The delegation, which was made up of representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, Bremen Aufbau Bank, Sparkasse Bremen, as well as representatives from the Bremen business community, visited various research institutions at the University of Bremen. These included the Cognitive Systems Lab, BIBA, and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence. At the individual stops, they were warmly welcomed by Professor Tanja Schultz, Professor Klaus-Dieter Thoben, and Professor Michael Beetz and the visitors were given detailed insights into the various areas of work and research fields. Professor Jutta Günther, President of the University of Bremen, emphasized: "We are delighted about the visit and the great interest from Bremen's business community. The university's diverse and outstanding research certainly has great potential for innovative start-ups. Today's networking meeting will surely be fruitful and provide the impetus for a regular exchange."

In addition to the research units, some promising start-ups from the university also had the opportunity to introduce themselves. These included, for example, Heatrix GmbH, dAImension GmbH, Ubica Robotics GmbH, aisencia GmbH, and the COALA project team. The University of Bremen supports the development of start-ups in a variety of ways. For example, initial start-up ideas are born in the research groups. With the UniTransfer department, there are also structures in place that increase the innovation potential of research and effectively support application-oriented solutions. BRIDGE in particular, which is part of the UniTransfer department, plays a decisive role in the development of projects into successful start-ups.

The routes taken by the start-ups are very different: some of the companies visited were supported by the EXIST federal funding program, others had won the CAMPUSiDEEN ideas competition, or took advantage of start-up consulting services. Their networking in the regional economy is also extremely individual. The delegation visit made it possible to establish new contacts that will make a positive contribution to the further development of the start-ups. It also became clear that start-ups from the University of Bremen and start-up support from the University of Bremen are crucial for the venture capital deal flow in Bremen.

"The meeting was a wonderful opportunity to present the diversity of university start-ups to Bremen's business community. The reception afterwards was also an excellent format to deepen the exchange. aisencia benefited greatly from the gathering and we were able to establish important contacts," commented Dietrich Schreiber from aisencia GmbH.

University of Bremen Start-Up Support / BRIDGE:

BRIDGE, which is part of the UniTransfer unit, is the central point of contact for students, alumni, and members of Bremen's universities when it comes to business start-ups. The BRIDGE university network is supported by the University of Bremen, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, the University of the Arts Bremen, Constructor University, and Bremer Aufbau-Bank GmbH. BRIDGE has the aim of improving the entrepreneurial climate at all involved universities and supporting promising ideas with start-up potential at an early stage.

BRIDGE advises around 160 start-up projects per year and offers more than 80 events involving over 1,600 participants on the topic of business start-ups. The BRIDGE network is able to record 20 start-ups per year from Bremen's universities. Furthermore, the network has acquired over 11 million euros in funds from the nationwide EXIST program since 2007. The CAMPUSiDEEN competition, with prizes worth over 20,000 euro, rounds off each year. Since 2003, around 800 entries have been submitted. This makes CAMPUSiDEEN one of the most continuous competitions of its kind.

About UniTransfer:

The University of Bremen is aware of its responsibility in the community and involves society as a whole with its broad understanding of research-based knowledge and technology transfer. UniTransfer is the University of Bremen's central interface between academia, business, and society. The experts at the knowledge and technology transfer office support collaborations and projects across the entire spectrum of university subjects. This ranges from business start-ups, the commercialization of inventions, the referral of specialists and managers or science communication services, to the coordination of school, the management of the University Foundation, and university fundraising.

Further Information:

https://www.bridge-online.de/en/

https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/cooperation/university-business