Successful mix of startups and industry giants at the first 5-HT X-linker

Twelve promising national and international startups met renowned industry giants from the chemical, health and IT sectors as well as investors and mentors with industry experience at the first 5-HT X-linker startup program from 6 to 10 May 2019 in Mannheim.

The first one-week coaching program for startups with digital solutions for chemistry and health was an all-round program to prepare the participants for the presentation to companies and investors on the closing day. It provided valuable impulses for all participants.

Get-to-know and pitch training

On Monday, after a welcome address by the Digital Hub Mannheim/Ludwigshafen - Digital Chemistry & Health, the startups were introduced to the digital transformation of the industry giant Roche. Henning Franke, Head of Digital Transformation at Roche Diagnostics, took the audience on a journey to see how a company steeped in tradition is constantly changing and how digital topics are actively taken up in business.

Henning Franke, Head of Digital Transformation, Roche Diagnostics, at 5-HT X-linker

After a casual getting to know each other we continued on Tuesday with professional pitch training by two experienced coaches. After individual feedback, the presentations were revised.

Pitch training of startups by Colin Bennett

Another pitch training Session by Thomas Prexl

Two days of individual mentoring

Wednesday and Thursday were reserved for mentoring in six subject areas such as law, market or product. In individual two-hour sessions, the startups received valuable tips for their further development from mentors with industry experience.

Mentoring sessions at 5-HT X-linker

Corporate Speed Dating and Award Ceremony

On the final Friday, the startups were able to exchange ideas with market leaders and hidden champions from the chemical, health and IT sectors in individual sessions and sound out starting points for further cooperation.

Dr. Frank Funke, Managing Director at Digital Hub, invites to actively network.

Corporate Speed Dating Sessions at 5-HT X-linker

8-mins single discussions of Corporates with Startups

After lunch, Dr. Christoph Wegner, Chief Digital Officer of BASF,gave an inspiring speech. Even though BASF is one of the shareholders of the Digital Hub Mannheim/Ludwigshafen - Digital Chemistry & Health, in the interests of the further development of the chemical industry in Germany he encouraged as many chemical companies as possible to get on board, because the industry as a whole could only win with combined forces and together with agile startups, both in Europe and worldwide.

Dr. Christoph Wegner, Chief Digital Officer, BASF, at 5-HT X-linker

The twelve start-ups then presented themselves to a three-member jury of investors and invited guests. The previous training sessions were worthwhile and have been incorporated into the presentations, some of which have undergone major changes.

The jury memberg Kim Höffken, BASF, Dr. Marie Asano, High-Tech Gründerfonds, Jens-Peter Neumann, JPNeumann Management and Ventures (f.l.t.r.) question the Startups

After the final pitches, the jury selected three winners from the twelve startup teams. They received attractive prizes such as legal advice or tickets to international startup events.

All Startups with their certificates of participation at 5-HT X-linker

1st place went to Bosetein, 2nd place to GenetX and 3rd place to Living Brain. Congratulations to all participants, because they took valuable suggestions with them and rated the week positively.

These twelve startups were part of the first 5-HT X-linker:
Bosetein, Stuttgart/DE
ChemSQUARE, Frankfurt/DE
clustermarket, London/GB
DIVE Solutions, Berlin/DE
Gemsotec, Herent/BEL
Hafnium Labs, Kopenhagen/DEN
intelliseq, Krakow/PL
Living Brain, Heidelberg/DE
Pocketcoach, Wien/AUT
Quantum on Demand, Berlin/DE
GenetX, Voluntari/RO
VitalMonitoring, Berlin/DE

Many thanks to the hub sponsors BASF, SAP und Pepperl+Fuchs, the event sponsor Roche, the jury members and mentors. Of course, the companies and guests also contributed to the lively exchange and thus to the success of the kick-off event.

We are delighted with the very positive feedback we received from everyone for our event. All startups thanked us for the valuable support. The mentors and jury members would like to come back again. The corporates also expressed their appreciation for the event.