Startup Pitch
Startup Pitch
4 start-ups from Germany and Austria wanted to convince the top-class jury of the first place _ startup pitch. Under the eyes of NRW’s Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Affairs, Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, the VR-Health start-up PsyCurio was able to assert itself.
Startups
(c) Places _ VR Festival /Frank Vinken
Artivive
AR-App for artists* from Vienna
Artivive offers artists and museums a user-friendly augmented reality app that allows them to combine analogue and digital art.
(c) Places _ VR Festival /Frank Vinken
Curvature Games
VR-Games with innovative locomotion from Hamburg
Curvature Games develops virtual reality games based on a scientifically validated technology that enables natural walking in VR in a small space.
(c) Places _ VR Festival /Frank Vinken
Skytrip360
VR flight taxi from Hamburg
SkyTrip360 combines real 360° video and interactive virtual reality. Up to 6 users climb into a real flying object and experience a virtual panoramic flight together.
(c) Places _ VR Festival /Frank Vinken
PsyCurio
VR-Psychotherapy from Paderborn
PsyCurio is a virtual reality software for the treatment of mental illness. VR is combined with psychological and neuroscientific findings.
(c) Places _ VR Festival /Frank Vinken
Daniela Schuhmacher of PsyCurio has won the competition against the AR art app Artivive, the virtual reality game developers of Curvature Games and the VR round-flight startup Skytrip. PsyCurio’s concept and innovative approach convinced the jury, which is made up of venture capitalists, business promoters and experts from the start-up industry.
Impressions
The Jury
Susanne Becker
Wirtschaftsförderung Gelsenkirchen
Susanne Becker is a research assistant at the Economic Development Department of the City of Gelsenkirchen. The graduate economist and tourism business economist is the contact person for the creative industry and project manager of the Places _ Virtual Reality Festival at the Economic Development Agency.
Since 2008, she has been intensively involved in location development in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf, where she has provided significant impulses for image and location development around Bochumer Straße with creative projects and actors.
Johannes Behringer
In May 2018 he graduated Yale summa cum laude and with Distinction in Ethics, Politics and Economics, having been elected to Phi Beta Kappa early. He is an alumnus of Yale’s Brady-Johnson Program in Grand Strategy, and of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.
Marcel Vogler
Marcel obtained a Master’s degree from WHU while working at numerous startups and companies throughout his studies. As co-owner of several McDonald’s franchises he has a deep understanding of operations. In his role as Junior Partner at Freigeist he works with founders on scaling operations, boosting sales and streamlining finances.
Oliver Weimann
Oliver Weimann is a multiple founder and has been an active part of the German start-up scene for over 10 years. Due to his passionate motivation, his extensive network and his diverse experiences he is one of the central figures of the scene in the Ruhr area today. With the RuhrSummit 2016, he initiated the publicity-effective birth of the regional scene and brought all important partners to active cooperation. This lively network of private initiatives is intended to ensure the dynamism and unpredictability of the Ruhr region in the future.