Pitching at a new level!

The 4^th Demo Day of Frankfurt School's Entrepreneurship Centre on 2 September definitely marked a step towards the Centre's next stage of development – the Audimax of our business school has never seen so many visitors and was fully occupied. The event was attended by almost 500 people, from investors to entrepreneurial minds. All six presenting start-ups were enthusiastic about the event and did an excellent job.

Congratulations to Aybee for winning the first prize of EUR 30,000. With 80% of consumer products failing, Aybee is revolutionising the way products are launched on marketplaces like Amazon by simulating real market conditions. Aybee's platform allows companies to validate new product ideas next to their competitors, giving them the confidence to invest in products that consumers truly love, while saving resources and maximising success. Aybee powers companies such as Razor Group, Koro, Emma, Blackroll and Berlin Brands Group.

The runner-up was Newbee, receiving a EUR 20,000 cheque. Newbee is a one-stop app to navigate all the challenges of moving and living abroad. The start up wants to help newcomers integrate into a new country more easily and quickly. The app was recently launched on App Stores after extensive user testing of the MVP version. Completely self-funded and developed by the founding team so far. Newbee is seeking for funding as a 1^st year investment to spend in user acquisition and technology.

The crowd’s favourite was Promodoro, a marketing-as-a-Service startup, winning a consulting workshop with Futury in alignment with the team’s needs. Promodoro uses pizza boxes as an advertising medium and combines geo- and demographic data with a smart pizzeria classification system to ensure brands reach their target audience during enjoyable moments at home. The dynamic booking software allows brands to select specific target groups, view an interactive map, and get instant offers for a smooth booking process. As Germany's market leader, Promodoro is now looking for strategic investors to expand globally.

Green account is building Europe's platform for trading nature credits, connecting private landowners with public and private investors to support large-scale nature restoration. The startup lowers the barrier for landowners to join this market through an established Nature Credit system. Already generating revenue from its MVP in two business areas, construction and biodiversity, green account is accelerating product development after hiring a CTO in May.

Ceres FieldCheck provides affordable AI robots to small-scale farmers in developing countries, helping with tasks like chemical-free weeding and disease detection, which reduces costs and boosts crop yields. The company is testing its prototype with support from a network of farmers, grants, and scholarships. It has received support from several agricultural and government agencies in Germany and India, which plan to trial and possibly fund the robots, potentially affecting over 22 million farmers by mid-2025.

Freeze Carbon assists companies in becoming carbon neutral by offsetting their emissions using high-quality carbon credits. With over seven years of experience, the team carefully selects projects to avoid greenwashing and poor-quality initiatives. The startup serves both small and medium-sized enterprises and multinational corporations, including a notable client like Sparkasse. It represents over 25 carbon projects globally and offers a fully functional online B2B procurement tool.

Another Highlight was the keynote speech by Helmut Schönenberger, CEO of UnternehmerTUM, who gave an extraordinarily motivating and entertaining insight into his professional career and its beginnings as well as the impressive development of the start-up ecosystem UnternehmerTUM.

A big thank you to all partners, mentors and supporters who made the 4^th Frankfurt School Entrepreneurship Centre Accelerator and Demo Day again a great success!