Chris Liebold
TU Ilmenau/IlmkubatorWith a targeted focus on their own start-up idea and lots of valuable feedback from the start-up coaches, the first "Ilmkubator Class" started in August at the Fischerhütte in Ilmenau. In compliance with the Corona protection measures, five selected founder teams met for the first time, who will be intensively prepared for the foundation of their own company over the next six months.
The Ilmkubator Class is the new mentoring program of the TU Ilmenau's start-up service, which is dedicated to the early-stage incubation of ideas and provides intensive support for promising start-up projects by members of the TU Ilmenau. In the first workshop, which was led by start-up coaches Franziska Dettke and Jan Radicke, the teams addressed the topics of "team", "idea" and "vision". In addition to short impulse lectures by the coaches, the participants also got to work themselves in interactive workshop units, were able to exchange ideas and support each other in their teams and mixed groups.
"New ways of promoting start-ups"
The provisional head of TU Ilmenau, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Sattler, was delighted with the positive response to the Ilmkubator's new offerings and did not miss the opportunity to personally welcome the participants and discuss their ideas with them. "I am pleased that TU Ilmenau is able to break new ground in promoting start-ups with the Ilmkubator. What was only possible to a limited extent in the past can now be expanded thanks to the funding from the BMWi, and we can take full advantage of the great potential we have here at the university," said Kai-Uwe Sattler at the beginning of his welcoming speech. The great interest in the Ilmkubator Class clearly shows that the Ilmkubator addresses the needs of those interested in founding a company.
Promising ideas at the cutting edge
More than 20 teams and individuals applied for the first Ilmkubator Class within two weeks in July. In a jury process, three founding teams and two individual founders were finally selected whose ideas are particularly promising and have their finger on the pulse of the times. The participants in the class are drawn from both the student body and the university's academic staff and come from a variety of disciplines. The start-up ideas are also diverse: from concrete product ideas such as innovative animal accessories to sustainability food apps to new areas of application of artificial intelligence and in the smart home sector, many topics are represented.
Coaching and qualification
The aim of the Ilmkubator Class is to specifically develop such promising start-up ideas from students and scientists and to make selected teams ready for start-up under the motto "Focus - Feedback - Future Skills". To this end, the 6-month program combines monetary and non-material support services with a close-meshed coaching and qualification procedure. In addition to the initial intensive workshop, further monthly workshops are held on start-up-relevant topics such as financing, legal forms and sales. In addition, the participants of the class are assigned mentors and receive support in market research. In addition, all class teams have their own workrooms in the attic of the former administration building, where the start-up service has also been located since June.
Further support formats planned
In April 2021, the next Ilmkubator Class will begin, which will then run for nine months. This year's Class was shortened to six months due to the Corona situation. Due to the great demand and various needs of the applicants, it was also decided to bring forward further support formats of the Ilmkubator as well as to develop new ones. Thus, the Business Model Forge and a support programme for the targeted preparation of EXIST applications will start in autumn 2020. Those interested in founding a company can find out more about the offers on the internet or make appointments for initial talks with the coaches at info@ilmkubator.de.
The Ilmenau Ideas Incubator, in short: Ilmkubator, is the new start-up service of the TU Ilmenau. With an interlocked offer of idea scouting, coaching programs, events and teaching offers, the Ilmkubator is intended to promote start-up activities at the university and create a lively start-up culture. The Ilmkubator is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the EXIST-Potentials programme.
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