Innovative spirit at DC-IAPP: Two teams impress at first start-up competition

In May 2025, the Dresden Integrated Centre for Applied Physics and Photonic Materials (DC-IAPP) at TU Dresden hosted its first start-up competition in cooperation with the Robert Luther Foundation. The aim of the competition was to give scientists the opportunity to develop innovative business ideas and present them to a jury. A total of six projects were submitted – all of which impressed with their scientific excellence and start-up potential.

The jury consisting of Prof. Dr. Andreas Pinkwart, TUD|excite, Prof. Dr. Sebastian Reineke, DC-IAPP, Dr. Philipp Wellmann, PRUUVE GmbH, and Prof. Dr. Karl Leo, DC-IAPP selected two winning teams, which will receive both financial support and access to resources at the DC-IAPP:

•1st place: Ali Solgi and Yeohoon Yoon received €10,000 to further develop their project idea "Double-Sided OECT: Enabling Scalable, Integrated Biosensing" and a personal prize of €1,000. Their project: a novel electrochemical transistor that can be used to implement sensory functions for flexible electronics particularly elegantly on or even in the human body. The jury praised both the technological innovation and the potential for a successful spin-off.

• 2nd place: Tommy Meier, Rakesh Nair and Jörn Vahland were awarded €5,000 and a personal prize of €500 for their concept “Highly Sustainable CO2 Capture and Storage” for direct CO₂ removal from the atmosphere. By combining leaf skeletons with a so-called eutectic, they are developing an efficient and cost-effective method for CO₂ capture – a promising contribution with excellent market potential.

The initiative for the start-up competition originated in the board of trustees of the Robert Luther Foundation. Its aim is to promote creative minds with start-up ideas in a low-threshold and efficient manner. Not only are financial resources available – the winning teams also gain access to the DC-IAPP laboratories to quickly and efficiently further develop their concepts. In addition, they benefit from close cooperation with the TUD | Exzellence Centre for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship (TUD|excite).