03/11/2024 - News en

Top visit to Hahn-Schickard Start-up forge

The President of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Michiel Scheffer and the Innovation Manager of the Steinbeis Europa Zentrum Sebastian Große-Puppendahl are impressed by the innovative strength at Hahn-Schickard.

Even the best idea is worth nothing without funding. Tech start-ups in particular need a lot of capital to enter the market. In addition to investment from the private sector, founders are dependent on regional and supra-regional funding instruments. An important player here is the European Innovation Council, which drives scientific and technological developments by providing financial support for innovative start-ups and projects throughout Europe. Its President, Michiel Scheffer, has now traveled to Freiburg to meet with the EIC-funded start-ups ionysis, Dermagnostix, Biofluidix, Actome and Endress+Hauser BioSense to discuss their progress.
Sebastian Große-Puppendahl from Innovation Management at the Steinbeis Europa Zentrum also attended the meeting at Hahn-Schickard in the Freiburg Innovation Center (FRIZ), representing Dr. Petra Püchner, European Commissioner of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs. They are committed to strengthening the innovative power of Baden-Württemberg and promoting the networking of innovation regions in Europe.

Hahn-Schickard Director Professor Roland Zengerle emphasized the important role of Hahn-Schickard as an incubator and the European Innovation Council as a funding organization and innovation accelerator: "As an innovator and supporter of numerous spin-off companies, we are proud to have successfully placed many spin-offs on the market. This not only creates new high-tech jobs, but also drives real innovation, supported by the funding of the European Innovation Council."

The present spin-offs from Hahn-Schickard and the University of Freiburg demonstrate the wide range of innovative technologies that have emerged from the institutes over the past 20 years. As a GreenTech start-up, ionysis GmbH, for example, develops highly efficient and more sustainable core components for fuel cells and electrolyzers - in other words, for the energy converters of the future. These so-called "membrane electrode units" with a greatly reduced proportion of perfluorinated substances make a significant contribution to the energy transition and the reduction of CO2 emissions, for example in heavy commercial vehicles or the decarbonization of industry.

Dr. Matthias Breitwieser, co-founder of ionysis and CTO, emphasizes the importance of the EIC: "The support of the European Innovation Council within the EIC Transition project "Enabler" is crucial for the development of our young company. Thanks to the ongoing EIC funding, we can not only take our technology to the next level, but also build a strong European supply chain network. This will help us a lot to make a real difference in our sector with our components in the future."

The European Digital Innovation Hub Southwest (EDIH Südwest), coordinated by Hahn-Schickard, organized the visit. EDIH Südwest supports small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, as well as start-ups and public sector institutions, with needs-based consulting and technology services for digital transformation. This also includes information on financing options. The EDIH is not only a regional point of contact, but also an access point to the European EDIH network, which comprises over 200 such contact points.