Pitch-Event 2023

Have you ever heard of AMP Avenue, EmoGi, GovTech Solutions, HealthyFoodCourt, Pigeon Friends, or VRTourism? These six student teams of the University of Passau have successfully completed this year’s programme ‘Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship’ with the final pitch event on Thursday, 19^th October. They had developed a variety of innovative business concepts that address societal and environmental challenges as well as customer problems using entrepreneurship and digital technologies.

Throughout six months, the prospective start-up teams participated in various courses exploring topics, such as market research, business model development, sustainability, intercultural communication, prototype creation, and negotiation skills. Furthermore, the programme includes personalised coaching for every single project from a team of professors, lecturers, start-up and industry experts.

At the final pitch event, the results of an intensive founders’ journey could be seen. After some introductory words from the President of the University of Passau, Prof. Ulrich Bartosch, and Prof. Dr. Christoph Barmeyer, holder of the Chair of Intercultural Communication, the teams pitched their ideas. They were evaluated by a panel of experts – Jan Boluminski (Board Member of Miles and More and Co-Founder of Payback), Dr. Maria Diekmann (Founder Innorivers), Dr. Jutta Krogull (Managing Director Lower Bavaria Region at bayme vbm), and Prof. Dr. Andreas Pfeifer (Honorary Professor, Investor and Business Angel). Special mention should be made of the two participating teams HealthyFoodCourt and VRTourism, from the partner university in Kiev (KNEU), who successfully participated in the ‘Honours Degree’ and continued to develop their ideas despite the ongoing war. Following the imaginative presentations, the students received their well-deserved certificates, accompanied by a motivating speech from Prof. Carolin Häussler. She emphasised: “Entrepreneurs are the driving force behind economic growth, but entrepreneurship goes beyond that. It has the power to make communities more vibrant, inclusive, and secure.”

We congratulate this year’s teams on their successful founding journey, and we wish them well in their future endeavours. In the spirit of Professor Häussler's words: “May your entrepreneurial spirit continue to thrive, may your ideas change the world, and may you always remember the lessons and experiences you gained during your time in the Honours Degree in the Entrepreneurship programme.”

If you like to get in touch with your own entrepreneurial spirit, or want to develop innovative ideas and learn valuable lessons about being a founder, be part of the next cohort in 2024! Get in touch here: www.wiwi.uni-passau.de/en/study/dte/honours-degree/

You can find impressions and further information about the event, this year’s teams and their ideas via this link: https://www.wiwi.uni-passau.de/en/dte/honours-degree/impressions-of-our-cohorts