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New entrepreneurship and innovation format successfully launched at FH Münster’s School of Business: Dragons’ Den



January 07, 2016

Over the course of one semester, 29 students from the master course „international marketing & sales”, refined and polished their ideas under the supervision of Dr. Thorsten Kliewe. Finally they presented their ideas in a unique setting. Not only did they present their ideas in front of their fellow students and their supervisor but, based on the TV-Show “Dragon’s Den”, received feedback from business professionals, the so called Dragons. This new format attracted more than 100 people to Muenster UAS. Not only students, but also company representatives from different industry sectors joined in on this successful evening.

No matter whether it was a travel-app, an innovative bike lock, an employment service for refugees or a portal for shared apartments – the relentless Dragons, as well as a Venture Capital Manager really put the ideas to the test. This night’s dragon were Sebastian Kotzwander (Founder and CEO of Grünspar GmbH), Robert Levenhagen (Founder and CEO of InfluencerDB), Hannes Schill (Investment Manager at eCAPITAL entrepreneurial partners AG), Thorsten Falger (Head of Aschendorf Digital of Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG) as well as Torben Simon Meier (Founder and CEO of Appclouds GmbH, Founder of the Gutado Internetagentur, and Founder/CMO of Raidboxes).

The audience-award was given to Wibke Lummer, Magdalena Rensing and Damla Ülber for their innovative concept “werkeln & schlürfen”, which combines a café and a restauration workshop. The Dragons on the other hand were convinced that the idea “daily’s – speed up your food” by Svenja Hünies showed the greatest potential. Behind this lies an idea for the food industry, where freshly cut organic food is pre-portioned for the customer.

“Right after the show, the winner told me that she is really taking it into consideration to found a start-up right after her masters degree”, revealed supervisor Dr. Kliewe. However, the foundation of a start-up company is not the main goal of the course, he further explained. “The goal is to develop the students’ entrepreneurial thinking and acting, so that they are able to use this competence in various situations in the future.” It wouldn’t matter whether that might be in a start-up, an innovative company, a social organisation or in the field of science.

In the end, not only the students but also the judges considered the event as highly positive and successful. Now it is even considered how this format can be used outside the university to enhance and foster the entrepreneurship in Muenster.

Links:

- Dragon's Den

- Dr. Thorsten Kliewe