“A passion for new ideas and the desire to bring about real change in our society is what brought us all together here,” said Dennis Daseking, deputy head of the Transfer Center enaCom, as he opened the evening. Bartosz Kajdas, moderator and coach of “Startups from Science,” got the audience in the mood for the pitching teams – for many, it was the first time they had presented their idea in front of so many people. The wide range of pitches covered topics from road safety to women's health, improved patient safety and laboratory conditions to autonomous systems and robots for agriculture.
Each team had three minutes to convince the jury, consisting of Dr. Katharina C. Cramer (founder of Tiller Alpha GmbH), Dr. Andrej Fischer (Comma Soft AG), Prof. Dr. Ilona Grunwald (Vice Rector for Research and Career Development at the University of Bonn), Prof. Dr. Günter Mayer (Transfer Officer at the University of Bonn), Robert Salzmann (Bonn University Foundation), and Sven Wittich (DIGITALHUB.DE). In the end, they had a difficult decision to make, but then the prizes were decided.
The winners: Robotics for urban farming – Road safety – Women and ADHD – Autonomous fruit harvesting
The University Foundation honored the project “Baggins – Growing Anything Anytime Anywhere,” which aims to develop robots for urban farming. The team of Rohit Hemachandra Pillai, Pranesh Gopal, and Poorna Sasank, all three of whom are studying for a master's degree in mobile robotics, were delighted to receive prize money of €1,000.
The “LROX – Smart Helmet” team aims to improve road safety by developing a bicycle helmet with AI technology that can warn of dangers. Ladan Seddighi, a student at the University of Bonn, and Amir Mobasheraghdam won €1,000 in prize money from Comma Soft AG.
The idea “ADHD Cycle – Bridging Femtech and Digital Neurotherapeutics” for an app that combines the female cycle and ADHD symptoms won the Digital Startup Prize from DIGITALHUB.DE. Dr. Marie Atzor can look forward to spending six months in the DIGITALHUB.DE accelerator program. She is a scientist at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB).
For the first time this year, the audience also voted and awarded the audience prize to the idea “ASFA – Autonomous Systems for Agriculture.” The Sparkasse KölnBonn Start-up Center donated box seats for a concert by the musician Apache 207 in Cologne. The idea for self-driving fruit-picking vehicles came from Peter Löffler, who is currently studying mobile robotics at the University of Bonn.
Watch the best scenes from the final here!
Bild © Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn
“There's nothing to lose!”
During the break, Helena Miles and Victor Boldt from the ‘GeniScent’ project (originally known as “Hoya Institut NRW”) reported on how the idea might progress after the ideas competition. Their idea of manufacturing products from the tropical Hoya plant was awarded the University Foundation Prize in 2024. They had recently moved into their own laboratory and bought many plants with the prize money. Helena Miles encouraged everyone to participate in ideas competitions: “Everyone is a winner and there is nothing to lose. You always gain experience and expand your network!”
Exchange and networking to round off the evening
The evening concluded with a reception where the happy winners, jury, participants, and audience had the opportunity to network. This exchange has become an integral part of the finals, as it offers the pitchers the chance to meet potential investors, co-founders, advisors, or mentors directly.
Support from the Transfer Center enaCom
The ideas competition is held every year by the Transfer Center enaCom and offers all members of the University of Bonn the opportunity to put their knowledge into practice. “The finalists receive professional pitch training from our start-up advisory team in advance, which prepares them perfectly for their presentation,” explains start-up coach Dr. Alexander Küsshauer, who oversees the ideas competition. The advisors also continue to support and accompany all participants afterwards in developing their ideas in terms of marketing and economic viability.
The next ideas competition will take place in fall 2026.