Großer Erfolg für die Metropolregion Hamburg und die TUHH: Die neue Startup Factory „Impossible Founders“ gehört zu den bundesweit zehn Gewinnern des Wettbewerbs „Startup Factories“ des Bundeswirtschaftsministeriums. Mit insgesamt über 50 Millionen Euro Förderung wird „Impossible Founders“ künftig innovative Deep-Tech-Ausgründungen – insbesondere in den Bereichen GreenTech, KI und Neue Materialien – gezielt unterstützen. Prof. Dr. Christian Lüthje, Leiter des Instituts für Innovationsmarketing an der TUHH, war Teil des Teams, das den erfolgreichen Antrag erarbeitet hat. In den vergangenen Monaten hat er sich vor allem dafür eingesetzt, dass die Universitäten und Forschungsinstitute der Metropolregion und damit die wissenschaftliche Exzellenz von Beginn an eng eingebunden sind. "Impossible Founders bringt das zusammen, was in der Metropolregion Hamburg und nachweislich auch an der TUHH bereits da ist: unternehmerische Talente, exzellente Forschung und starke Partner. Das wird richtig stark!"

On July 1, we were pleased to welcome Dr. Thomas Kreye, founder and CEO of Just Software AG, for a special guest lecture in our bachelor’s course Gründungsmanagement. On the very day of his 18th company anniversary, Dr. Kreye took our students on a personal and highly engaging journey through the founding story of Just Software. Starting as a non-profit social network, the company eventually pivoted toward enterprise software and has since grown steadily, though not without its challenges. Dr. Kreye’s background in M&A at Goldman Sachs gave the lecture an extra dimension, especially as he shared how he left investment banking to pursue his passion for building digital products. He offered our students an accessible and visual introduction to the finance world, including insights into investment options, business planning, insolvency rules, and the basics of balance sheets, while always connecting the theory back to real startup situations. A key theme was the long and difficult path to product-market fit. In the early years, customers often left quickly due to low engagement, slow implementation and unclear value. Still, with perseverance, ongoing iteration, and a supportive investor, Just Software transformed its product and business model over more than a decade. Since 2020, the company has shown strong growth and achieved profitability in 2022. Dr. Kreye also shared how the team discovered their deeper purpose, leading to their guiding principle: #loveyourwork. He emphasized the power of word-of-mouth, the flywheel effect of small consistent wins, and the importance of understanding not just what a company does, but why. In the final part of the session, students worked on a case exercise to estimate the current value of Just Software’s product Just Social, and discussion their upcoming strategic challenges. Thank you Thomas, for the honest and inspiring look behind the scenes of building and growing a startup over nearly two decades!

We had the pleasure of welcoming Matthias Schulz, Head of Strategy at Otto Krahn Group and an expert in digital business models, as a guest speaker in our Innovation Marketing master’s course. His talk provided an insightful look into how a 116-year-old family-owned company continues to drive innovation across both established and emerging industries. Matthias gave an overview of Otto Krahn’s diverse business structure, which includes units ranging from plastics and chemicals distribution to ceramics and recycling. A central focus was the company’s multi-layered innovation approach: from close technical collaboration with customers (e.g., labs and customization projects) to portfolio development and supplier-driven innovation. Matthias also highlighted how the group promotes long-term innovation with Otto Krahn New Business (OKNB), a dedicated incubator for startups and new business models in new material technologies. OKNB pushes emerging technologies into the wider group, empowering internal experts to act as "champions" who help identify, shape, and implement promising ideas. Students engaged in a lively discussion on how Otto Krahn Group combines its strategic foresight, internal expertise, and structured scouting to drive innovation across its operations. We thank Matthias for the inspiring discussion and look forward to continued exchange with Otto Krahn Group in the future. 

Last Wednesday, we were pleased to welcome Ludwig Deutsch from Miele as a guest speaker in our Innovation Marketing master’s course. His talk offered valuable insights into how a leading manufacturer integrates structured innovation into a traditionally product-focused industry. Ludwig presented Miele’s innovation strategy, centered on the guiding principle Immer besser ("Forever better") with a focus on customer experience, performance, sustainability, and employee engagement. Digitalization plays a key role, enabling smart products that reduce unnecessary user interaction and improve daily convenience. A highlight was Miele’s use of AI-powered user personas, developed from extensive customer data and used to explore unmet needs and guide product development. The session sparked engaging discussion around the role of AI, customer-centricity, and how structured innovation can drive value, even in established industries. A big thank you to Ludwig for the inspiring insights and for sharing his experience. We are looking forward to welcoming him back for future exchanges!

On June 3, our Gründungsmanagement course had the pleasure of hosting Timo Möller-Gomez for an inspiring guest lecture on venture building. Timo shared his deep insights into the world of venture building, drawing from his experience at Orbit, a Hamburg-based company builder, and his current journey as a founder of two new startups. In his talk, Timo emphasized the importance of radical innovation and openly discussed the challenges of entrepreneurship, including the often-overlooked survivorship bias and the importance of failing early. A key takeaway of Timos guest lecture was the importance of building solutions that align desirability, feasibility, and viability, which are three essential perspectives for success. Additionally, when working with established companies, strategic fit also becomes crucial. Timo walked our students through the venture building process, from early research and idea sprints to prototyping and scaling. He also introduced practical methods for generating promising venture ideas quickly, such as leveraging second mover advantages and identifying gaps between international markets. Beyond frameworks and tools, he reminded students to stay critical: truly understand the problem, avoid confirmation bias, and always test with real users. Following the lecture, students worked on a case study in the field of pet tech, developing startup ideas for passionate pet owners by defining their products value proposition, evaluating market timing, and outlining strategies to test and validate their concepts. The session was both insightful and highly interactive! Many thanks to Timo for the engaging presentation and hands-on experience. We hope to welcome you again in the future!

On May 13, we were delighted to welcome Maximilian Paar from 1KOMMA5° as a guest speaker in our master’s course Marketing of Innovations.  Max introduced our students to the business model and purpose of 1KOMMA5°, a fast-growing climate tech company aiming to drive the energy transition by connecting and optimizing solar, heating, and e-mobility systems through intelligent software solutions. As one of the few German unicorns, 1KOMMA5° stands out in the startup landscape, making Max’s insights into their growth journey especially valuable.  He shared how the company uses AI to realize its mission and engaged our students in a lively discussion about how such an innovative business model can successfully enter and scale in a highly regulated industry like the energy sector. Together, we explored early-stage strategies around pricing, communication, and distribution, and discussed the importance of understanding regional market dynamics, particularly the differences between Germany and Finland, where our Erasmus students contributed their perspectives. Our students were highly engaged throughout the session, asking thoughtful questions and actively participating in the discussion. Max’s visit was not only insightful but also truly inspiring.Thank you very much, Max! We would love to welcome you back for another guest lecture in the future.

We are searching for a motivated student assistant to support our Startup Factory initiative!

On January 30, we had the pleasure of welcoming Jan Köster as a guest speaker at our institute for the first time. Jan (he explained to us that using first names is part of his organizational culture) was a guest in our “Intercultural Management and Communication” lecture as an expert on organizational transformation. As Vice President of Transformation at Gruner+Jahr he is leading the strategic and cultural realignment to prepare G+J for the future and develop it into a learning organization as part of RTL.  Jan took our students through his daily tasks, processes, and challenges and introduced them to the model of the learning organization using practical exercises and examples. The students were encouraged to try out some of Jan's agile methods right in the classroom and discuss their effects afterwards. He complemented our lecture wonderfully and enriched it with new knowledge and exciting anecdotes about challenges and projects from his everyday working life at Gruner+Jahr and RTL. It was an inspiring afternoon, and we are very much looking forward to welcoming him back next year as a guest speaker again. Thank you very much, Jan!

The Future Founder Demo Day, the final event of the novel Future Founder program, brought together an audience of over 200 guests from the Hamburg Entrepreneurship Ecosystem. Startup founders, students, aspiring entrepreneurs, investors, academics, and industry leaders joined for an evening of innovation, inspiration, and networking. Held at Factory Hammerbrooklyn, the event showcased groundbreaking ideas developed by the Future Founder top talents over the past three months. As a highlight, TUHH-Alumni Dr. Hendrik Susemihl presented a fascinating keynote on the success of his robotics deep tech startup Googbytz. Future Founder: A Launchpad for Ambitious Talents & Startups The Future Founder program is the new elite entrepreneurship program offered by five universities in Hamburg, including TU Hamburg, the University of Hamburg, Leuphana University, FH Wedel, and HAW Hamburg. As part of the upcoming Startup Factory Initiative and in collaboration with the talent platform ChefTreff, the novel program fosters entrepreneurial excellence among highly ambitious students, guiding them through an intense three-month entrepreneurial journey of ideation, prototyping, business model development, and fundraising. The program aims to provide hands-on expertise from Hamburg’s most experienced entrepreneurs and investors and to help the M.Sc. students build real startups. Recognizing Outstanding Startups At Demo Day, selected teams pitched in front of a top-notch jury, showcasing their disruptive ideas on stage. The ideas spanned the domains of biotech, AI-driven deep tech, health tech, sustainability, and software. At the end, the jury selected two winners: the best technology pitch and the best business pitch. The best technology team was the TUHH spin-off GaitXpert, founded by Victor Lange (M.Sc. Mechatronics, TUHH), Carlos Chillon Geck (Ph.D. Candidate at the Institute of Digital and Autonomous Construction, TUHH), and Sarah Abels (Business & Economics, Uni Bayreuth). The team developed a novel, wearable gait analysis solution based on Victor’s Master’s thesis at the Institute for Mechatronics, which he turned into a patented technology. The startup was awarded six months of free laboratory space at the DESY Startup Labs Bahrenfeld as well as mentorship from PwC for Startups. The award for the best business pitch went to PickzAI, led by Yash Luthra, Stefano Markovic, and TUHH student Sukhmani Singh (M.Sc. Environmental Engineering, TUHH), for their AI retail tech solution for opticians. The team secured six months of free office space at Factory Hammerbrooklyn and legal support from the leading VC law firm YPOG. Additionally, Synqio, a biotech startup for cell-culture monitoring solutions, co-founded by TUHH M.Sc. Mechatronics student Nico Grümmert and Dr. Julia Rocha (Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf), received special recognition as Julia was awarded an EXIST WOMEN Stipend worth over €10,000 to develop Synqio. Future Founder as part of the Startup Factory Initiative: Bridging Academia and Industry The program was led by Dr. Max Vellguth, who is part of the Startup Factory Initiative Hamburg team and who emphasizes that the Future Founder program will continue to shape Hamburg’s entrepreneurial landscape. The success of the Future Founder was only possible with the collaborative engagement of an entrepreneurship-dedicated professor team around Prof. Christian Lüthje (TUHH), Prof. Michel Clement and Prof. Jana Timm (UHH), Prof. Dennis Proppe and Prof. Jan-Paul Lüdtke (FH Wedel), Prof. Paul Drews (Leuphana), and Prof. Jutta Abulawi (HAW Hamburg). In the future, the Startup Factory plans to offer a diverse portfolio of support programs such as Future Founder, to foster entrepreneurship in Hamburg and help the next generation of deep tech entrepreneurs to succeed. As applications for the next cohort open soon, aspiring founders are encouraged to apply and gain access to this unique program. For more information, please stay tuned via www.future-founder.com.

The Future Founder Program officially launched past week with an energetic kickoff event, marking the beginning of an inspiring journey. A cohort of 30 talented participants has embarked on a path to bring their innovative ideas to life. Throughout the program, students will collaborate with experienced entrepreneurs and investors who share their insights as keynote speakers. The course also includes hands-on workshops designed to teach the fundamentals of entrepreneurship while allowing student teams to develop and refine their own ideas. As part of the Startup Factories initiative, supported by EXIST, the Future Founder Program combines practical experience with expert mentorship to empower the next generation of innovators. Organizers have expressed appreciation for the widespread support that made the program possible, from planning and promotion to execution.