A Journey to the IT Start-up Scene in the Ruhr Region

At the online bootcamp “Entrepreneurship Explorer Ruhr” that took place over two weeks in September, international IT security start-ups had the opportunity to refine their own innovative business ideas, show their skills in pitch training, while at the same time getting to know the regional start-up ecosystem in Bochum and the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The 13 young IT researchers from Europe, Asia and South America also learned a lot about the digital world, because Bochum has one of the most active start-up scenes worldwide in the field of cyber security.

For example, the young entrepreneurs visited the RUB spin-off G-Data, took part in the digital campus tour “Change through Knowledge” and discussed ideas with founders of successful cyber security start-ups from Bochum and NRW via “fireside chats”. These included AWARE 7 and VMRay.

The feedback on the bootcamp was overwhelmingly positive. Recapping his experience, Loui Al Sardy, founder of Parsek, says: “I met many like-minded people from the field of IT security and worked with them on our start-up idea for two weeks of virtual training. In addition, I had the chance to explore the start-up ecosystem of the Ruhr region and to expand my network by exchanging ideas and networking with founders from the IT security sector.”

The participants also found the pitch training and the sessions on “Decoding the Investor Process” and “B2B Sales and Marketing” extremely helpful for refining their start-up or project.

In the final pitch, the team headed by Christoph Milder and Sven Uthe from DEVITY secured first place. The prize includes a ticket to the largest B2B start-up event in Germany, namely the ruhrSUMMIT, including an expo stand, start-up pitch and travel expenses. DEVITY offers automation solutions in the field of “Internet of Things”. With its products, the company aims to enable enterprises to register IoT devices easily, securely, automatically and in a decentralised manner with any device management platform. To this end, the KEYNO software solution simplifies the secure onboarding of smart devices on any cloud and on-premise management platform. The benefit for the users is that it renders lengthy, manual on-site commissioning obsolete.

Next spring, WORLDFACTORY International will once again be inviting young international researchers interested in setting up a company to a two-week bootcamp in Bochum. The main focus and the exact date of the event will be announced shortly on the WORLDFACTORY website.