With their business idea for a multi-functional vest as helpful workwear for accessing utensils, for example in stage or trade fair construction, two design students from Fachhochschule Dortmund have secured victory in the "ruhrvalley Start-up Campus" ideas competition.
Bachelor students Felicia Paltrinieri and Julia Stauch from the Faculty of Design won over the jury with their plan to market an ergonomic vest that can be used to conveniently store tools or a radio. In addition to a consultancy voucher worth 1,500 euros, they received a special prize for the best pitch, which earned them a further 300 euros as a consultancy voucher.
From the seminar to the final
This year's competition was preceded by a start-up seminar held by Prof. Dr. Marcel Marburger at the Faculty of Design. There, students were able to develop their own ideas and hone their business models. In the end, the task was to convince members of the Fachhochschule Dortmund's start-up service in a pre-selection process. Felicia Paltrinieri and Julia Stauch then competed against seven student start-up teams in the final of the "ruhrvalley Start-up Campus" ideas competition, which is supported by Fachhochschule Dortmund, Bochum University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Westfälische Hochschule.
Support for start-ups
"We are very proud of our first place and grateful for the support that Fachhochschule Dortmund offers students interested in founding a company," says Felicia Paltrinieri. "Creative design is undoubtedly a core competence of students at the Faculty of Design," comments Prof. Dr. Marcel Marburger. "However, project ideas often get stuck in the conception phase and never reach market maturity. I am therefore all the more pleased about the success in the ideas competition and the associated support from the start-up service in the next steps towards the successful realization of the innovative product idea."
Search for suitable subsidies
While the two students are now pushing ahead with their business idea, the Fachhochschule Dortmund's start-up service is advising them on how to redeem the consulting vouchers and find other suitable funding, among other things. "It is important to us to enable founders to test their ideas in a protected environment, give them professional feedback and at the same time support them financially with the vouchers for their ventures," says Jonas Jagdziewski from the start-up service at Fachhochschule Dortmund and sub-project manager for "ruhrvalley Start-up-Campus".