Five start-ups, one winner: Founding team from Fraunhofer Institute win the jury over.
Greven, 28 June 2021 – The start-up by the name of Camideos won the final round of the 2021 FIEGE Innovation Challenge. The founding team of Andreas Rudi, Philipp Rose, Felix Mildner and Steffen Link of the Fraunhofer Institute won over the jury last Thursday with their idea of software combined with a platform to trace emissions to support businesses with their deployment of trucks, covering everything from the buying decision to optimising energy consumption. The winner will receive EUR 5,000.00 in prize money. Moreover, FIEGE’s company builder, XPRESS Ventures will offer Camideos guidance along their future path.
“We are thrilled that our young start-up and our vision were able to score with the jury – especially in light of the fact that the competing founders also pitched very exciting ideas and business models”, says Philipp Rose, Managing Director of Camideos. Andreas Rudi, likewise Managing Director at Camideos, explains: “For us as an outside competitor, the Innovation Challenge was something of an away game. Thank you to FIEGE, for taking this event so seriously and giving young businesses from outside their organisation the opportunity to partake in the Innovation Challenge. Winning the first spot comes with both the motivation and obligation to take our company further and tackle the next stages.”
Closing the day of the final, Camideos won out over four other finalists, of which three came from within the FIEGE Group and one from the Münster University of Applied Sciences. “We witnessed genuinely outstanding pitches”, Felix Fiege adds. “A lot of expertise was seen, as well as entrepreneurship, and heart and soul. A big compliment goes to all the teams.” The jury – comprised of Felix and Jens Fiege (FIEGE Chairmen), Martin Rademaker (FIEGE Executive Board), Tanja Rosendahl (F-LOG Ventures), Mario Zimmermann (LZW Capital) and Daniel Werner (Zenfulfillment) – debated the winner of the 2021 Innovation Challenge with great controversy. The audience also participated in the outcome and their decision counted as a further jury vote. “In the end, Camideos had the best overall package from our perspective”, Felix Fiege explains, “but we will keep a very close eye on the ideas of the other finalists and continue to lend our support to the founders.”
The five finalists emerged from a total of 30 founding teams. Next to Camideos, the following runners-up also pitched their business ideas: Parcel Crowd (delivery model that uses private delivery agents for the last mile); Zoll Advisor (automated tool to establish import and export tariffs); Telematics Cloud (cloud solution that provides and utilises telematics data); and World of Wines (plug-in fulfilment for wine producers and retailers). Telematics Cloud came second, followed by Parcel Crowd taking the third spot on the podium.
Jens Fiege, like his cousin Felix, is full of praise for the founding teams. “What really inspires me, next to the creativity and the expertise on display here, is the passion that fills the lives of these candidates. After all, you need to remember that these business models are all created outside of their regular working hours.” FIEGE is the innovation leader in logistics, Jens Fiege says, so the company needs this very entrepreneurship. Innovation is the decisive factor for sustained success. “In the soon-to-be 150 years of our company’s history, it has always been the case that business units have changed or were completely replaced by new business segments. Innovation is something that defines and drives us. And to create something completely new has always been, still is, and will always remain the ultimate discipline.”
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Background to the Innovation Challenge: FIEGE has been boosting innovative business ideas from its own employees and students with this Innovation Challenge since 2017. The goal is to actively create tomorrow’s logistics. The competition is open to everyone. The best ideas make it to the final and need to convince a jury of select members. The most promising business model wins both EUR 5,000.00 in prize money and the continued, active support for their future path from FIEGE’s company builder, XPRESS Ventures.
