Winners of phase 2 in the Northern Bavaria 2025 business plan competition

ENDOLEASE (University Hospital Würzburg) is developing an implantable platform technology for the precise, localised release of drugs directly into the arterial bloodstream. This technology minimises systemic side effects and maximises treatment efficiency through targeted drug delivery to affected tissues or organs. ENDOLEASE has great potential for difficult-to-treat diseases in cardiology, oncology, neurology and transplantation medicine.

BreatheAssist from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg is a new type of intensive care ventilator. The measuring and control unit on the patient reacts in real time to every breathing impulse. For the first time, the system completely compensates for tube resistance and enables ‘electronic extubation’. Patients breathe naturally, remain conscious and maintain their respiratory muscles. The advantages are less lung damage, shorter ventilation times, reduced need for sedation and considerable relief for hospital staff.

fiveD from Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg is developing a hyper-realistic radar simulation platform. Thanks to physics-based modelling, radar systems can be efficiently developed, optimised and validated - from sensor hardware to AI-supported signal processing. Companies from the automotive industry, aerospace, automation and other sectors benefit from accelerated development cycles, lower costs and improved performance.

Rivercyte (Max Planck Centre for Physics and Medicine Erlangen) is fundamentally changing clinical infection diagnostics in newborns by recording the physical properties of blood cells for the first time. All that is needed is a drop of blood, the cells of which are deformed using high-throughput microscopy and AI-based image analysis in combination with microfluidics, and the infection status is sensed from this. This makes infection diagnostics faster, cheaper and standardised.

Pelora from Erlangen is developing a high-precision indoor positioning system that enables the real-time localisation of Bluetooth-enabled devices such as smartphones, tags and sensors with an accuracy of 10-50 cm. The technology enables both app-free and app-based mobile phone tracking. Pelora provides location data for industries such as retail, logistics and manufacturing where location data is critical - for location-based services and analytics, or process monitoring and automation.

For 25 years, the Businessplan Wettbewerb Nordbayern has been the first startup competition in Germany to specifically target founders in the region who want to take off with their participation when entering the market.

ENDOLEASE founder Dr Anna Fleischer says:

"We are taking part in the business plan competition to further develop our innovative concept, receive targeted expert feedback and expand our network. The opportunity to sharpen our business strategy and attract potential partners and investors is particularly valuable for us."

Applications in phase 3 possible until June 4th.

Founders from Franconia and the Upper Palatinate can still enter the second phase of the competition until 4 June 2025 - even if they did not take part in phase 1 or 2. The focus is on team, roadmap and financials. All information on the competition can be found at www.baystartup.de/businessplan-wettbewerbe.