chemstars.nrw

What an incredible day at the Henkel Inspiration Center in Düsseldorf! On Monday, we celebrated the Grand Award Event, marking the thrilling conclusion of our From Lab to Market Challenge ideas competition. 🌟 🎉 It was a day of celebration as we recognized the achievements of the eleven early-stage teams who pitched their groundbreaking chemistry-related business ideas, showcasing the innovative spirit and creativity that drives our industry forward. Congratulations to all teams who participated and pitched their ideas on stage. There was some truly amazing progress visible from when we first met them for our Business Model Workshop back in April. 👏 A big thank you goes out to our advisory board member Alexander Troemel for his opening keynote, Arianna Savini, Johannes Velling, Adilson Arli Da Silva Filho and Karl D Collins for joining Martin Bellof on stage to talk about open innovation in the chemical industry and Maximilian Spiekermann and Max Krause from Simplyfined for sharing their progress since last year´s From Lab to Market Challenge. A special shout-out to the entire Henkel team, especially Esmina Kampmeier and Alexander Troemel, for inviting us to your incredible Inspiration Center Düsseldorf and making this possible. Overall, it was fantastic to work together with you on this and you have set the bar high for future award events to reach. Thanks also to our partners and sponsors who made the From Lab to Market Challenge possible: NRW.BANK | CHEManager | KOALA Startup Network | EXIST - Existenzgründungen aus der Wissenschaft | ZENIT GmbH | Bayer & Bayer Crop Science | Innovation Ecosystem | Evonik & Evonik Venture Capital | Henkel | Braskem | Covestro | Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG | VCI NRW | RAG-Stiftung | Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Industrie, Klimaschutz und Energie des Landes NRW A huge thank you to everyone who participated, pitched, and contributed to making this event a resounding success. Together, we are pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the world of chemistry and innovation! pictures: Manor Lux, LL.M.

Save the date: Scale-up Day for Green Chemistry Startups Hosted by: greenCHEM Supporters: DUDE CHEM | Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft | chemstars.nrw | Extantia | KOALA Startup Network Date: 9th of July 2024 Location: Technische Universität Berlin Join us for an exhilarating day dedicated to exploring the intricacies of scaling up in the deep-tech industry, with a special emphasis on chemistry. Scale-Up Day brings together visionaries, industry experts, startups, and students to delve into the challenges and opportunities of technical scale-up. Whether you're a burgeoning startup seeking the best path forward or a student eager to connect with future employers and innovative ideas, Scale-Up Day offers a dynamic platform for learning, networking, and inspiration. Link in comments 👇

Today is your last chance to register for our From Lab to Market Challenge Award Event. So make sure to register and grab your ticket now! Why participate? 👇   There are many reasons why so few chemists consider setting up a company. Academic research continues to be strongly publication-driven and is somewhat disconnected from the ‘real world’. Inventions tend to arise out of scientific curiosity and not as a response to real-life customer problems. Entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial mindset are a real rarity for scientists in fields like chemistry and biology. It is therefore hardly surprising that starting a business seems abstract, distant and sometimes unrealistic in the eyes of many natural scientists… But not for the scientists who submitted their ideas to our From Lab to Market Challenge! 😎   At our Grand Award Event on June 10 at Henkel Inspiration Center in Düsseldorf, scientists will showcase their innovative chemistry-driven ideas poised to revolutionize the chemical industry. Among the pioneering concepts are CYNiO's safer isocyanate synthesis method, DecerNEXT's data-driven experimentation approach, AlgaCore's eco-friendly textile fibers from algae, and HyphaGrowth's mycomaterial insulation from agricultural waste. HABER Solutions offers software for sustainable chemical reactor optimization, SeCaRa presents a groundbreaking plastic sorting and recycling method, and NAvOil introduces microbial oils as sustainable alternatives to traditional vegetable oils. Power2Polymers specializes in PFAS-free chemical building blocks, GasStreamResources enhances chlorine production efficiency, and PlastiQuant provides innovative nanoplastic detection solutions. Finally, Breakomers aims to revolutionize plastic recycling with renewable and easily separable plastics. Get ready for a glimpse into the future of sustainable chemistry!   Besides the presentations and award ceremony of our eleven participating teams, you will hear an inspirational talk from team Simplyfined, one of last year´s successful participants and you will also listen to an exciting panel discussion with Karl D Collins, Adilson Arli Da Silva Filho, Arianna Savini and Johannes Velling. And on top of that, all guests who are interested are welcome to join a guided tour of Henkel Inspiration Center. Thanks to all chemstars partners and sponsors to make this possible! Henkel Evonik Evonik Venture Capital Bayer | Crop Science Bayer Crop Science | Innovation Ecosystem Braskem Currenta GmbH & Co. OHG Covestro VCI NRW Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Industrie, Klimaschutz und Energie des Landes NRW RAG-Stiftung KOALA Startup Network NRW.BANK CHEManager ZENIT GmbH EXIST - Existenzgründungen aus der Wissenschaft Get your ticket here 👇

⭐ What an incredible day at chemstars! ⭐ Yesterday, we had the privilege of organizing a pitch training event for the participants of this year’s From Lab to Market Challenge at TechHub.K67. Each team had three feedback sessions to prepare for the upcoming Grand Award Event on 10th June 2024 at Henkel's Inspiration Center in Düsseldorf. We’re beyond proud of the teams for their hard work, creativity, and courage. For many, it was their first pitching experience outside of an academic setting ever, and we feel they absolutely crushed it! 📢 Check out some photos from the event, including our wonderful group shot with all participants. Special shoutout to Ella Gemünd (TechHub.K67), Jules Banning (pitch trainer), Team @Koala (Dr. Sarah Schulz, Shanika Yadav) and our very own Stefan Weber, who despite having caught the flu, showed incredible commitment by working with teams virtually. That was amazing! 🙌 📸: Manor Lux

Join us at the Grand Award Event to see aspiring future founders who participated in this year’s From Lab to Market Challenge pitch their unique business ideas. 🙌 What: FLTMC Grand Award Event When: 10. June, 3 pm Where: Henkel Inspiration Center Düsseldorf RSVP here on LinkedIn and make sure to register on Eventbrite following the link on the event page. We're looking forward to seeing all of you there! #event #startup #pitch

Another successful Pitch Day completed at chemstars. We are thrilled to welcome five new teams into our Startup Support Program! 👋 blue activity: Sustainable water treatment Kerith: Energy decision maker for non-energy companies MechSyn: Innovative materials through solvent-free, electrically powered synthesis processes Mycolever: Utilising fungal microorganisms to create sustainable ingredients for various industries SolarFoil: Optimizing sunlight for sustainable horticulture and microalgae cultivation Thanks to all the teams who were there to pitch their forward-looking business models. We applaud your creativity and courage. 🙏 As part of our Support Program, these teams will benefit from biweekly coaching sessions, contact to top-tier industry experts, custom-tailored workshops and trainings as well as access to a great community of startups, potential business partners, investors and supporters. We are looking forward to working with you! Thanks to our jury, who once again helped us to decide who we can best support in this upcoming batch, Jerusa Roeder Jesus, Arianna Savini, Juergen Benting, Peter Thomassen, Marcel Riedel and Dr. Jens Busse. #startup #pitch #startupsupport #chemistry

What an awesome kick-off to this year‘s From Lab to Market Challenge, which we are hosting for the first time with Dr. Sarah Schulz, Shanika Yadav and René Hanke from KOALA Startup Network. Today, we met 12 new teams of scientists and entrepreneurs who are eager to start a company. In the Business Model Workshop, they had the opportunity to look at their research from another angle with the Lean Canvas approach. Thank you Covestro for hosting us in your Idea Lab, and special thanks to our mentors Jerusa Roeder Jesus, Arianna Savini, Wolfgang Nestel, Moussa Barhoum, Meike Fischer, Marcel Riedel, Rainer Schweda and Dr. Grzegorz Darlinski for giving valuable feedback to the teams. 👏 Great session! Thanks to all participants. We can’t wait to work on your presentations in our Pitch Training next. And finally, the highlight of the Challenge will be seeing you present your ground-breaking ideas at the Grand Award Event at Henkel Innovation Center on the 10th of June. Mark your calendars!   Photos: Manor Lux #workshop #startup #chemistry

𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆 – 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: That’s the motto of this year’s ChemCologne Kooperationstag at DIGITALHUB.DE. Come meet us, see some catching startup pitches, follow two engaging panel talks and make sure to participate in some serious networking. 🤝 Here’s what you can expect: 15.00 – Welcome & Startup Pitch Sessions – you can hear from HyperHeat and Hydrogenea here! 16.00 – Break & Poster Session 16.45 – Panel: Grown-ups of the University of Bonn: How it started, how it's going 17.15 – Panel: Research, Entrepreneurship, or Industry: Career Perspectives for the Academic Youth 17.45 –  Award Ceremony for Startup Pitch Session 18.00 – Networking   Register through the link in the comments. 👇 See you there! 👋 #startup #networking #chemistry

Last week, we had the privilege of attending the Handelsblatt Jahrestagung Chemie 2024 in Frankfurt. The event, which spanned two days, included a series of engaging and thought-provoking talks and discussions. The overarching theme was "Restart: How polycrises become opportunities." Our highlight was of course the Startups Session. Ucaneo, PureSurf and Cyclize from our portfolio had the opportunity to showcase their solutions to an audience of industry professionals. Congrats to Maike Lambarth from Cyclize for winning the Handelsblatt Chemie 2024 "Gestalter der Zukunft" Award. 🚀🚀🚀 We would also like to thank the organisers for their efforts in making the event a success. We look forward to attending again in 2025.

Join Europe’s largest tech entrepreneurship and investment community and meet us us at Tech Tour Circular 2024 in Ghent, Belgium on 23-24 April! 🤖 Stefan will be part of the Tech Tour Circular expert jury and is already looking forward to inspecting some cutting-edge technologies as well as production processes and discuss the future of circular innovation with founders and networking partners. See you there! 👋 #TTCircular2024 #CircularEconomy #Innovation #Networking #TechEntrepreneurship