News

4Investors - Four big research organizations host joint Investors Day

30 March 2023

This year, the four major non-university research organisations in Germany - Helmholtz, Fraunhofer, Max Planck and Leibniz - organised a joint investor event for the first time. On 29 March, a total of 40 spin-off teams from all organisations had the opportunity to show an audience of about 90 investors in Munich's Kohlebunker how their innovations will influence all of our lives in the future. For this purpose, they first stood on the big stage for pitches, before meeting personally with individual investors.

Helmholtz was represented by eleven teams, who showcased both their innovative research and their entrepreneurial successes in the fields of medical technology, materials development and energy storage, among others:

•    Alteva (DLR)
•    CARTemis Therapeutics (MDC)
•    FastCast Ceramics GmbH (KIT)
•    fuse.space GmbH (CISPA)
•    GreenDelta (DLR)
•    Holy Technologies (DESY)
•    Leopard (HZI)
•    MACROCARBON (AWI)
•    neomento GmbH (DZNE)
•    TRYPTO Therapeutics (MDC)
•    ViroCas13 (Munich)

In addition to the financial boost for our teams, we are particularly excited about the new contacts and the resulting partnerships that will contribute to solutions for the major problems of our time.

KIT Spin-off Phytonics receives million-euro funding

17 March 2023

Phytonics, a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), has secured a seven-figure sum in a financing round. The company has developed a coating for photovoltaic modules that, in addition to a ten percent increase in energy production compared to conventional coatings, also has the advantage of being glare-free. This makes it possible to open up new areas for photovoltaic modules, such as the surroundings of airports and railway tracks, where they were previously undesirable or prohibited due to their strong reflection of incoming light.

Further information →

HE alumnus Myopax receives seven million euros for cell therapy treatment

1 March 2023

Myopax, a start-up based in Berlin and Copenhagen, is researching cell and gene therapy treatments for muscle diseases. The Helmholtz Enterprise alumnus of the Max Delbrück Center was able to secure strong support for the transfer of its research into application with seven million euros from the German Ministry of Education and Research, the Helmholtz Validation Fund (HVF) and the Danish Bioinnovation Institute. The team is currently planning a human trial in which their new treatment method for bladder exstrophy-epispadias, a rare disease of the bladder sphincter, is to prove itself. Stem cells from the patient's muscle tissue are multiplied outside the body and then injected into the diseased area in order to specifically build up the muscle there. The team's goal is to scale the process up to industrial production. The resulting reduction in costs should make the procedure interesting for profit-oriented companies, among others, and thus more accessible to patients.

OPTSAL camera system supports situational awareness in earthquake zone

7 February 2023

Two employees of the DLR Institute of Optical Sensor Systems traveled to Turkey together with their cooperation partner I.S.A.R. Germany to support the emergency forces in the earthquake area with aerial image data. The camera system used for this purpose, which is installed in a drone, was developed by the Helmholtz Innovation Lab  OPTSAL of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

CISPA Transfer Team shares insight about their work

19 January 2023

The Transfer Team at Helmholtz Center for Information Security (CISPA), represented by Max Wolf and Nicole Ziesche, presents a selection of their transfer activities. They give insights into the transfer mindset at the centre in Saarbrücken and proudly present the CISPA Innovation Campus. It will allow founders and researchers, in addition to the Centre's traditional support, to receive target-oriented training and to get in touch with investors and companies in order to strengthen individual and demand-oriented cooperation between science and business in the region.

CISPA press release (DE) →

Gérard Krause (HZI) honoured for his contriburtion to SORMAS

17 January 2023

Epidemiologist Gérard Krause of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) receives the Translational Infection Research Award of the German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF). With his work on the epidemic management system SORMAS, he and his colleagues have contributed significantly to the fight against Lasse fever, monkeypox and COVID-19. In Germany alone, more than 130 health authorities are already using SORMAS.

SORMAS is being supported by our Spin-off Programme (HE).

Press release of HZI →
Website of SORMAS Foundation →