Research News
The façade of the Ferdinand Braun Institute was equipped with CIS solar cell modules made by the firm Sulfurcell using copper, indium and sulphur. Photo: FBH/P. Immerz
Contact:
Helmholtz Office
Dr. Jörn Krupa
Technology Transfer
Berlin Office
Tel.: +49 30 206329 72
Helmholtz Enterprise
Dr. Jan Elmiger
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie
Tel.: +49 30 8062 13646
elmiger(at)helmholtz-berlin.de
HEF plus
Christina Männel
Karlsruhe Institute for Technology
Tel.: +49 7247 82 9000
Technology Transfer 2011/03
Helmholtz Centre spin-offs
Not every Helmholtz spin-off can expect to achieve success as rapidly as SULFURCELL Solartechnik GmbH. Founded in 2001 as a spin-off of what is now the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH, the company currently employs over 250 people, and in early 2011 it was able to attract funding of €18.8 million from important investors in a new round of financing, despite the difficult economic climate. But many of the spin-offs of recent years have acquired respectable positions in the market and are continuing to grow and create new jobs. It is rare for these new companies to fail. These positive outcomes come first and foremost thanks to the high level of personal commitment on the part of their founders, but also to thorough preparation beforehand and the wide-ranging support from within the Helmholtz Centres.
Helmholtz Enterprise helps spin-offs get ready for market
Two Helmholtz Association programmes provide support for plans to found new companies, Helmholtz Enterprise and HEFplus. Helmholtz Enterprise has proved particularly beneficial to spin-offs in recent years. Since 2005 it has approved a total of 58 applications, and of these 30 have already become reality. In the past two years, Helmholtz Enterprise helped three-quarters of the newly founded spin-offs get ready for market. The two expert committee meetings in 2010 voted to grant support to a total of nine proposals for new companies. Alongside the projects already presented in the November 2010 issue of hermann, the following three start-up projects are being supported with €100,000 from the Helmholtz Association’s Initiative and Networking Fund (with cofinancing in the same amount from the relevant Helmholtz Centre):
- With their “iuvaris” project, engineers Dr Hans-Georg Enkler, Markus Dickerhof and Benjamin Hessenauer from the KIT’s Institute for Product Development are developing a pen for children with writing difficulties that they aim to turn into a marketable product. The pen is equipped with sensors that record the movements a child makes when writing and the pressure it exerts. It will help doctors and therapists to better diagnose and specifically help children with individual writing problems.
- Another planned spin-off from the KIT is the Cell Arrays project. Dr Pavel Levkin and Florian Geyer of the Institute of Toxicology and Genetics have developed a biological research method that can be used to produce novel high-density arrays for microsamples. The method enables more than 50,000 microsamples to be kept on standard microtiter plates, which means, for example, that the entire human genome can be analysed using a single biochip that is no bigger than a human hand. This high sample density generates major cost and time savings.
- With his GEORECS project, Dr Albrecht Schulze of the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) aims to develop a robust system to record seismic and other activity in the earth’s crust. The GFZ’s “GCube” recorder is technically superior to comparable devices currently available. It is small and has very low energy consumption, meaning it can be powered by simple D-batteries. Ten of the compact recorders can fit inside a rucksack, so they are ideal for use on difficult terrain.
The next Helmholtz Enterprise expert committee meeting takes place in June 2011. Helmholtz Centres can submit applications until 15 April.
German Industry’s Innovation Award 2010 goes to PEPperPRINT
PEPperPRINT GmbH, cofounded by Dr Volker Stadler (PEPperPRINT), Dr Frank Breitling (KIT) and Dr Ralf Bischoff (DKFZ), won the German Industry’s Innovation Award 2010 in the “Start-Up Companies” category. The company, a DKFZ spin-off, uses a novel process to manufacture peptide chips for research and diagnosis that can help identify pathogens, develop new substances for drugs or improve diagnosis of cancers. The company’s name, PEPperPRINT, says it all: The 20 different peptide building blocks are embedded in toner particles and printed on a glass surface using a special 24-colour laser printer. This production technology makes it possible to have 80 times the number of peptides per surface and makes manufacturing costs 50 times lower. The technology therefore opens up a whole new range of options for research. Helmholtz Enterprise supported the start-up with funding from June 2008 to May 2009.
Support and management consultancy from HEFplus
While Helmholtz Enterprise supports start-up projects in their early phases before they come into being, HEFplus takes over a little later in the process. Financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, HEFplus complements the Helmholtz Enterprise Fund (HEF). The HEFplus programme, set to run until August 2012, fosters the management of the spin-offs, for example by taking on some of the costs for external management partners, consultants and specialists, so that the companies can get set for market success in the crucial phase just before or just after being founded. A prerequisite for HEFplus support is previous acceptance by Helmholtz Enterprise and/or a positively appraised business plan. Up to €60,000 is available per project. Since 2007 the HEFplus management support programme has successfully helped twelve spin-offs. It is currently financing nine projects and others are waiting in the wings.
Validation process to help spin-offs and other knowledge and technology transfer methods
A recent acatech study on spin-offs from non-university research institutes revealed that 40 percent of the respondent spin-offs started out without any serviceable prototype or a finished product. On top of that, it learned, founders often underestimate the costs and work that go into further developing and marketing their technology (Spath et al. 2010 bit.ly/hIVlLY [in German]). This is where a new funding instrument, the Helmholtz Validation Fund, comes in. The Helmholtz Validation Fund helps bridge the innovation gap between solid research findings and their application on the market. But spin-offs are only one way the Helmholtz Validation Fund enables project findings to be transferred. Another is developing strategic partnerships or licencing agreements with a company to make the technology more marketable. And this new instrument really does seem to be responding to a need. Ten tentative applications have already been submitted by seven Helmholtz Centres. Project applications for a total sum of over €16 million will be reviewed by the selection committee at the first round on 12 May. This already far exceeds the Helmholtz Validation Fund’s 2011 budget of €3 million. The process will be overseen by a highly competent external consultant, Peppermint Management GmbH, which won the Europe-wide invitation to tender.
