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How does an idea turn into a functioning business model? How does a scientist become an entrepreneur? And how to survive the "valley of death" between early and late-stage funding? These questions were discussed by the regional start-up scene at the Artificial Intelligence Campus Ulm at the end of July. The occasion was the summer tour of the NXTGN innovation platform, which brings together start-ups, science and commerce. Four start-ups in different founding phases, which emerged from Ulm University and are or were supported by its Entrepreneurs Campus, also presented themselves. 

Nutritional supplements that are precisely tailored to the female cycle, digital twins of complicated bone fractures that improve treatment, and explainable artificial intelligence made in Germany: researchers at Ulm University came up with all of these ideas. Science can change the world - but how do you turn it into a successful business? What are the pitfalls on the way to becoming a start-up - and what can politicians do to prevent a stumble? These questions were discussed on Wednesday 30 July at the KI Campus Ulm (KICU), where the NXTGN Startup Factory presented its recipe for success. The network aims to promote technology-driven start-ups and reinforce transfer commercialisation. The Startup Factory is funded in equal parts by the Federal Ministry for Economic Viability and Energy and the private sector with 20 million euros. Four Baden-Württemberg universities are involved in the programme, including Ulm University., which is also part of the INSPIRE BW Hub StartupSÜD, a university network for promoting start-ups. 

"We invest in minds," explained Dr Birgit Stelzer, Managing Director of the Entrepreneurs Campus at Ulm University and host. Stelzer has built up the university's start-up support programme over the past few years. During the event, she bid farewell to the official stage: from October onwards, she will be breaking new ground. The "minds" have one thing in common, according to start-up mentor Melanie Kamrath from the Entrepreneurs Campus: "They are courageous people who risk going all in." She made it clear that start-ups don't magically happen. She likened the interval between the research phase and before commercialisation to jumping in at the deep end. The Entrepreneurs Campus, together with financial support programmes and ecosystem partners, can partially cushion this "valley of death". Nevertheless: "Our wish for policymakers is to make this early phase easier - especially in the field of high technologies," said Kamrath, addressing the politicians who had come to the KICU in Science Park II alongside business representatives and start-up scene players. Other federal states have already closed this gap, said Kamrath.

She emphasised the big difference between entrepreneurship and research: "In the end, it's about making money and not about scientific research." Start-up support provides the impetus. At the KICU, four teams at very different stages of the start-up journey presented themselves in short pitches. At the very beginning is a team that wants to automatically estimate product emissions with the help of Explainable AI. Their focus: the textile industry. The doctors at Cyclo Care have developed a formula for a dietary supplement that is specially tailored to the phases of the female cycle. They are currently funded by EXIST Women. Tensor Solutions, a spin-off from Ulm University that has been specialising in explainable and legally compliant AI solutions since 2020 and is already on the market, has already gone through the start-up process. Osora has also taken the path from scientific research to entrepreneurship: Software simulates the healing process of broken bones and the load-bearing capacity of implants. Launched in 2021, Osora has been supported by pre-seed funding from Startup BW since spring. 

The programme also included an exchange round at management level of the StartupSÜD universities, which focused on funding structures for transfer and start-up support and their impact. Professor Steffen Reik, Head of the Startup Centre at Ulm University of Applied Sciences, and Dr Birgit Stelzer from the Entrepreneurs Campus at Ulm University spoke about this. Also on site: representatives from the TFU, the Ulm City Wirtschaftsförderung, the Ulm Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Donau Valley Venture Club. 

The event was organised by Adrian Thoma (Managing Director NXTGN GmbH), Dr Raoul Raschke (Managing Director Inspire BW Hub) and Dr Birgit Stelzer (Entrepreneurs Campus at Ulm University). The NXTGN summer tour leads to the INSPIRE BW Hubs of the state of Baden-Württemberg. 

Further information: 
Melanie Kamrath, Entrepreneurs Campus, Mail: melanie.kamrath(at)uni-ulm.de

Press release announcing the success of the NXTGN Startup Factory competition