3 startups that were founded at Hamburg universities
Innovations with great commercial potential are regularly created at colleges, but the leap from scientific theory to entrepreneurial practice is far from always successful. Good examples of startups that originated at Hamburg universities are neurodactics, Suena and Jondi & Moon.
neurodactics
Maths is one of only very few people's favourite subjects at school, yet numeracy is of great importance in many areas of life. The Mambio app aims to introduce children aged 5 and up to the world of mathematics in a fun way. The startup neurodactics, which developed the app, draws on years of research using the "Educational Design Research" method. In fact, Mambio is the result of a research project at the Faculty of Education at the University of Hamburg. Thanks to an EXIST startup grant and prototype funding from Gamecity Hamburg, the founders Dr Torben Rieckmann, Christopher Hof and Jonas Vierth were able to develop their project into a real company.
Suena
Since its official foundation in 2021, the startup Suena has been on a constant path to success. In December 2023, it raised 3 million euros in a financing round, following 1.2 million euros a year earlier. Suena claims to be revolutionising the way in which energy storage and renewable energies are integrated into electricity trading. The "Autopilot" programme used for this purpose processes millions of pieces of data every minute with the help of artificial intelligence. The idea is based on research work by Dr Lennard Wilkening and Miguel Wesselmann at Hamburg University of Technology.
Jondi & Moon
For Randi Kittlitz and Jovanka Backhus, founding a startup was on the curriculum. As part of their degree programme in Socioeconomics with a focus on business administration and finance, they attended the seminar "Building a Startup". There they were asked to present a business plan, initially just as an exercise. However, their business idea was so well received that they put it into practice. These founders also benefited from an EXIST startup grant. Under the brand name Jondi & Moon, they sell a refillable toothpaste that is designed to help reduce packaging waste.
