Start-up Week 2014 – We’re taking part

Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 12 November 2014: An innovative product or a creative idea alone is usually not enough to successfully launch a business. A solid business plan, a sound financial foundation and, above all, an entrepreneurial mindset are essential for setting up a business. Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences offers support in this regard to its students, as well as to those interested in starting a business and young entrepreneurs, through a varied and exciting programme of events as part of Start-up Week Germany.

Innovation and creativity are at the heart of the ‘Design Thinking Bootcamp’ on Monday 17 November from 3 pm at the Kamp-Lintfort campus, which focuses on teaching strategies for developing ideas.

At ‘Start-up Day’ on Tuesday 18 November in Kamp-Lintfort, students will have the opportunity to seek advice on self-employment and setting up a business during an expert speed-dating session with representatives from organisations including Business Angels Ruhr, and to present their own ideas in poster form. Holger Schnapka, an economics graduate and start-up adviser at the Lower Rhine Chamber of Industry and Commerce, will give a talk on Tuesday in Kleve on the topic of setting up a business.

On Wednesday 19 November from 3 pm in Kleve, two founders will begin by sharing their experiences. Florian Michajlezko, founder of ergobag/Fonds of bags GmbH and winner of various start-up awards, and Niklas Palm, a student at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and founder of derbierbaum.de, will answer questions from the audience before the award ceremony for the ‘Best-idea-start-up-business-brains Cup 2014’ for students at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences takes place.

The INTERREG IV A project ‘Rhein-Waal Knowledge Alliance 2020’ organises cross-border events for students from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and the University of Duisburg-Essen, as well as from Nijmegen, Wageningen, Eindhoven and Arnhem. In addition to the second edition of ‘Pressure Cooker Day’, this year’s programme will also include a workshop and a masterclass on the topic of entrepreneurship.

For a whole week, students will take part in a workshop led by Prof. Dr Dietrich Darr, Professor of Agribusiness, focusing on the topic of ‘Entrepreneurship / Business Simulation’.

Information sessions on starting a business – aimed particularly at international students – a self-confidence training session and a ‘selfie campaign’ are further highlights of this start-up week.

Finally, on Friday 21 November, ‘Climate Ideas Day’ will take place on the Kamp-Lintfort campus in collaboration with the zdi centres at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, featuring, amongst other things, the prize-giving ceremony for the ‘Climate Ideas Competition’ and the ‘Climate Show’ by the Physikanten for pupils in Years 9 to 13.

Start-up Week Germany is taking place across Germany from 17 to 23 November 2014 and is an initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. In cooperation with Global Entrepreneurship Week, over 140 countries worldwide are taking part; in 2013 alone, this inspired around 7.5 million people – mainly young people – to embrace innovative ideas, start-ups and entrepreneurship.

Anyone interested is warmly invited to attend selected public events. Admission is free. The full programme and further details of Start-up Week 2014 at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences can be found online at www.hochschule-rhein-waal.de.

For further information, please contact Ms Karla Kaminski by telephone on 02821 80673-381 or by email at karla.kaminski@hochschule-rhein-waal.de. If you have any questions regarding events in Kamp-Lintfort, please contact Ms Andrea da Silva on 02842 90825-288 or by email at andrea.dasilva(at)hochschule-rhein-waal.de.