ahead high-tech accelerator news

More than 1.800 applicants from all over the world, stunning new tech approaches and an exceptional selection of start-up talents and experts – but only a few will make it the Olympus of functional surface design technologies: Yesterday, Heraeus, a globally operating and visionary German tech-company, announced 5 new start-ups to join one of the most advanced acceleration programs in the field – and the Fraunhofer spin-off Fusion Bionic will be among the chosen ones.

Fraunhofer researchers have an outstanding expertise and technology portfolio - but to turn these assets into successful companies, they need to develop skills and mindsets beyond tech and theory. Lisa Gius is team development coach in the AHEAD program and works with AHEAD teams on their »social launch momentum«: teamdesign and teambuilding for successful young companies. We spoke with her about the challenges of Fraunhofer spin-offs and the special »joy of development« that drives researchers in the start-up process.

Leyla, you are responsible for the events at AHEAD and of course especially for the organization of the AHEAD Bootcamp. What can you bring to the party? The mentality and experience to deal with challenges in general. Parallel to my studies in business sciences I worked as a ramp agent at the Munich Airport, where I handled aircraft turnarounds and logistics between flights on a second-by-second basis. Imagine a mixture between meticulous planning and Murphy's Law – for me this is a perfect training for professional management of challenges. Later I changed to the strategic sector, where I was responsible for the management of executive events and workshops.

Germany occupies a top position in high-tech research and development, but currently lands only in the middle of the pack when it comes to high-tech start-ups and venture capital investments in young technology companies. Especially in the capital-intensive early phases of company development, investors and start-ups seem to have difficulties finding each other. One reason for the gap between technological potential and its commercial exploitation is the difficulty in obtaining reliable key figures on companies whose technology and products only become marketable after lengthy, complex developments. The so-called Venture Readiness Management System, a new method to evaluate startups, enables investors to reliably evaluate young tech companies even if they do not yet have valid market data. We spoke with Leonard Rinser, Innovation Manager in the Fraunhofer AHEAD program, who has evaluated methods to overcome the investment gap with the Venture Readiness Management System.