1 Oct 2024
From physics and computer science to medicine and sport: excellent research gives rise to a wide variety of innovative start-up ideas at the LMU Innovation Incubator.
Two years after the foundation of the LMU Innovation Incubator at the LMU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (IEC), the program is celebrating an important milestone: More than 2.5 million euros in public funding has been awarded to teams from the incubator. The program was developed to promote innovations from LMU in conjunction with the LMU Spin-off Service and to support promising undertakings at an early phase of innovation development.
The exclusive six-month program offers researchers, students, and staff at LMU the opportunity to systematically work on developing their idea. Bringing highly relevant and impactful innovations to application is one of the crowning successes of scientific endeavor. Since 2024, moreover, it has officially been one of the principal tasks of universities by dint of the German government’s Future Strategy for Research and Innovation.
“We’re immensely proud of the accomplishments of the teams,” says Annie Weichselbaum, Program Lead of the Innovation Incubator at IEC. “Their success demonstrates the courage with which our highly motivated teams combine research excellence with entrepreneurial spirit, and we’re glad to be able to support these exceptional personalities from all disciplines at LMU through our program.”
According to Weichselbaum, the thematic variety of the teams mirrors the “interdisciplinary strength and innovative muscle of research at LMU.” Through the incubator program, experts from a huge variety of disciplines, such as physics, computer science, medicine, chemistry, and philosophy, have worked on a broad array of new ideas for applications in fields such as medical engineering, microscopy, the construction industry, and pharmaceutical research.
iNSyT (LMU Center for Nanoscience / Advanced Materials & Microscopy) works on advances in nanoscale microscopy for the rapid development of critical materials for green energy. The project obtained an ERC Proof of Concept grant and secured EXIST Transfer of Research funding in 2024. Founder: Dr. Mohsen Beladi Mousavi and Christoph Gruber
Ambit (LMU Philosophy/Sport) works on a web app to public sports facilities in Munich that is designed to motivate citizens to engage in sporting activity and foster communities among users. Ambit received an EXIST Business Start-up Grant in 2024. Founder: Dr. Philipp Tschochohei
AICU (LMU Medicine/MedTech) provides researchers with software tools for data exploration and analysis in the medical sphere. AICU received an AI+Munich Grant, an EXIST Business Start-up Grant 2024, and a TUM Prototype Grant. It is also part of AI Founders, who are further developing the research tool for the biosciences. Founder: Julia Yukovich, Shivangi Singh, and Dr. med. Thomas Melzer
Aicendence (LMU Physics/MedTech) has developed AI-supported software together with Cyto-ML, which enables automated cytological evaluations. This technology, which could take the burden of manual error-prone processes off the shoulders of clinical and technical assistants, is being further developed with the support of an EXIST Business Start-up Grant 2024 and an AI+Munich Grant. Founder: Johannes Strodel and Moritz Koch
SOLO (LMU Physics/Health) is revolutionizing single-cell analysis for healthcare with user-friendly hardware and AI-driven software. The project received a GoBio Initial Grant and an AI+Munich Grant to position itself in the domains of healthcare and deep tech. Founder: Dr. Philip Böhm, Charlott Leu, José Mercado, and Michel Lewton
BRIC-MIC (LMU Microbiology/Microscopy) presents an innovative microscopy platform, which is designed to make advanced imaging techniques available even to non-specialized laboratories by means of 3D printing and flexible components. BRIC-MIC has received ERC Proof of Concept funding for its portable microscopy systems, which allow highly precise analytical statements in the areas of medical diagnostics and environmental analysis. Founder: Gabriel Moya
ki-alz (LMU Medicine/MedTech) aims to improve diagnostic accuracy for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease in primary care and establish automated, high-precision, and patient-centered monitoring of therapeutic success. The project has obtained two consecutive phases of the GoBio Initial Grant for its AI-driven advances in Alzheimer’s diagnosis, which are setting new standards in medical engineering. Founder: Prof. Dr. med. Boris-Stephan Rauchmann
Econvio (CDTM / Real Estate) is dedicated to the development of decarbonization solutions for the construction industry. With its focus on sustainability, the project practices forward-looking entrepreneurship. Founder: Kai Riemenschneider
EpiCure (LMU Chemistry and Pharmacy) is working on a cost-effective, broad-spectrum drug against leukemia. Having won the BayStartUP Business Plan Competition in 2024 and received the recognition of the LMU Innovation Incubator, the project is showing much pharmaceutical promise. Founder: Dr. Matthias Heiß, Corinna Pleintinger, and Yasmin Gärtner
Applications for the next cohort of the LMU Innovation Incubator will be accepted until 6 October. The target group of the program comprises researchers, master’s students, and staff at LMU.