TUM Entrepreneurship Day Celebrates Munich’s Innovative Start-ups with Prestigious Awards

(IN BRIEF) The TUM Entrepreneurship Day celebrated Munich’s innovation ecosystem, highlighting achievements of local start-ups. Reverion won the TUM Presidential Entrepreneurship Award for its high-efficiency biogas power plant. Finalists included Planet A Foods, with a sustainable chocolate alternative, and RobCo, offering modular robotic systems for SMEs. The event, attended by over 3000 people, featured pitches, workshops, and discussions. Prof. Alexander Pretschner received the Mentor of Excellence Award for his support of start-up teams. The event showcased the strong partnership between TUM and the local industry, fostering innovation and collaboration.

(PRESS RELEASE) MUNICH, 29-Jun-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — The TUM Entrepreneurship Day brought together the vibrant innovation community in Munich, highlighting the achievements and potential of local start-ups. The event featured the prestigious TUM Presidential Entrepreneurship Award, which was presented to the energy start-up Reverion for its high-efficiency power plant capable of generating electric power with biogas and producing hydrogen from surplus energy. Finalists for the award included Planet A Foods, offering a sustainable chocolate alternative, and RobCo, providing a modular robotic system for SMEs.

Dr. Gerhard Kramer, TUM Vice President, congratulated Stephan Herrmann, founder of Reverion, on their achievement. The Financial Times recently recognized the potent entrepreneurship network surrounding the Technical University of Munich (TUM), naming UnternehmerTUM as Europe’s best start-up hub. Over 3000 attendees participated in the TUM Entrepreneurship Day, engaging in pitches, workshops, and discussions with more than 100 start-ups, students, researchers, investors, and industry representatives.

Key events included a matchmaking session for start-ups seeking co-founders, a strategy game for the circular economy, and presentations on support programs from TUM, UnternehmerTUM, and TUM Venture Labs. Attendees also learned about the success of Celonis, a TUM spin-off with a $10 billion valuation.

The TUM Presidential Entrepreneurship Award honors research-based business ideas with strong growth potential and successful initial funding, accompanied by a EUR 10,000 cash prize donated by the Friends of TUM.

Award Highlights:

Winner: Reverion

Reverion developed a highly efficient biogas power plant that can switch from power production to power utilization, producing hydrogen or methane to store energy and stabilize networks. The start-up emerged from a research project at the Chair of Energy Systems and has grown to over 100 employees.

Finalist: Planet A Foods

Planet A Foods created a cocoa-free chocolate alternative using locally grown plants, significantly reducing the carbon footprint. The start-up has already attracted major confectionery producers as customers.

Finalist: RobCo

RobCo offers a plug-and-play robotic system for SMEs, providing affordable and user-friendly automation solutions. The start-up, based on research at the Chair of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Real-time Systems, is already successful internationally.

Additional Honors:

Mentor of Excellence Award: Prof. Alexander Pretschner Prof. Alexander Pretschner, a professor of software and systems engineering, received the TUM Start-up Mentor of Excellence Award for his outstanding support of start-up teams, including those receiving EXIST scholarships.

The TUM Entrepreneurship Day underscored the strong partnership between academia and industry in Munich, fostering innovation and collaboration. The event also emphasized future plans, including the development of an Academic Health Sciences Campus on the former Royal Liverpool University Hospital site, reinforcing TUM’s commitment to advancing clinical research and healthcare.

Media Contact:

Klaus Becker
Corporate Communications Center
klaus.becker@tum.de
presse@tum.de

SOURCE: Technical University of Munich

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