From the lecture hall to the executive chair
Munay Zamorano took over the cosmetics company New Natural in her early 20s:
Based at the CHIC Charlottenburg Innovation Centre, New Natural sells over 1,000 certified products from ten natural cosmetics brands to perfumeries, drugstores, and online stores in more than 30 countries. Their…
Substitution, not cancellation
The start-up LehrCraft wants to use its placement platform to help alleviate staff shortages in schools and reduce class cancellations:
“What do teachers and clouds have in common? The day improves when they go away.” Everybody knows these types of jokes. But what if teachers really go away and regular classes cannot be guaranteed? The reasons for the…
The future of agriculture is being grown in a cupboard
Lite&Fog aim at making plant cultivation more sustainable and efficient. Their method allows for the on-demand production of foodstuffs, as well as active ingredients for medicine and cosmetics:
Seen from afar, it looks like a green column behind glass. Moving closer, it turns out to be lettuce plants that grow in all directions along the entire length of a thick, round textile tube. Rather than reaching for…
Racing towards new drugs thanks to cell-free protein synthesis
Based in Berlin-Dahlem, the science-oriented start-up PharmaTech is unleashing new opportunities for personalised medicine:
Without proteins, life would be impossible. The macromolecules are made up of amino acids and are a key component of every living cell. Our muscles, heart, brain, skin, and hair consist predominantly of proteins.…
In step with the times
The Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing also helps with making innovation ready for the market:
The brick building at the address Unter den Eichen 87 radiates history. Set in massive stone in Berlin-Lichterfelde, it demonstrates its status as a renowned government institution. “Federal Institute for Materials…
The rainmakers – Flourishing balconies for a greener city
A start-up team in Adlershof is developing a smart watering system for balconies:
With great precision, the start-up Plances—funded by the Adlershof Founder’s Lab (AFL)—will deliver valuable moisture to the balconies of renters across the city. Their mission: Greener, more liveable cities in which…
A place for working—and more
FUHUB is the newest addition to the WISTA Innovation Campus FUBIC and to Berlin’s growing, innovative Southwest. One of the first tenants is SimpliOffice, a young company operating co-working spaces and event venues. :
Cycle to the office. Take a shower before hitting the desk. Grab a quick coffee before the meeting. Go to a sports course later, take a power nap, or a play a round of foosball with the guys from the next-door office.…
KURO – A new start-up is breathing life into the construction industry
At the Adlershof Founder’s Lab, the team is developing software designed to make calculations much easier:
A start-up based at Adlershof Technology Park is working to bring about a revolution in the construction industry. Utilising artificial intelligence, the audacious founders are looking to fundamentally change the way…
AI for trade and transport of commodities
The software company Calypso Commodities develops optimisation solutions for logistics:
The world is changing. Bit by bit, fossil fuels are being replaced. But this will not happen overnight. Until renewable hydrogen creates a green commodities industry and innovative storage concepts make sun and wind…
Lasers on the field
Escarda Technologies GmbH is developing an herbicide-free alternative for weed control at CleanTech Marzahn:
Weed control using herbicides has many disadvantages: It costs worldwide agriculture a good 15 billion euros every year. This trend is increasing sharply, threatening biodiversity, and contaminating foodstuffs and…
The alphabet of the universe
Manuel Dedio has developed an “app for non-enthusiastic mathematicians”:
Although most remember him as a philosopher, Plato was one of the most important promoters of mathematics in ancient Greece. Galileo Galilei, another famous philosopher and scientist, once waxed lyrically about…
A new protective shield against viruses
A team at Freie Universität Berlin (FU) led by Professor Daniel Lauster is working on a nasal spray that wards off flu viruses:
The new FU research centre SupraFAB, short for Supramolecular Functional Architectures at Biological Interfaces, on Altensteinstrasse in Berlin Dahlem, has more to offer than its impressive architecture. On the…
AI for additive manufacturing processes
1000 Kelvin GmbH from the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre is on a growth course with its software for selective laser sintering processes:
The company 1000 Kelvin GmbH from the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC) is on a growth course. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) in additive manufacturing to optimise the quality of metal components and to…
Precision in Marzahn
Carlotta Baumann runs Finetech – a specialist in high-precision placement and assembly systems:
“Hello, Carlotta here,” is what the author of this article first hears from the phone. A little excited maybe, but full of energy and presence. It is seldom that one starts talking with a CEO in this way. Normally,…
Eyes don’t lie
The start-up Amphiprion develops software for biometric identification:
Moving to the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC) is like a journey back in time for the team of the newly founded start-up Amphiprion. Almost ten years ago, they had already been here to help a newly found…
Everything is easier together
The start-up YouCan! supports children, teenagers, and young adults with cancer:
They tend to lie in hospital beds, pull the blankets over their heads, and retreat. Being diagnosed with cancer is a severe blow and a life-changing event, especially for young people. Using an app, the Berlin-based…
Like being held by one’s parents
Benjamin Pardowitz and Maria Enge have developed something reminiscent of training wheels for children — not to help them ride a bike, however, but to help them walk:
The mechanical engineer and the electrical engineer have been working together to realise their big dream since 2021. They want to enable children with physical challenges to be more active and enjoy moving and…
CHIC is starting up businesses in the heart of Berlin
The Charlottenburg Innovation Centre offers more than 60 young companies a home in Berlin’s City West:
Since it opened in early 2011, the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC) has been offering a home to start-ups in Berlin’s City West. More than 60 young companies with 708 employees are currently working here to…
Collaborative and well-connected
CHIC location manager Olivia Budek supports female founders and strengthens their networking in the capital region:
More than 80 percent of all start-ups in Germany are backed by male founders. Against this backdrop, Olivia Budek, the manager of the Charlottenburg Innovation Centre (CHIC), is paying special attention to female…
Predictive maintenance for rail transport
The team of the start-up PANTOhealth wants to increase reliability and punctuality of rail traffic:
Rail is considered the most environmentally friendly form of public transport. But it, too, has its problems. Delays and cancellations are two of them. One reason for why they happen is unscheduled maintenance on the…