Two female founders from Hamburg among the top three of the 17th IDEE-Förderpreis
On 14 November, the IDEE-Förderpreis was presented for the 17th time at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg. The main prize of 50,000 euros went to Dr.-Ing. Wei Wu fom Heatrix from Bremen. Two female founders from Hamburg got second and third place: Prof. Dr. Angela Relógio from TimeTeller and Sogol Kordi from myProtectify.
The IDEE-Förderpreis has a long tradition
The IDEE-Förderpreis, presented by J.J. Darboven, a company best known for its coffee, has been awarded every two years since 1997 to innovative female founders from all over Germany. The finalists were selected by a jury of experts, which chose four promising concepts for the final from 218 applications. In addition to the winners, Sarah Neumann and Alexandra Plewnia from Texterial made it to the final round with their sustainable water-repellent material for functional textiles, as did Annekathrin Grüneberg from mujō with her packaging films made from brown algae.
myProtectify and TimeTeller successfully represented Hamburg
Sogol Kordi was selected as the fifth participant by public vote and achieved third place in the final, winning 5,000 euros. Her startup myProtectify has developed a comprehensive solution for victims of domestic violence. At its heart is Maya, a free AI help chat service that serves as a barrier-free first point of contact, offering anonymous, multilingual assistance around the clock. Second place and 10,000 euros went to Angela Relógio from TimeTeller. The company uses saliva samples to create a profile of the biological clock to optimally personalise medication intake, for example for cancer patients.
Heatrix impressed with hot air
The winner of the IDEE-Förderpreis, Wei Wu from Heatrix, uses hot air for climate protection. With a modular, electric air heater – figuratively speaking, a ‘super-hot hair dryer’ – the company supplies CO2-neutral process heat for energy-intensive industries such as steel, cement and chemicals. The patented system uses green electricity to continuously generate hot air up to 1,500°C and is cheaper than fossil fuels. A groundbreaking innovation for sectors that have been responsible for over 12 per cent of global CO2 emissions to date.
