Bonn Impact Pitch Night: H-BRS start-up mobilityHQ achieves second place

The 1st Bonn Impact Pitch Night sent out a strong signal for regional innovative strength and entrepreneurial spirit: five promising teams presented their ideas in front of over 100 interested people in the packed hall, with an experienced jury awarding the three best concepts with prize money of 3.000, 2,000 and 1,000 euros respectively. 

First place for Team Femi-ON

The Femi-ON team secured first place with a medical solution for relieving menstrual pain without medication. The interdisciplinary team consists of engineers and biologists with a sound technical background.

Second place for H-BRS team mobilityHQ

Second place went to mobilityHQ. The team presented a dashboard that bundles mobility data from different modes of transport and helps local authorities to manage mobility services efficiently, thus enabling better cooperation with mobility providers, for example by quickly setting up no-parking zones. The idea originated from the MIAAS research project at H-BRS. "We are delighted that our approach to one of the region's most pressing challenges, namely better networking, planning and management of sustainable mobility services, has been recognised. The advantage of our solution is that we can find pragmatic answers much more quickly with the targeted analysis of mobility data and all stakeholders benefit from efficient and transparent collaboration," says Paul Bossauer, who manages mobilityHQ together with Lena Recki.

Third place for Team Science-Music-Show

The Science-Music-Show, an interactive science communication format from the University of Bonn, was awarded third place. The show combines live music with live experiments to make complex scientific topics such as the energy transition accessible to a wide audience.

SafeRouty and InterRegioReconnect also in the final

The two other finalists were SafeRouty from the University of Bonn with its app for safe journeys home and InterRegioReconnect  from Alanus University, which came up with innovative solutions for sustainable regional transport that are in tune with the times.

The evening opened with a keynote speech by Rebecca Göckel, co-founder of the vegan organic ice cream brand NOMOO. In her keynote speech, she emphasised the importance of impact-oriented business models for a sustainable economy. 

Project manager Noth: passion and innovative spirit

"At the end of the first SoNaR project year, our founders are taking centre stage. With passion and innovative spirit, these teams have proven that it is possible to turn bold ideas into viable business models that combine social and ecological impact," says Karoline Noth, who is the project manager at H-BRS and hosted the evening together with Paul Ziegler from Alanus University.

The jury was made up of experienced representatives from the regional start-up and impact ecosystem: Christopher Franz (Office for Economic Development of the City of Bonn / Sustainability Hub Bonn), Rebecca Göckel (nomoo), Verena Hermelingmeier (bonnvivir GmbH), Jonathan Kümmerle (VEMO Logistik) and Patrick Weisker (Anthropia).

The Bonn Impact Pitch Night impressively demonstrated the potential for sustainable and public welfare-orientated innovations in the region as well as the interest in them and underlines the role of universities as potential drivers of a sustainable start-up culture.

The "SoNaR" project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy with funds from the European Social Fund Plus.