100 years of Hans Imhoff
The winners
- ama mind in the category Health and Healthcare
- Deutschfuchs in the Education category
- Pilzling in the Food Innovation & Environmental Impact category
About the competition
The family of the late honorary citizen of Cologne, Dr. Hans Imhoff, is supporting three young Cologne start-ups with a total of 100,000 euros.
Hans Imhoff himself was a "startupper" - and became one of Cologne's great entrepreneurial personalities. He worked hard to earn his reputation as the "Chocolate King": He started from nothing as a young entrepreneur in the post-war years and tried out many things until he finally brought Germany's first post-war chocolates onto the market using melted-down chocolate from American care packages. After founding his own chocolate factory in Bullay on the Moselle, he took over the ailing Stollwerck chocolate factory in Cologne in the 1970s and expanded it into a multinational group. In 1993, he built the famous Cologne Chocolate Museum, which is still owned by the family today. In 2001, Hans Imhoff established the non-profit Imhoff Foundation, which is known for supporting a wide variety of projects in his home city of Cologne.
Hans Imhoff would have been 100 years old on March 12, 2022. His family is taking this day as an opportunity to support young entrepreneurs in Cologne. Start-up founders can present their ideas in a pitch competition. The jury will include members of the Imhoff family as well as startup and impact specialists.
Criteria
The start-ups must fulfill the following requirements:
- The company creates a benefit for the city of Cologne and the people living in it
- The startup is a maximum of three years old (the date of foundation is decisive)
- The startup has not yet raised any money from business angels or VCs
- All company forms are possible
We are looking for startups from the following areas
- Social Impact
- Environmental Impact
- Urban living
- Food Innovation
- Education
- Health and health maintenance
- AgeTech/People in old age
The nominated startups
These 10 companies have been nominated for the Hans Imhoff Startup Award. On June 12, 2022, the entrepreneurs will present their ideas to the expert jury. The three winning start-ups will be chosen during the ceremony to mark Hans Imhoff's 100th birthday on June 21, 2022 in Cologne's historic town hall.
ama mind
ama mind is working to become THE central online point of contact for mental stress situations and problems. Users receive digital recommendations on support services and self-help measures that are tailored to their personal situation in order to stabilize or improve their mental health situation in the best possible way. The advice process is low-threshold and completely anonymous. What makes it special is that all services are reviewed by psychologists on the basis of scientifically sound analysis methods before a recommendation is made.
German fox
Deutschfuchs is a learning platform for German as a foreign and second language and for individual language support. The software combines an LMS (Learning Management System) and training area with a digital textbook (A1-B2) and enables contemporary teaching of the German language in the sense of blended learning, which leads to rapid linguistic success for people with a migration background.
Football balletics
Fussballetics offers soccer clubs across Germany the opportunity to integrate athletics training into their training operations at low cost and support the coaching team in team training. An overall athletic concept is provided for the teams throughout the season via an app, so that Fussballetics supplements and supports the coaching team as a digital athletics trainer.
Habitiny
Habitiny is a young start-up on the market that uses clever conversion ideas to enlarge small family living spaces. There is an alternative to moving. It is more sustainable to use existing living space and design it with the future in mind than to accept a cost-intensive move with increased rental costs. What's more, the recent boom in the DIY market shows us how important a beautiful home is to the majority of people. Short-time working has of course given people more time to do their own DIY.
JUPP
There are currently 1.6 million people with dementia in Germany. On average, one person is diagnosed every 90 seconds. JUPP supports families in living well with dementia. The team focuses on a broader understanding of dementia in our society and solutions that strengthen relationships or support orientation.
köllektiv
The vision: shopping differently together. At the köllektiv supermarket, you can buy sustainable and fairly traded food at affordable prices. As a member of the cooperative, you contribute through co-determination, participation and co-ownership to focusing on the needs of people and nature and on us as a community - not on profit. This benefits everyone. Köllektive's aim is to bring about a change in consumer society towards a greater awareness of sustainability and community.
Mushroom
Pilzling is making agriculture more circular, integrating urban farming into the cityscape and reconnecting people with food production - including growing gourmet mushrooms on salvaged coffee grounds!
plusX
plusX enables financially disadvantaged people in Cologne to enjoy active and self-determined leisure activities via digital leisure vouchers (e.g. for museums, cinemas, sports halls, etc.). In doing so, plusX revolutionizes the donation experience: the digital vouchers are financed by donors who are notified the moment their money is used for a voucher.
scobees
The cloud-based learning system Scobees takes digital learning to the next level. Scobees transforms learning by allowing students to personalize their learning paths and plan and document their own learning processes digitally. With direct feedback and targeted learning support, Scobees enables teachers to view students' learning progress at any time and to recognize and strengthen their potential.
Veedelshelfer
The care service helps Cologne residents with a care degree in their everyday lives. The Veedelshelfer support families and relatives as well as the people in need of care themselves in maintaining their independence. They offer support with housekeeping, errands and care, take care of the household, go shopping, collect medication, accompany people to appointments, undertake activities together and ensure that social contacts are maintained.
The jury
Antje Lienert
Antje Lienert has a background in coaching, research and management. In addition to her positions as a manager for regional clusters, associations and educational institutions, she has worked internationally with Ericsson, Stockholm and Henley Business School, UK. In 2017/2018 she was part of the management team of a social startup. At KölnBusiness she is responsible for welcoming national and international startups.
Martin Dowideit
Martin Dowideit, Head of Digital and member of the editorial board, is responsible for all digital products and distribution channels of the Kölner Stadtanzeiger. In particular, he is responsible for the further development of the successful digital premium offer KStA PLUS and the current news business in the newsroom.
Annette Imhoff
Annette Imhoff took over the management of the Chocolate Museum in January 2016. Together with her husband, she continues her father's life's work, which has been built up over many years with great attention to detail.
Susanne Imhoff
Hans Imhoff established the charitable Imhoff Foundation in 2000. Since then, it has been able to finance or support a wide range of projects by committed Cologne residents with almost 20 million euros. Susanne Imhoff took over the chairmanship of the Imhoff Foundation from her mother Gerburg Klara Imhoff in 2018 and has been fully committed and passionate about her work in Cologne ever since.
Timo Bey
Head of Investment at capacura. Timo is a business economist with a specialization in M&A, restructuring and insolvency management and is passionate about investments and financing. Timo is a mentor of the STARTPLATZ Accelerator and JOBLINGE e.V.