Science Startups

Sponsor: zukunft.niedersachsen – “Science Startups” programme

Contact person: Somayeh Hosseinhashemi, Christoph Thon, Bastian Kindermann, Carsten Schilde

Summary of the overall project:

Through the university-wide collaboration project SMART UP, the Technical University of Braunschweig, together with regional partners, is strengthening the regional startup ecosystem and supporting science-based spin-offs from the initial idea through to scaling. The project aims to foster entrepreneurial thinking among students, doctoral candidates, and researchers, identify startup potential at an early stage, and systematically transform innovative ideas into marketable startups. To achieve this, awareness-raising and training initiatives, coaching and support structures, maker spaces, and digital tools are being established and integrated throughout the entire startup process. A particular focus is on the development and research of digital technologies, especially AI-based assistance systems that support founders in idea validation, business model development, and strategic and economic planning. In this way, SMART*UP aims to strengthen knowledge and technology transfer, increase the number of successful spin-offs, and sustainably boost the innovative strength of the Braunschweig region.

Further information on the joint project can be found at
https://magazin.tu-braunschweig.de/pi-post/tu-braunschweig-staerkt-regionales-gruendungsoekosystem/

Start des SMART*UP-Projekts: Neue Impulse für das Gründungsökosystem

Goals and tasks of iPAT

• Development of an LLM-based multi-agent toolbox to provide digital support for science-based startup projects
• Design and implementation of specialized AI agents for idea evaluation, market and competitive analysis, business model development, and financial planning
• Integration of external knowledge sources and digital tools for context-aware information processing, for example for market analyses or funding opportunities
• Development of a privacy-friendly, locally executable system architecture with a graphical user interface to provide transparent and traceable support for the startup process
• Evaluation of the toolbox using exemplary startup projects in terms of output quality, reproducibility, traceability, and transparency

Project partners
Technische Universität Braunschweig
Braunschweig Zukunft GmbH
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB)
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)
Innovationsgesellschaft Technische Universität Braunschweig mbH
Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences
TRAFO Hub GmbH
BANSON e. V.