SAZbike 22/2017
Reading time 1:30 minutes

Compact cargo bike wins start-up competition

A compact cargo bike with tilting technology, a rolling kitchen or the airbnb for bicycles: At the "Start-up Cycling" 19 young companies presented themselves with innovative ideas.

Ulrike Saade of Velokonzept: We were very happy about the great popularity and the positive feedback to our first Start-up Cycling. The objective to bring together young and innovative start-ups with the established industry did work well.

The premiere of the "Start-up Cycling" conference of Bikebrainpool at Berlin Pfefferberg attracted more than 100 participants who were interested in the ideas of the start-ups from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. Furthermore, the conference offered expert lectures on topics like crowd funding, riding assistance systems or digitisation on the bicycle.

The presentations of the start-ups formed the core of the conference. With this fact in mind, Velokonzept as performing organiser had developed a good concept: After a series of lectures in the morning one representative of each start-up was asked to come on stage. There he or she had three minutes time to explain the special thing of their young company. The lunch was followed by a round of speed dating: In five times eight minutes the conference participants had the opportunity to question the start-up representatives personally. This was important because the start-ups competed among one another. On the occasion of the anniversary campaign "200 years of bicycle – made in Germany" the German Federal Ministry of Transport and digital Infrastructure (BMVI) supported the start-up competition to promote innovative business ideas around the bicycle as well as the networking of the cycle industry.

The bicycle affine jury including Stephan Geiger (Bike and Outdoor Company), Ursula Kloé (New Mobility Experts), Dirk Kurek (Komenda), Ulrike Saade (Velokonzept), Julia Schäfer (BMVI), Konrad Weyhmann (Paul Lange & Co), Dirk Zedler (Zedler – Institut für Fahrradtechnik und -Sicherheit), finally singled out four companies.

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Bikebrainpool - Thinktank of the cycle industry

The Bikebrainpool is a circle of committed and reputed representatives of the cycle industry who are working beyond the limits of competition and associations for a joint target, i.e. to promote cycling. Founded in 1996 by Ulrike Saade, Bikebrainpool understand themselves as trend scout and think tank. They not only focus on the networking with professionals of various businesses, start-ups and creatives, but also preserve an intimate and familiar character.

Author: Alexander Schmitz

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