The Startup Booster team of the Life Science Accelerator Baden-Wuerttemberg in Mannheim and Heidelberg and SEMIA, in Strasbourg, have agreed to work together to grant their startup teams access to each other´s workshops (physical and virtual), to organize events together like startup pitches and to establish an alumni network.
In a pilot experiment SEMIA sent one of its teams to the Life Science Accelerator. Fizimed (https://www.fizimed.com/en) participated in selected workshops to validate their Pelvic floor re-education business model and to facilitate a so-called soft-landing in Germany.
“We are convinced that more startup teams in the accelerators will profit from this exchange of expertise and access to mentors in each network,” says Bodo Brückner, Coordinator Lifescience Accelerator Baden-Wuerttemberg at Stadt Mannheim. “In the best case, this collaboration will also facilitate customer validation and market access as described for Fizimed” adds Markus Bühler, Coordinator of the Life Science Accelerator at Technologiepark Heidelberg.
Moreover, this is also an exciting opportunity for the accelerators´ teams to learn from each other and establish new forms of cross-border collaboration.
About the SEMIA accelerator
In Alsace SEMIA (http://www.startup-semia.com/en/) is the incubator shared between universities, scientific institutions and economic organisations, and is supported by all regional public authorities.
Since 1999, SEMIA has been a major player in discovering and supporting innovative business projects. With branches in Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar, SEMIA supports a growing number of innovative projects both coming out of higher education and started by individual entrepreneurs.
Serving the innovative individuals behind new business projects, SEMIA’s teams help foster innovation in all its forms. This can be driving new products and services, or new technologies, or even new organisational strategies.
Our support program, the Startup Academy, focuses on creating value, developing an economic model and building your team, helping reduce the time it takes from creating a concept to launching a business. The Starter Class sessions include experts and SEMIA Club community members (SEMIA alumni). This program helps prepare a startup to join our incubator.
SEMIA is officially recognised as an Excellent Incubator by the Grand Est region, and the startups we help can take advantage of the region’s Startup Grant, (representing between 30,000 and 100,000 €). SEMIA is also recognised by the Ministry of Research, who have supported the program since its inception.
As of 2017, SEMIA is a partner of the Rimbaud Tech incubator in Charleville-Mezières and is working on a dedicated program for this location.
About the Life Science Accelerator Baden-Wuerttemberg
The Life Science Accelerator Baden-Wuerttemberg (http://www.lifescience-bw.de/) is a joint program of the Technologiepark Heidelberg GmbH, the Heidelberg Startup Partner e.V., the Department of Economic and Structural Support of the City of Mannheim, the MAFINEX Gruenderverbund e.V. and the non-profit Foundation for Medical Innovations in Tuebingen.
The program supports scientific and technological startup teams in Baden- Wuerttemberg with a focus on biotechnology, medical technology and digital Health (Digital Healthcare). The Life Science Accelerator Baden-Wuerttemberg will by the Ministry of Economics, Labour and Housing of Baden-Wuerttemberg Funds from the European Social Fund (ESF) and the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg supported. Further information: http://lifescience-bw.de/.
Startup teams in the accelerator participate in up to 24 workshops and get access to highly experienced mentors and experts in the life sciences and healthcare. Teams can also pitch in front of investors and industry partners.
Startup teams in the accelerator can also take advantage of the Startup BW Pre-Seed program (50,000 to 200,000 € as a convertible loan).
