Viewing Thuringia's Startup Scene: Rising Startups Delivering Innovations, Technology, Innovation and Research Foundation of Thuringia (STIFT), Story

For the fifth time now, the Thuringia Regional Innovation Program (TRIP) supports startups towards investment readiness, i.e. further developing their projects until they become interesting to investors. At the demo day on 6 March, the regional innovation community gathered at the Mehnert Laboratory in Erfurt to learn about the development of the TRIP 23/24 class and new technologies for the Thuringian startup scene. Christiane Kilian, STIFT Board Member, opened the event and took a look at the unique TRIP programme. In a welcoming speech, Dr. said: Katja Böhler, State Secretary at the Thuringia Ministry of Economy, Science and Digital Society, addressed around 70 guests.

After five months of experience, monthly workshops, individual coaching, budgeting, and networking with players in the innovation ecosystem, the teams presented their business models in a 3-minute presentation. They also made their prototypes available for guests at the event to test and review. The allocation of tickets for the final stage of the program was eagerly awaited.

A total of six startup projects were selected by the TRIP jury for the TRIP Finalist category:

• AWW – Alternative heating technology Wolf (Brotterode-Trusetal)
• Deben (Jenna)
• Hialian (Barchfield-Emilbourne)
• Instead, Jenna
• linkedlab(gina)
• Temira (Jenna)

The business models of the selected teams have particularly high growth potential. The concepts are very diverse and range from life sciences, optics and measurement technology to MedTech and automation solutions. The focus of the final TRIP category is on venture capital financing. In the next three months, startups expect exclusive units to prepare for investment. The program will conclude with a presentation on 5 June 2024 at the Investor Days Theater in Thuringia (IDT). In addition to the finalists, the other four TRIP teams, which were allowed to exhibit in the Innovation Arena, also made it to the event. VE.PLANT also secured a spot on the IDT presentation stage.

The IDT is a networking event between startups, growth companies and investors from all over Germany where startups have frequently found investors in the past.

Thuringian Regional Innovation Program TRIP
The Thuringia Regional Innovation Program TRIP was launched in 2019 by Technology, Innovation and Research Foundation Thuringia (STIFT) It was innovatively launched as part of the ThEx project to strengthen the startup community in Thuringia, accelerating innovations and networking stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem. Since then, the accelerator program has included 57 startup teams from various fields Internet of Things, AI solutions, mobility, sensors, new materials, green technology and space technology Advanced and successfully communicated with the VC community.

TRIP has a large network of innovators, investors and established companies and is supported by strong partners such as EY, Mehnert GmbH, LEG and Beteiligungsmanagement Thüringen GmbH as sponsor partner. TRIP is innovatively financed by the Free State of Thuringia as part of the ThEx project using funds from the European Social Fund Plus (ESF Plus).

You can find more information about TRIP and startups at: www.trip.community.