranging from a community network app for sports fans to an AI-powered teaching aid for teachers, the participants demonstrated where they plan to focus their startups and how they aim to support their target audiences. The panel of judges consisted of Gerda Gunesch from the Weingarten Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK), Prof. Dr. Wolfram Höpken from RWU, and Sybille Koch from HTWG Konstanz. The event was sponsored by Oliver Stotz of the engineering firm Stotz, who also provided the grand prize: the winning team would secure €1,000 in prize money to help bring their idea to life. In addition to questions and advice from the jury, participants also had the opportunity to hear firsthand about what a startup journey can look like from an experienced founder. Swiss entrepreneur Peter Schiffhauer of Capsule Hotel GmbH, who was invited as a guest speaker, shared how he brought the capsule hotel trend from Japan to Switzerland. He encouraged the participants—in keeping with Kilometer 1’s motto, “Doing is wanting, only way more awesome”—to stick with their ideas even in the face of initial difficulties. In the end, the winners of the evening were Finn Burkhard with “DimetriQ,” a digitization software for psychotherapists’ patient documents, and Hannes Burget with “Mein Helfair,” a senior-friendly platform for neighborhood assistance. Finn Burkhard will participate as a “wild card” in the Start (C)Up Bodensee finals, while Hannes Burget will receive the prize money for his startup. “Seize the opportunity!” the jury advised the young founder regarding the future of his idea.

The evening was hosted by Henning Wirth and Birgit Demuth from the RWU Startup Center.