Second round of applications runs until mid-November
Mülheim an der Ruhr, 18th October 2017. Co-creating innovative ideas from an early stage: Fiege identifies trends in logistics and new business models using different channels. “A pioneering spirit has always been firmly anchored here at Fiege. To cultivate and foster this through impulses from the outside is the actual goal”, says Andreas Pott who, as the Director Corporate Development, has been tasked with innovation at Fiege.
The hunt for the next good business idea sees Fiege even partnering with actual start-ups. The Westphalia-based enterprise has committed itself to various international and local accelerators with a supply chain focus. A brand-new initiative is the Starbuzz accelerator for digital trade and logistics in Mühlheim an der Ruhr. Since September, Fiege’s Andreas Pott and Marcus Gropp, in charge of eCommerce Solutions, have been mentoring start-ups, for example.
Mentors help start-ups mature their business model
At the beginning of September, four start-ups pitched their ideas live, to be included in the Starbuzz accelerator: Kaufsafari UG from Duisburg; mindtrainr from Dortmund; PaketChef from Munich; and Replex GmbH from Duisburg. They convinced a jury comprising representatives from ALDI SÜD, Tengelmann Ventures, Schwarz Gruppe, Fiege Logistik, T-Systems, the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences, Mühlheim & Business GmbH as well as other partners. Kaufsafari is a B2B marketplace for resellers; the IT start-up Replex has developed a software which allows companies to monitor their own IT infrastructure; PaketChef provides IT solutions for the Last Mile and mindtrainr anticipates the maintenance of machinery through data analysis.
The start-ups will receive support in Mühlheim an der Ruhr starting October for a period of three months in the form of bringing their business model to maturity, creating business partnerships, and sourcing adequate personnel. The accelerator programme ends in January 2018 with a Starbuzz demo day where the start-ups present their results to entrepreneurs and investors. “We give start-ups the opportunity to trial their ideas with one of Europe’s largest logistics providers. As a mentor, I consider it to be my job to show a possible path from the idea in their head to its implementation in a real-life environment“, says Andreas Pott. For round two of the accelerator which kicks off in January 2018, the application phase has already started. Start-ups can submit their application until 15th November at www.starbuzz.ruhr.
