Rückblick auf den Ideenwettbewerb 2021

Review of the 2021 Ideas Competition

On 16.04.2021, FH JOANNEUM in Kapfenberg hosted what was already the third ideas competition as part of the IT start-up centre KAIT (Kapfenberg Accelerator for IT). This year the competition was held virtually, which was not a disadvantage due to the late hour – the competition took place from 7pm to 10pm.

The opening and introduction as well as the moderation was done by Gert Schweiger, who also introduced the partners. KAIT is the start-up centre of FH JOANNEUM, which was successfully launched with the active involvement of Steirische Wirtschaftsförderungs GmbH-SFG, WKO Bruck-Mürzzuschlag and the municipality of Kapfenberg and is now being actively implemented. The prizes for the competition were provided by the WKO (1st place, €250), the municipality of Kapfenberg (2nd place, €150) and the FH JOANNEUM (3rd place and prize for the international participants, goodie bags in each case).

Despite the late hour, the KAIT partners were represented on the top-class jury, namely Doris Paier for SFG, Sayd Ali for WKO Bruck-Mürzzuschlag and Sonja Gögele as course director and KAIT project manager at FH JOANNEUM.

Opening of the Ideas Competition 2021
Opening of the Ideas Competition 2021

Winners of the ideas competition

There were a total of 15 presentations of business ideas, 13 of which were ideas from FH JOANNEUM students and 2 presentations of international business ideas. The winners of the evening were as follows.

1st place: SEM (Smart Employee Management)

Oswald Michael et. al., students of the course “Software Design”.

Presentation SEM by Oswald Michel et. al., students of the course "Software Design".
Presentation SEM by Oswald Michel et. al., students of the course “Software Design”.

2nd place: Vegan protein spread

Strasser Clemens, student of the degree programme “IT Law & Management”.

Presentation Vegan Protein Spread by Strasser Clemens, student of the degree programme "IT Law & Management".
Presentation Vegan Protein Spread by Strasser Clemens, student of the degree programme “IT Law & Management”.

3rd place: TINY and E-Dent

Shirzad-Leitner Katharina (TINY) and Arno Scheithauer (E-Dent), students of the degree programme “IT Law & Management”.

Presentation TINY by Shirzad-Leitner Katharina, student of the degree programme "IT Law & Management".
Presentation TINY by Shirzad-Leitner Katharina, student of the degree programme “IT Law & Management”.
Presentation E-Dent by Arno Scheithauer, student of the degree programme "IT Law & Management".
Presentation E-Dent by Arno Scheithauer, student of the degree programme “IT Law & Management”.

International winners

Presentation Velutech by Pillado Garcia-Gesto Pedro
Presentation Velutech by Pillado Garcia-Gesto Pedro
Presentation BRANDS by Sobtamfo Kelifack Mike Johan.
Presentation BRANDS by Sobtamfo Kelifack Mike Johan.

We would like to congratulate all the winners, but also thank all the other participants for contributing their ideas. It always takes courage to present an idea – perhaps developed in private – to a larger audience and to a jury of experts. We hope that the jury’s suggestions, even though there was no prize this time, will still be of value and use for the next steps on the path to independence.

The students answer the jury's questions after their presentations.
The students answer the jury’s questions after their presentations.

And so a successful evening came to an end

Finally, the partners’ statements on the competition of 16 April 2021.

Mag. Thomas Schaffer-Leitner, Stadtgemeinde Kapfenberg
Mag. Thomas Schaffer-Leitner, Stadtgemeinde Kapfenberg

“Kapfenberg has been a high-tech location since 1446 – new ideas were and are always welcome here. We look forward to inspiration, innovation and new business models emerging from the business plan competition and work at KAIT.”

Doris Paier, MSc; SFG
Doris Paier, MSc; SFG

“As a member of the jury of this year’s IT ideas competition, I was very pleased to get to know the exciting business ideas of the participants and to see the motivation and energy with which they worked on the business ideas. I am convinced that idea competitions like the KAIT one make a significant contribution to the development of new innovative products and can provide a decisive impulse for the founding of a start-up.

Mag. Sayd Ali, WKO
Mag. Sayd Ali, WKO

“The KAIT ideas competition is the perfect breeding ground for IT-savvy founders. This time, there was everything from hemp hummus with a sophisticated marketing system to an app for recording working hours to a combined digital merchandise management system for dentists. I am surprised every time by the creativity of the participants. As a regional office of the WKO, it is therefore a particular concern of ours to award prizes to the best minds and to motivate them to become self-employed, because Austria needs innovative start-ups”.

You can find more information about our IT start-up centre in our blog: “From virtual to real: FH JOANNEUM Kapfenberg opens centre for IT start-ups”.

Categories:

Tags:

Comments are closed