Ten female-led startups from ten German states competed in the finale of the Female StartAperitivo startup competition. The standard of the pitches was consistently high and, in the end, TimeTeller from Hamburg received the most votes in the public ballot for a method to make chemotherapy more effective and less stressful.
Seven startups and their business ideas
Within two years, Female StartAperitivo has developed from a local event in Hamburg to a competition with nationwide appeal. Preliminary rounds were held in ten German states, and the respective winners presented themselves to an enthusiastic audience at Hamburg's Knust music club on July 6. For Berlin, GFTD competed with an app that allows people to give away discarded clothing. Saxony sent MealGood and a reusable system for large-scale catering into the race. BIOVOX from Hesse is developing a bioplastic for products needed in hospitals, thus contributing to waste reduction, one of the main topics of the evening.
Another focus was on health topics, as was the case with Alvie from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Here, an app is designed to help identify and treat depression. Also with an app, femfeel from Baden-Württemberg offers tips for a lifestyle that makes life easier for women going through menopause. At Protectify from Schleswig-Holstein, personal experience with domestic violence led to the development of an app that can summon help quickly in dangerous situations. Finally, Anymate Me from North Rhine-Westphalia uses artificial intelligence to create commercial videos.
Top three: TimeTeller, Phaeosynt and MIMBIOSIS
Let's move on to the startups that received the most votes in the audience poll. Third place went to MIMBIOSIS from Bavaria. This company makes a double contribution to waste avoidance by producing bioplastics from fungal mycelium, using textile processing residues as a nutrient medium. Phaeosynt from Lower Saxony and its vegan pregnancy tests came in second. Very few people know that animal antibodies are used for conventional tests and that many animals have to die as a result. Instead, Phaeosynt uses diatoms and for the product paper and not plastic.
The winner of the evening was Prof. Dr. Angela Relógio from TimeTeller. She had already convincingly won the Hamburg semi-final with an idea that could save many lives if it can be put into practice by 2027 as planned. TimeTeller is developing a saliva test that can be used to determine the optimal time for chemotherapy; everyone's internal clock ticks differently and has a significant influence on whether and how a treatment works. The startup needs up to 4 million euros for further development and extensive testing. Perhaps the success at Female StartAperitivo will help to achieve this goal.
The event series Female StartAperitivo is organised by the Hamburg Investors Network (HIN).
