Every year, the Passion4Business GmbH (formerly Für-Gründer-Plattform) determines the Top 50 start-ups of the year from all award winners of numerous start-up competitions. Three Jena start-ups – Spaceoptix GmbH, Polytives GmbH and rooom AG – are not only among the Top50 Start-ups of Germany 2020, but are even among the Top15! All three start-ups are successfully supported and advanced by the Foundation for Technology, Innovation and Research Thuringia (STIFT).
SPACEOPTIX GmbH, which ranks 6th, has been a participant in the Thuringian Accelerator Program TRIP since November 2020 and is accompanied by experienced coaches. The start-up is a spin-off from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) in Jena and develops, manufactures and integrates high-performance optical components and systems made of metallic materials for applications in space, astronomy, science and industry. Its innovative space optics were awarded the Thuringia Innovation Prize in the category “Light and Life” in 2020.
With rooom AG, the next winner of the Innovation Award Thuringia 2020 and pitch winner of the Investor Days Thuringia 2018 is also successfully represented in 11th place. The tech start-up from Jena offers a complete solution for digital events, virtual showrooms and 3D content and made the Investor Days Thuringia 2020 a successful digital event with an interactive VR exhibition.
One other participant in the current TRIP class, Polytives GmbH, reached rank 15 with its innovation. The Jena-based start-up develops and produces innovative additives for plastics. These can be customized and are polymer-based. As a result, they accomplish ideal miscibility, as well as hardly any migration in the product, and do not present any health risk. This is achieved by using (highly) branched polymers.
This ranking reflects the following statistic: currently, the share of innovative start-ups from high and cutting-edge technology is 1.5 % in Thuringia, which is twice as high as the national average. Thuringia offers start-ups effective structures for further development, good access to venture capital, the TRIP accelerator program with a focus on investment readyness and open innovation, and renowned start-up events such as Investor Days Thuringia for networking with the business community and innovation landscape.
Read more at: www.top50startups.de/start-ups/ranking/2020
