skip to content

 Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

Competition for founding ideas of the Gateway Excellence Start-up Center and the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne

startup your idea

Congratulations to the finalists of the startup your idea Competition for founding ideas 2022

The pitch at the end of the third round of the startup your idea competition of the Gateway ESC and the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne was an extremely close affair. In the end, the team cell imAIging led by Bernhard Röck and Pavana Lakshmi Vaddavalli from the CECAD Research Center of the University of Cologne came out on top. With the help of artificial intelligence, the team* around the two doctoral researchers wants to improve the image analysis of cancer cells.

startup your idea: The finalists in videos

graphic slider element

After a convincing performance, the jury awarded the team cell imAIging the first place with 5,000 euros. But the other teams did not give the start-up experts an easy evening either, in contrast to the virtual audience. After impressive presentations, the following order was determined in the end:

  1. place (contributions in kind worth €5,000) - cell imAIging
    AI solution for image analysis of cancer cells
  2. place (contributions in kind worth €3,000) - RAYNY
    App that promotes healthy drinking habits and supports drinking water projects at the same time
  3. place (contributions in kind worth €1,000) - VitrofluidiX
    Organ-on-a-chip solution, integrated into a device

The Audience Award (contributions in kind worth €1,000), awarded via online voting, went to RAYNY.
Special mention:

  • CIKLY
    decentralised, overarching deposit system via a blockchain solution
  • FIA:20
    sustainable packaging material for cannabis products

startup your idea: The final

* the cell imAIging team includes:

  • Bernhard Röck M.Sc. – PhD researcher, Membrane Biophysics, CECAD Research Center, Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne
  • Pavana Lakshmi Vaddavalli, M.Sc – PhD researcher, CECAD Research Center, Institute for genome stability in ageing and disease, University of Cologne
  • Prof. Dr. Ana J. García Sáez – Infrastructure and Funding, Support for PhD research CECAD Research Center, Institute of Genetics, University of Cologne
  • Michael Vorndran – AI Developer

The competition for start-up ideas

  • promotes innovative, creative, and future-oriented startup ideas from all disciplines.
  • requires a meaningful outline of the startup idea.
  • is aimed at students from all faculties (including Bachelor, Master, and doctoral students)

Contact