With doors opening at 5:30 pm, students, local residents, and representatives from politics and business were welcomed at a small get-together hosted in the newly redesigned ‘Alter Weinkeller’ on the EBS university campus. Interested guests also had the chance to attend a short campus tour, offering insights into the history of the university and its extensive construction developments in recent years.
At 6:00 pm, Otto Schell, Chair of the Friends’ Association of Gründungsfabrik Rheingau, officially opened the pitching sessions across the three competition categories. A total of nine founders and startup teams then had the opportunity to showcase their ideas and projects in five-minute presentations and impress both the jury and the audience.
Schloss Hansenberg Boarding School provided an early highlight of the evening with their submissions to Category 1, which is dedicated to ideas from schools and universities. From a field of eleven submitted startup ideas, two teams from this upper secondary school advanced to the final round: the ‘Fungastic Pallets’ team presented their idea for ultra-light pallets made from mushroom mycelium, while the ‘Conez’ team pitched a highly innovative soccer training system. Although they ultimately did not take first place in their category, both teams made a lasting impression with their professional presentations.
Category 1's final winner was Lisa Pfenning with her startup idea ‘Gutsbee.’ The beverage, which already won Hochschule Geisenheim University's Drink Innovation Challenge earlier this year, taps into two major trends: alcohol-free enjoyment and mindful nutrition.
Category 2 focused on startups that have already been founded by university affiliates. Its competitors included Aarti Gupta (EBS graduate) with her social discovery app ‘Fiunite’ that offers an alternative to traditional dating platforms; Finn Rübo (EBS graduate) with his company ‘Datapods’, which aims to give users data sovereignty through a General Data Protection Regulation-compliant account; and Phillip Kaapke (HGU graduate), who – together with his team at REVOJA – is dedicated to healthy, plant-based nutrition through vegan soy-based foods and a zero-waste approach. The overall concept of REVOJA convinced both the jury and the audience, securing Kaapke the prize. This isn't the first prize REVOJA has achieved: the jury of the German Sustainability Award was equally impressed by the food startup’s ideas, and REVOJA will also receive the German Sustainability Award 2025 in the Products category on December 4.
The final segment of the evening featured Category 3, which brought together startups from the region competing for podium places. As in previous years, the prizes were endowed with €1,500 for first place, €1,000 for second place, and €500 for third place.
First place went to David Stosberg with ‘WurmItUp’. The company, founded by a student at Hochschule Geisenheim University, produces high-quality organic all-purpose fertilizer from worm castings in Oestrich-Winkel. Its small invertebrate ‘employees’ process residual materials such as coffee grounds, horse manure, and mushroom substrate, which David Stosberg sources from cafés, farms, and producers in the region.
Second place was awarded to ‘Starke Kids School’ from Taunusstein. With its educational concept, the initiative takes a holistic approach to resilience, self-assertion, respect, and conflict resolution. Founder Florian Böll and his team address children and adolescents and their families, as well as kindergartens and schools.
Jörg Lichtenberg, Asgard Federspiel, and their team placed third with their startup ‘Wishare’. Their pitch immediately convinced several audience members to download their artificial intelligence-supported community app for sharing unused but still useful items from basements and garages. Incentives for actively participating include crypto-based karma points, known as ‘sharries’, and the simple satisfaction of making someone else happy.
The sixth annual Rheingau-Taunus Startup Award once again demonstrated the innovative strength of the region and ensured that guests and audience members left inspired and energized by the finalists.
Beyond the competition itself, the doors of Gründungsfabrik Rheingau and its Friends’ Association remain open to all founders and supporters. Inquiries at hallo(at)gf-rheingau.de are very welcome.
Contact:
Gründungsfabrik Rheingau
Dirk Klinner
E-mail hallo(at)gf-rheingau.de
Telephone: 01709 874972
Website: www.gruendungsfabrik-rheingau.de
