Science4Life

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Science4Life is an independent start-up initiative to support technological start-ups with a focus on the life sciences , chemistry and energy sectors . This is done free of charge through an extensive range of information on the Internet as well as workshops and seminars. The focus of the start-up initiative is the annual nationwide business plan competition Science4Life Venture Cup . Science4Life is financially supported by the state of Hesse and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi . The project is also funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In addition, experts from almost 200 research and business organizations volunteer to support and advise company founders. The patrons of the founding initiative are the Hessian Minister of Economic Affairs Tarek Al-Wazir and the Managing Director Research & Development of Sanofi Germany, Jochen Maas.

history

Science4Life was launched in 1998 as a non-profit initiative by the state of Hesse and Hoechst AG . Science4Life has been a registered association since 2003 . In 2004 the Seed4Money investment forum was organized, which enables founders and investors as well as industry representatives to meet . In the period that followed, the successor organizations of Hoechst AG took on the role of industrial sponsor, initially Aventis SA and then Sanofi-Aventis . Science4Life offered the first online seminars in 2008, while the ideas phase of the Science4Life Venture Cup was introduced in 2012. Three years later, the competition was expanded to include the Technology Slam , in which participants creatively explain their business idea to an audience within three minutes.

Science4Life celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2018. In the same year the Venture Cup had an all-time high number of participants and the 1000th business plan was submitted to the competition.

Science4Life Venture Cup

The Science4Life Venture Cup is a three-stage business plan competition for company founders and start-ups from the life sciences, chemistry and energy sectors.

The competition consists of an idea, a concept and a business plan phase. In the idea phase, the company founders are required to outline their product or service idea on three sides. The aim of this phase is to check the feasibility of the individual business ideas in order to identify market opportunities and, if necessary, to adapt your own business model . The second phase mainly consists of the conceptual formulation of the business idea that has been developed so far. This means that the participants now describe their idea in detail and submit a description of the entrepreneurial team as well as an initial market assessment. Then industry experts examine the business plans of the teams and in particular the summary of their concepts. These form the starting point for the creation of the business plan in phase 3. At the end of this phase, there should be a fully developed and professional business plan. The business concept of the second phase is expanded to include topics such as financing, marketing, patents and the like. In a renewed exchange with industry experts, the strengths and weaknesses of the business model are discussed.

The five best teams will then receive an invitation to a three-day entrepreneur workshop after the final order of places 1–5 has been determined by the Science4Life jury. Apart from business contacts and further training opportunities, prize money of 56,000 euros will be distributed among the ten best entrepreneurial teams. In addition, all participants benefit from an expert network that includes 300 industry experts from almost 200 companies . The Venture Cup has been held 20 times so far and has produced over 1950 business ideas, 1049 business plans and 900 newly founded companies. This makes the Science4Life Venture Cup the most successful business plan competition for life sciences, chemistry and energy in Germany.

winner

The main winners of the Science4Life Venture Cup:

  • 1999 N-Zyme BioTec GmbH (Darmstadt, D)
  • 2000 Vasopharm GmbH (Würzburg, D)
  • 2001 Nanosolutions GmbH (Hamburg, D)
  • 2002 WonDrug Biosciences GmbH (Marburg, D)
  • 2003 AlcaSynn Pharmaceuticals GmbH (Innsbruck, A)
  • 2004 Si4Health GmbH (Regensburg, D)
  • 2005 Innoviscoat GmbH (Cologne, D)
  • 2006 PURinvent GmbH (Göttingen, D)
  • 2007 Spherotec GmbH (Martinsried, D)
  • 2008 t2cure GmbH (Frankfurt a. M., D)
  • 2009 PEPperPRINT GmbH (Heidelberg, D)
  • 2010 XL biologics (Freising / Weihenstephan, D)
  • 2011 Nano4Imaging GmbH (Aachen, D)
  • 2012 AdiuTide Pharmaceuticals GmbH (Frankfurt a. M., D)
  • 2013 MetaHeps GmbH (Munich, D)
  • 2014 Hydrogenious Technologies GmbH (Nuremberg, D)
  • 2015 TolerogenixX (Heidelberg, D)
  • 2016 NanoWired (Darmstadt, D)
  • 2017 aidCURE (Frankfurt a. M., D)
  • 2018 VARIOKAN (Giessen, D)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ biotechnologie.de. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: 20 years Science4Life: record participation in the anniversary year | chemanager-online.com - chemistry and life science. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
  3. ↑ This is how founders get started in the life sciences sector! In: Gründerszene Magazin . January 23, 2018 ( gruenderszene.de [accessed August 2, 2018]).