With KICKSTART, Hof University of Applied Sciences has launched a funding program that starts at a very early stage of a potential start-up – with the development of ideas and prototypes. The KICKSTART teams have six months to develop their idea into an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) or prototype. Today, in our sixth episode, we present the “Kat-Energy” team.
The mission
The long-term goal of the project is to produce photo fuel cells that remove water impurities by oxidation and generate energy in the process. The development of a test set-up for initial investigations of such a system is being carried out with artificial and real wastewater.
How did you come up with this idea?
“Due to the current energy crisis, environmental technology processes must also become increasingly efficient. This gave rise to the idea of operating a titanium dioxide-based solar cell using micropollutants as fuel and generating energy during the decomposition of the micropollutants instead of consuming it. This would make energy-positive, advanced wastewater treatment systems conceivable. However, the idea is still at the laboratory prototype stage.”
Studying or working alone is already very time-consuming and exhausting. Nevertheless, you are still working on developing your own start-up idea at the same time. Where do you get your motivation from?
“In the end, our projects are very application-oriented. However, the idea presented here is almost basic research. The coatings used were developed in another project and are now being subjected to the first tests with the Kickstart-funded prototype in order to generate a proof of concept.”
The Kickstart program is intended to promote the further development of ideas that are at a very early stage. You have up to 7,500 euros of financial support available for this. How do you use the funding specifically?
“We have mainly used the funding to finance materials, semi-finished products and chemicals to produce our own demonstrator on a laboratory scale. The conductive coated glass in particular is very cost-intensive. We used part of the funding to expand an analysis device so that we can automatically analyze many samples from the experiments.
We mainly used the funding to finance materials, semi-finished products and chemicals in order to produce our own demonstrator on a laboratory scale. The conductive coated glass in particular is very cost-intensive. We used some of the funds to expand an analysis device so that we can analyze many samples from the experiments automatically.”
At the end of the six months: Do you already know what the future holds for you? What are your long-term goals? Are you aiming to found a company?
“Actually, the real work won’t start until after the project. We’ll analyze and publish the data we’ve gathered, we’ll sound out whether SMEs would like to pursue the idea with us and whether it will result in an R&D project. If the data is promising, we can aim to found a company directly, which is something I already have experience of from my other two start-ups. It is definitely right and important that we can pursue a rather risky idea through Kick-Start, even if it is still a long way from technical implementation.”
What have you learned from the project so far? What would you like to pass on to other people interested in founding a company?
“Unfortunately, it has to be said that the six months are very short. This is mainly due to the delivery difficulties for the special materials we need. The data that we generate and the initial proof of concept of the idea is worth its weight in gold and helps us to sound out whether the idea is even viable and whether it could be worth marketing in the near future. It has to be said that the application for funding is simple and you can access the funds very unbureaucratically. I would therefore recommend everyone to implement their own ideas with the Kick-Start program.”
Further information on the Kickstart project can be found here…
