From cyber security to smart farming – the Investor Days Thuringia put the spotlight on 64 future technologies from start-ups and growth companies from all over the world and connect the founders with the VC scene. Four innovative projects are pleased to receive prizes for their pitch performance.

With the motto “Boost Your Dealflow”, the 6th edition of one of Germany’s largest start-up events, Investor Days Thuringia, kicked off today. The highlight event of STIFT and bm|t brought together the start-up ecosystem, SMEs, industry and investors in a digital format to generate the best deal flow and enable collaborations. More than 500 players from the national and international business community took the opportunity to track down the latest technologies and trends and interact with entrepreneurs virtually at the Investor Days Thuringia.

This year, the digital format again attracted great international interest. 67 applications from 10 countries were submitted. Innovations from all over Germany, Austria, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Uruguay were in the running.  The future technologies as well as the event as such also attracted a lot of attention from financiers: 165 investors from the DACH region, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the USA, China, Bahrain and the UK attended the Investor Days to find the best projects for their deal flow.

Hosts Christiane Kilian (STIFT), Katja Butzmann (bm-t) and Stephan Beier (bm-t) opened the first day of the event via livestream, broadcast from Erfurt’s multifunctional arena. Afterwards, Economics Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee welcomed the online community. Tiefensee advertised Thuringia as a state for founders: “Founders need money, market access and partners – we offer the best conditions for financing and networking an innovative start-up or a convincing business idea,”. The “Investor Days Thüringen” have created a nationally established platform through which founders can quickly and effectively raise venture capital for their companies.

Clear the stage for future innovations!

At today’s Pitch Day, 23 selected start-ups and 13 growth companies presented their business concepts on the digital pitch stage. 28 other innovative projects presented their products and business models in the virtual innovation arena provided by Plazz AG. Between the pitch sessions, the interactive event offered plenty of space for know-how exchange, inspiration and networking. Here, the audience could not only scout new technologies, but also get to know the founders behind them personally, whether via video conversations, during 1:1 matchings or via one-minute fame pitches. The range of companies was as wide as usual – from cyber security and AI solutions to space tech and robotics, to green solutions, med tech and smart farming. In order to get to the heart of the complex business models and ground breaking technologies in a three-minute pitch, all pitchers received preparatory training in advance with experts from STIFT and bm|t. Among the pitchers, 6 promising start-ups from the Thuringian Regional Innovation Program (TRIP) also presented themselves. As an accelerator program of the Free State, TRIP brings its participants each year at full speed towards Investment Readyness and thus creates a sound basis for market entry.

Applause for the pitch winners!

The highlight of the day was the presentation of the Pitch Awards for the best start-up concepts. In a live voting, investors voted for the most convincing pitch performances, which were awarded live by the hosts and the State Secretary Valentina Kerst. The audience could also support their favourite pitchers and vote online for the winner of the Public Award. Congratulations to this year’s four winners:

1. Polytives GmbH from Jena

(Prize by STIFT and bm|t: € 3,000 prize money)

2. Peeriot AG from Nobitz

(Prize by EY Strategie Coaching: material prize of € 2,000)

3. janova GmbH from Jena

(Prize by Gruendel & Partner Legal Consulting: material prize of € 1,500)

4. AI-UI GmbH from Ilmenau

(Audience award by Apropro Haarbeck Teamentwicklung, Management: material prize of € 2,000)

Start-ups meet industry

The Investor Days continue tomorrow. The second day of the event will connect start-ups with industry to accelerate innovation and promote cross-regional and international knowledge transfer, transformation processes and open innovation. The experts will present practical approaches that create a basis for new collaborations and processes. The program will include impulses on digital ecosystems and transformation as well as best-practice examples for cooperation between start-ups and SMEs. As speakers and role models for these topics, Fraunhofer IMW Leipzig, EY and the Thuringian companies Mehnert Lab Erfurt, Enginsight GmbH and Polytives GmbH will share their experiences with the IDT guests. In matching sessions at virtual tables, founders can meet many existing companies, corporates and innovators and find points of contact for cooperation.

All interested parties can already note the date for the next Investor Days Thuringia. The event will take place on June 14 and 15, 2022 in the multifunctional arena in Erfurt.

About the Investor Days Thuringia

As a joint initiative of the Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research Thuringia (STIFT) and beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh (bm|t), the Investor Days Thuringia are held annually to connect start-ups and growth companies to potential cooperation partners as well as to investors.

The Investor Days Thüringen have established themselves as the largest event of its kind in the region and are also supported by well-known sponsors and cooperation partners. STIFT is involved in the Investor Days Thuringia as part of the project ThEx innovativ and is supported by the Thuringian Ministry of Economics with funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) and state funds.

More information about the Investor Days at: https://investordays-thueringen.de/en/.

Contact:

Christiane Kilian
Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research Thuringia (STIFT)
Project Manager ThEx innovativ
Peterstrasse 3 | 99084 Erfurt
Phone: 03 61 – 789 23-74
E-mail: christiane.kilian@stift-thueringen.de