“A good work-life balance and also a mixture of your own motivation and impetus from outside are of great importance for start-ups at the beginning,” says Meike Goos from the BRIDGE university network at the University of Bremen. “A good balance is also very important in customer acquisition, as well as when dealing with potential investors and supporters.”
At the StartUp Lounge, the founding teams of BotUniversity, cellumation, Huddy, and WasteAnt will talk about their experiences in starting a company. How have the start-ups grown? What hurdles did they have to overcome? Where, in their view, did vital support come from? How did they use the EXIST grant from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and other funding programs? What mistakes would they not make a second time? What is important to them with regard to the topic “balance”?
In a relaxed and lively atmosphere, the following guests will talk about their experiences in short interviews:
- BotUniversity – offers customized solutions for development, training, and implementation of AI for medium-sized businesses
- cellumation – develops and manufactures intelligent, modular conveyor technology for automation in production, industry, and logistics
- Huddy – manufactures tailor-made sustainable hoodies, among other things
- WasteAnt – turns waste into a valuable resource with AI-based waste quality analysis
BRIDGE Is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary This Year and Is Growing
At the 15th Bremen StartUp Lounge, the 20th anniversary of the start-up network BRIDGE will also be celebrated. In addition, there will be some special program items, such as an improv theater dealing with all aspects of start-ups and BRIDGE.
“We are very pleased that the network for start-ups of Bremen higher education institutions (HEIs) has been actively supporting prospective founders on their way to self-employment for 20 years now, offering innovative formats and continuously evolving,” explains Professor Jutta Günther, Vice President for Research.
The network is always working on a balance of existing and new offers, thematic focuses, and new collaborations and partners: in spring 2022, for example, the University of the Arts became a member of the BRIDGE university network, meaning that all of Bremen’s universities are now on board. “We are very excited that the University of the Arts (HfK) is now on board with BRIDGE and look forward to the opportunity of collaborating with them to provide support for start-ups. We know that many people at HfK are interested in start-ups per se, and they will now also be able to access joint BRIDGE offerings and contribute even more to enriching start-up teams from universities with their creativity,” says Dr. Martin Heinlein, Managing Director of BRIDGE.
Following the short interviews, there will be the opportunity to talk to the entrepreneurs and other stakeholders and to make new contacts.
The StartUp Lounge will take place on July 14 at 6 p.m. in the GW2 (B3002) building of the University of Bremen.
About BRIDGE:
BRIDGE is the central contact point for students, alumni, and members of Bremen higher education institutions (HEIs) on the subject of business start-ups. The BRIDGE university network is funded by the University of Bremen, the Bremen University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences Bremerhaven, Jacobs University, and Bremer Aufbau-Bank GmbH. The BRIDGE initiative has set itself the goal of improving the start-up climate at all participating HEIs and promoting promising ideas with start-up potential at an early stage.
BRIDGE advises about 160 start-up projects per year and offers more than 50 events with over 1,200 participants on the topic of business start-ups. The BRIDGE network records around 20 start-ups a year from Bremen’s universities. In addition, the network has raised over 9.0 million euros in funding from the nationwide EXIST program since 2007. The CAMPUSiDEEN competition with prizes worth more than 20,000 euros rounds off the year’s events. Since 2003, 750 contributions have been submitted. This makes CAMPUSiDEEN one of the most continuous competitions of its kind. At www.bridge-online.de/bridge/gruendungsgalerie you will find a selection of start-ups that have been founded so far from the higher education institutions.
Further Information:
www.bridge-online.de/veranstaltungen/15-bremer-startup-lounge (registration also here)
BotUniversity: BotUniversity
cellumation: Innovative conveying technology | cellumation
Huddy: Home – HUDDY (dbc-shop.com)
WasteAnt: Home page – WasteAnt
Contact:
Meike Goos
UniTransfer
BRIDGE Start-Up Support
Tel.: +49 421 218-60346
Email: meike.goosprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
