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Third TUClab Competition Launched: Up to 450,000 Euro Start-up Financing for Founders

Saxon start-ups and potential business start-ups can apply for start-up financing as well as consulting and support services at Chemnitz University of Technology until 31 August 2020

As part of its transfer strategy, Chemnitz University of Technology is pursuing the goal of improving the links between science and research and the economy. In particular, Chemnitz University of Technology has set itself the goal of intensively promoting innovative spin-offs in its core competencies "Intelligent Materials and Systems," "Resource-efficient Production and Lightweight Construction," and "Man and Technology." Against this background, the Sächsische Aufbaubank, the Free State's development bank, and Chemnitz University of Technology have initiated the so-called "TUClab" in 2018 for joint unbureaucratic support and promotion of start-ups.

As part of the annual competition, two selected start-ups can receive start-up financing in the form of equity capital from Sächsische Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbh (SBG) in an amount not to exceed 450,000 euros each. In addition, they have access to the infrastructure of Chemnitz University of Technology or selected transfer partners and are integrated into the university’s transfer and mentoring networks. Scientists and young entrepreneurs from Saxony who want to transfer an innovative idea related to at least one of the three core competencies of Chemnitz University of Technology into a company or who have already done so can apply until 31 August 2020. However, the foundation of the start-up must not be more than twelve months before the application deadline. A jury evaluates the applicants' business concepts according to criteria such as innovation content, economic parameters, strategic orientation and sustainability/regionality. Further information on the procedure, application and evaluation criteria can be found under "Competition" on the TUClab project homepage www.tu-chemnitz.de/tuclab.

Background: TUClab competition winner 2019

The founding teams of NOVAJET, TROWIS and mecorad won the TUClab 2019 competition on 20 September 2019 with their business concepts and thus convinced the jury of the TUClab competition. A total of seven finalists presented themselves on that day at the "Pitch Deck" in the start-up centre at the Technology Centre Chemnitz (TCC) on Chemnitz University of Technology’s Reichenhainer Straße campus. The start-up NOVAJET works on manufacturing individual products from high-performance materials such as technical ceramics, hard metal, or fibre composites. To this end, the team has further developed a technology based on the water jet process. The resulting machine is to be brought to market maturity. NOVAJET is a spin-off from Chemnitz University of Technology. TROWIS GmbH is a rope manufacturer founded in 2019, specialising in high-performance fibre ropes for materials handling systems. The team is currently working on equipping ropes for drum drives and increasing rope service life. TROWIS is a spin-off from Chemnitz University of Technology and the University of Applied Sciences Mittweida. The company mecorad GmbH carries out hot forming of steel and metals with high product quality at the lowest possible cost. mecorad is involved in cooperation projects with Chemnitz University of Technology.

Contact: Joseph Hess, Project Manager TUClab, Phone 0371 531-35896, e-mail TUClab@tu-chemnitz.de

(Author: Mario Steinebach / Translation: Chelsea Burris)

Matthias Fejes
21.07.2020

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