Startup Challenge turns Schwedt into a real-world laboratory for green industrial technologies

With the first Startup Challenge, the EXIST model project "Startup Labor Schwedt" of the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) has reached an important milestone. Ten selected start-up teams from all over Germany are currently developing pilot projects on the topic of "Increasing energy and resource efficiency" - with the aim of testing their technologies in practice directly at the Schwedt industrial site in a second phase.

"With the pilot projects, we want to take a look into the technological future and develop prototype application scenarios for industry," says project coordinator Sascha Lademann. "This benefits both sides: We gain more information about the approaches that can be used to shape the green transformation in regional industry and the still young start-ups can test and further develop their technologies under real conditions."

Over 40 teams from Germany and abroad applied to take part in the chal-lenge. An interdisciplinary panel of experts ultimately selected ten promising teams whose approaches were particularly well suited to the location. For Mayor Annekathrin Hoppe, the supra-regional interest in the Challenge shows that the city is pursuing the right strategy with its Innovation Campus approach: "For us, the Startup Challenge is a great step towards showing that research, development and innovation can also take place in Schwedt. We are all the more encouraged by the Innovation Campus projects to create the right infrastructural conditions to support the testing, development and growth of pioneering technologies in the best possible way."

Regional industry is also closely involved: PCK Raffinerie GmbH, LEIPA Group GmbH, ENERTRAG SE and VERBIO SE are supporting the challenge in order to jointly identify industrial fields of application for the new technologies.

The start-up teams will work on their concepts for their pilot projects until mid-July. The jury will then evaluate them again and the concepts will be presented to the public.

"Up to five projects will then be selected from the ten resulting concepts to be realised in Schwedt and the surrounding area. Up to €300,000 is available for each team," explains Sascha Lademann.