Smart Wearables x Textiles Accelerator Programme: Winning teams announced!

From 26th June to 16th July 2017, start-up companies and research teams from Berlin were given the opportunity to apply with their innovative concepts and solutions in the field of smart wearables and textiles - now the six winning teams have been announced. Between August and November 2017, the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises and the start-up company AtomLeap will be assisting these teams in developing their business model to become a marketable product by arranging individual multi-day workshops.

Beyond that, the teams will get the opportunity to meet established companies and to enter into cooperations with industry partners as part of accompanying networking events. From about 20 submissions, an expert jury has chosen those start-ups whose applications were particularly convincing.

• AiServe develop smart glasses that allow visionally impaired people to be navigated using voice control and automatic image recognition.
• "Soft Prosthesis" by Phantom allows wearers to feel what has so far only been possible through complicated and expensive surgeries.
• Shortcut offers wearables for enhanced use of computer interfaces for people with artificial hands.
• Smarterials have developed surgical gloves that reduce the risk of injury and infection for healthcare personnel while providing the same tactile sensitivity that thin gloves offer.
• ProGlove manufactures smart sensor-controlled gloves for industrial use - from assembly to supermarket logistic applications.
• Evalu combines sensor-controlled shoe soles as well as a smartphone app with audio feedback to optimize training runs and body posture.
  
  

Ramona Pop, Senator for Economic Affairs, describes the aim of the Smart Wearables x Textiles Accelerator Programme: "Our aim is to apply technology in practice, provide reliable support for start-up companies and increase the potential for the growth area of smart wearable products in Berlin".

The winning teams were determined based on the following criteria

• Innovative potential of technology and business model
• Autonomy of the competition entry
• The founding team's background and expertise
• User perspective (advantages, benefits and added value of the solution)
• Market and disruption potential

The Accelerator Programme is rounded off by a "Demo Day" which is held in late October where all teams will be given the opportunity to present their business models to the interested public and to win 10,000 Euros in prize money.

Within the framework of the competition, the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises and AtomLeap will also enable two additional teams to meet with companies and industry partners in Berlin. In the jury's opinion, ProGlove's and Evalu's business cases were of particular interest - a fact that led to the idea of promoting the interface potential of the innovative products from both companies for the industry, logistics and lifestyle even beyond the competition.

For more information visit <link https://projektzukunft.berlin.de/wettbewerbe/laufende-wettbewerbe/smart-wearables-x-smart-textiles-2017.html - - "Opens internal link in current window">here</link>.