HPI Business Plan Competition 2019

On September 3, the final of the 7th Business Plan Competition took place at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI). Three teams of students made it to the final round, which involved seed capital and support worth 100,000 euros. In the end, the Medixflow team was able to convince the jury, consisting of Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel, Nicolai Bohn and Jonas Witt, of their business idea.

The finalists, the jury Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel, Jonas Witt (HPI alumnus and serial entrepreneur), Nicolai Bohn (Managing Director HPI Seed Fund) and the E-School team at the final round of the HPI Business Plan Competition 2019 (Photo: HPI/K. Herschelmann)

In 2019, the HPI hosted the business plan competition for the seventh time, with which it aims to support young start-ups in cooperation with the HPI Seed Fund. A total of 21 start-up teams with at least one HPI member participated in the competition. Since mid-May, the young entrepreneurs have been presenting their ideas and receiving targeted feedback and input over several phases in order to work intensively on their business model.

The winners of the HPI Business Plan Competition 2019: Medixflow

With the idea of automating the complex documentation in the care sector with a digital assistant, the founding team "Medixflow" was able to convince the jury and win the seventh business plan competition at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI). Already in the morning of September 3, Marcel Schmidberger (21), Fabio Schmidberger (21), and Erik Ziegler (21) were happy about the prize, which includes personal scholarships of up to €50,000, an investment offer of €50,000 from the HPI Seed Fund, and a one-year business coaching program at the HPI School of Entrepreneurship (E-School). The competition is organized by the E-School together with the HPI Seed Fund. The E-School also supports the teams in the process of developing their founding idea.

"Due to demographic change and a shortage of skilled nursing staff, the nursing crisis in Germany is becoming increasingly acute. Innovative software solutions can help relieve the burden on caregivers and give them more time for their residents," says Fabio Schmidberger, a student at the University of Stuttgart. HPI bachelor's graduate and twin brother Marcel Schmidberger adds: "The intelligent use of digital assistants in the care sector can lead to considerable time savings". The founders intend to use the profit to implement the first pilot projects in nursing homes and to work full-time on the further development of the application.

"We would like to encourage and support students at the HPI to start their own businesses and will continue to expand our entrepreneurship offerings in the coming years," says HPI Institute Director and jury member Professor Christoph Meinel. Together with Nicolai Bohn (Managing Director HPI Seed Fund) and Jonas Witt (HPI Alumnus and Serial Entrepreneur), Meinel congratulated the winners and presented a symbolic check for 100,000 euros.

The combination of practice-oriented university education and integrated entrepreneurship promotion at the HPI is unique and allows the young talents in Potsdam to benefit twice over: hpi.de/studium/entrepreneurship.html

An overview of the finalists

Team Medixflow (now: Voize)

The "Medixflow" team, consisting of Marcel Schmidberger (21), Fabio Schmidberger (21) and Erik Ziegler (21), entered the seventh business plan competition at HPI with the idea of automating the complex documentation in the care sector with a digital assistant. The software solution developed by the founding team is designed to help relieve the burden on caregivers through the intelligent use of digital assistants in the care sector, giving them more time for their residents. The founders intend to use the prize to implement the first pilot projects in nursing homes and to work full-time on the further development of the application. Erik and Marcel are both bachelor graduates at HPI, Fabio is studying at the University of Stuttgart.

(The team is now pursuing the idea under the name "Voize": www.voize.de)

Team Gemedico

The business idea of Nils Blaumer (21) and David Matuschek (21) is to support teleradiologists with findings from CT/MRI and X-ray examinations. This is done with the help of artificial intelligence. The aim is to optimize processes by creating a smooth interface between teleradiology and hospitals that enables the rapid and secure transfer of indications and findings. www.gemedico.com

Team Crashguard (now: Carmino)

The application developed by Philipp Hommelsheim (31) and Tobias Waitschies (31) uses sensor data on the mobile phone to recognize that a traffic accident has occurred and then automatically makes an emergency call. This is intended to minimize the health consequences. If desired, the app also provides support in the further processing of the accident - this includes contacting the insurance company, but also the garage, an assessor or a company car.

(The team is now pursuing the idea under the name "Carmino" and with a slightly different focus)