Kick-off of the high-tech incubator SMINT@Hannover:

© hannoverimpuls GmbH

Compressed air as the energy storage system of the future, an intelligent machine that can repair industrial components directly on site or a mobile sensor technology for monitoring stress markers in the blood: the problem solvers from Hanover's research presented at the SMINT@Hannover kick-off all have one thing in common: they are highly innovative. The new high-tech incubator aims to help talented people from universities, colleges and research institutions to turn their ideas into business models - one of eight projects that the Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour, Transport and Digitalization is supporting with a total of around 25 million euros.

"For years, we have seen the success of start-ups from a scientific context, which we have already achieved through the cooperation with Leibniz Universität Hannover at starting business. The new high-tech incubator consolidates this and will further strengthen Hannover and its ecosystem," says DorisPetersen, Managing Director of Hannover's business development agency hannoverimpuls, who is delighted about the launch of the new high-tech incubator.Hannover University of Applied Sciencesand Arts, Laser Zentrum Hannover, VentureVilla and hannoverimpuls, under the leadership of LeibnizUniversität Hannover (LUH), have jointly initiated the new high-tech incubator for information technology start-ups. The Lower Saxony Ministry of Economic Affairs, Transport and Digitalization is funding it as one of eight new projects with a total of 25 million euros.

SMINT@Hannover will also make it possible to retain young talents and their dynamic start-ups even better and create added value for the whole of Lower Saxony," emphasized State Secretary Stefan Muhle in his welcoming address at yesterday's kick-off.SMINT@Hannover aims tobetter tap into the potential of information technologies in particular. The event is aimed at start-up projects and start-ups in innovative information technologies for mobility, biomedical and production technology and additive manufacturing.

The potential is there, as the incubator kick-off clearly demonstrated: eleven start-ups - fromACKISIONGmbH withits innovative FUSE measuring device for the smallest currents to Hypnetic GmbH with its "pumped storage to go" - as well as nine other pre-foundation teams with business ideas from the fields of mobility, biomedical or production technology pitched to the invited guests from the business world, including representatives of all consortium partners: Prof. Martin Grotjahn from Hanover University of Applied Sciencesand Arts, Dr. Dietmar Kracht from the Laser Zentrum Hannover andProf. Reinhard Hinrichs from VentureVilla. Martin Grotjahn from Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dr. Dietmar Kracht from the Laser Zentrum Hannover, Reinhard Hinrichs from VentureVilla and Prof. Dr.-Holger Blume, Vice President of Transfer & Research at Leibniz Universität Hannover, where the incubator is based. "For Leibniz Universität Hannover, the high-tech incubator is an important step in the implementation of its overall strategy, in which the promotion of spin-offs is a key element," said Prof.Dr.-Ing. Holger Blume inhis welcoming address, underlining the importance of SMINT@Hannover for Hannover as a research location. "The successful alliance of so many top-class partners in Hanover makes the incubator the perfect breeding ground for participating teams to successfully and efficiently get their business idea off the ground," added Prof. Martin Grotjahn from Hanover University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

Founding teams or start-ups that qualify to participate in SMINT@Hannover go through a program with workshops, mentoring and individual coaching, and also receive the resources they need to develop their business ideas, such as rooms or machines at Leibniz Universität Hannover and the necessary funding, as well as important contacts to tech, venture and business capital. The aim is to transfer science-related start-up projects toEXISTfunding and to prepare start-ups that have already been founded for (follow-up) financing. The aim is to bring research findings to the market as quickly as possible as high-tech developments.

TheSMINT@Hannoverprogram is financed by the state's special coronavirus fund and is therefore limited in time until December 2024. 36 companies such asTinaVoß GmbH,infineon,Continental,K+S,Siemens,videantis,IPHandmany others have already declared their willingness to support SMINT@HANNOVER alongside the consortium partners. The continuation of the incubator by the consortium partners is an integral part of the concept.