May 12, 2026
Decision in the "Sachsen gründet - Start-up 2026" competition
On May 8, 2026, Saxony's entrepreneur of the year was honored at a festive awards ceremony in Volkswagen's Transparent Factory. The special prize "Sachsen gründet - Start-up 2026" was also awarded, which is aimed at founders from Saxony with an innovative business idea who founded their company between January 2021 and December 2024. In this special category, former and current students and doctoral students of the faculty have been very successful.
Emily Hickmann (Digital Health research group) and Elisa Röhr (alumna) were among the four finalists who were able to present themselves with a pitch at the award ceremony. The special prize was awarded to those who were able to convince the audience. The jury's choice and an online vote in the run-up to the gala were also included in the overall assessment.
Elisa Röhr, founder of 1mal1japan GmbH, was ultimately awarded the special prize. 1mal1japan brings Japanese food culture to Germany on an e-commerce platform with thousands of customers - authentic, approachable and with clear quality standards.
An outstanding second place went to Emily Hickmann, who offers ActiveTEP, a digital solution that supports patients before and after hip operations and rethinks digital care in the healthcare sector.
We would like to congratulate Elisa Röhr and Emily Hickmann!
The entrepreneur portraits can be viewed again here:
Portrait Elisa Röhr
Portrait Emily Hickmann