MÄXIT wins ideas competition of the HNEE start-up centre

The final of the KickStart 2022 competition took place at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) on 14 June 2022. The response was greater than ever before.

Innovations and ideas are the drivers of regional transformation. This spirit was very much in evidence at this year's Kickstart competition, which was organised for the second time. "There was a great response with over 20 applications, which we were very pleased about," reports Dr Robert Schmidt, Head of the HNEE Start-up Centre. He is part of the four-member jury of the start-up centre, which has been supporting and advising the competition participants through an application process lasting several months since October last year.

This included project presentation rounds and a business model canvas workshop where the participants were able to network, develop their ideas and present them to each other.
In the end, two start-up ideas made it through to the final on Tuesday afternoon, 14 June 2022. After a pitch with a Q&A session, jury members and HNEE university members were able to nominate their favourite in an online vote. Among other things, sustainability, idea and presentation were assessed. In the end, the start-up idea MÄXIT by students Hendrik Lübben and Karsten Groß was the winner. They want to bring a sustainable outdoor exit game with a fairytale character onto the market. The special thing about it: MÄXIT is to be played in the forest and the buildings and props used are made entirely from reusable natural materials. This will significantly reduce the CO2 footprint compared to existing exit games. As the winning team of the Kick-Start 2022 competition, the two-person team will receive 5,000 euros in non-cash prizes to support the further development of their start-up idea.