Promising business models in the leanlab in just 48 hours!

For an entire weekend, the former Kaufhof department store in Seilwinderstraße was the most productive place in Hanover: around 100 creative people and people interested in founding a company worked together in the leanlab to develop numerous promising business models from ideas in just 48 hours, the best of which were awarded prizes.

Do you know Dresslife, which has been conquering the fashion industry with AI and tailored product recommendations since 2017? Or SMAVOO GmbH, which is successful on the market with automatic replenishment control for production and logistics? Both company ideas were once developed in the leanlab, which has been heldannually by hannoverimpuls, NEXSTER and starting businesssince 2014 - and was also part of the SMINT high-tech incubator for the first time this year.

The results of the 15 teams that came together here on the weekend of June 3-4 are impressive: From customizable acoustic room dividers (FLUKS) to a barrier-free fitness platform for people over 60 (Foreverfit), a smart flower pot that independently cares for and waters the plant (Lovely Pot) or an AI-controlled individual learning coach for pupils (Ed!) to an upcycling concept that turns old wind turbine rotors into stylish outdoor furniture (Upwind) or a rating and analysis tool that craftspeople can use to record and optimize the sustainability of their company (Hans). Including cost calculations, ideas for sales partners and more. "Every year, the leanlab generates great ideas that have what it takes to become start-ups," says DorisPetersen, Managing Director of hannoverimpuls GmbH, who is delighted with the success of this special format.

Students from tech, design and business met startup coaches, entrepreneurs and supportive organizers again at leanlab 2023 to develop their own entrepreneurial ideas - some of which had been in their heads for years and became a convincing business model here with new impulses, while other teams only found each other on site. Inspiration was provided by experts who have already achieved a lot in the start-up scene. They included Ijad Madisch, CEO of ResearchGate, a network for scientists with over 25 million users, Christoph Sollich, alias "The Pitch Doctor", who has already supported countless start-ups, and Startup-Impuls winners Stephanie Pfeil-Coenenen and Alina Eilers with the first vegan pregnancy test. In addition, numerous coaches provided professional support during the weekend.

Things got underway late on Friday afternoon with the first ideas and team compositions. On Saturday, ideas were worked on from early in the morning until late in the evening with the support of a jury. The mainprize waswonby the team from Hier& Door, who want to offer VR art therapy for mentally ill patients on prescription and already have a first interested party on board for a pilot project in the form of a clinic in Bremen. 2,500 in prize money from Hannover Re, support from the innovation experts at FUTUR X and free membership of hafven in Hanover's Nordstadt district are intended to help launch the service on the market.

Threespecial prizeswere alsoawarded: The MINT special prize with up to 7,500 euros in funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection went to the team fromUpwind, who want to build their first upcycling outdoor bar from former wind turbine rotors on Sylt. The special prize from the Hanover Marketing Club with prize money of 1,000 euros went to the team fromHanssichern, who want to make the craft sector more sustainable with their new platform. The special prize of two workstations in the V-Lab in the VentureVilla went to theEd!team. With the help of AI, an individual learning coach is to be created for students, which will primarily help them to learn how to learn by generating individual learning plans and to-do lists tailored to exams.

The jury included multiple founder Fatime Cetinkaya, Marc Junker, who has sold many start-ups around the world, hafven Managing Director Karen Klauke and robotics expert Prof. Tobias Ortmaier.

leanlab 2023 was the first in three years to take place in Präsenz again - and at a special location: the former Kaufhof department store, the first floor of which has been a venue for meetings and events coordinated by hannoverimpuls under the title aufhof since June 1 until the end of the year.