UNIVATIONS IN SAXONY ANHALT: HOW TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL PITCHING EVENT?

In 2021, Univations, in the scope of the Erasmus+ project Advancing Rural Development through Entrepreneurship Education for Adults (ARDENT), implemented a “Rural Entrepreneurship Accelerator”. The pitching event from the Rural Entrepreneurship Accelerator was held on August 13th, 2021 by Univations. Below they share with us a few event impressions.

What is your overall impression of the event?

As we had an outdoor location close to a lake (Concordia See), the weather played an important role. We were fortunate as it was sunny and warm. The location’s surroundings fit the topic of rural development perfectly, as the location is embedded in an area of agricultural fields, a meadow with cows and cultivation areas. All participants welcomed the event, the interest in the project was great, and the pitches were very well received. The event was prepared by Univations together with associated Partners from the HS Anhalt Gründerzentrum foundIT!. We prepared the event in close collaboration with our associated partners to make it a success. As COVID-19 measures were lessening, we aspired to host the event offline at a great location, which eventually attracted more participants. We found the Concordia See, 90km north of Halle, to be the perfect spot for such an event. We invited around 50 people. The background of the participants was very mixed. We had, aside from the RC participants, residents, local authorities (Landkreis Bitterfeld), students, young entrepreneurs, and representatives from the HS Anhalt.

How did you organise the pitching event?

Starting with a keynote by Martin Gaedt, we introduced and explained our project, circulating flyers we had printed before the event, and the roadmap and toolbox of the project. We had a workshop given by the keynote speaker on recruiting in rural areas, which turned out to be a lively discussion with significant participation. The pitches were the highlight of the day where the students presented their project outcomes. Two of the rural council members were participating online as a jury. The third jury member was the keynote speaker, who was, of course, present at the event. The students presented their work and gave insight on how they intend to solve problems in the rural area of Saxony Anhalt. The winner chosen by the jury was the real estate app, which should improve the oversight of real estate and their actual value in the rural areas and thus shall increase the interest in urban living people to move outwards into the countryside. Some participants who developed a solution could not attend the event but sent us their project presentations ahead of the day.

The overall feedback of the participants was excellent. They liked the location and the set-up and deemed it an ideal place for a pitch day. We had a few technical issues which could be solved during the event, and students asked for a transfer from the city to the lake next time as the only way to reach the destination was by car. 

What is the general overview of the situation in your region? 

Digital Education: Although not only in Saxony-Anhalt, universities have a high dropout rate for many reasons. Being admitted to a degree/course is relatively easy. The challenge, however, is completing the course successfully. The universities offer no individual guidance. The employers’ standards for work are relatively high. 28% of students in German Higher Education Institutions currently gives up on their bachelor’s degree studies. 6% of students left high school without receiving a diploma – in 2015, that number was 5.8%. Researchers also found that rising birth rates and an increase in immigration resulted in more youths in Germany attending school than did ten years ago. They also noted that a shortage of facilities and teachers could become a severe problem. Researchers also warned that education opportunities were still unevenly distributed throughout German society. Youngsters with immigrant backgrounds and low-income families were less likely to move up the education ladder. Education in rural areas was also found lacking in comparison to cities.

Medical Care in Rural Areas: Germany is facing expanding difficulties to defend general admittance to quality medical services since the arrangement of clinical benefits in provincial regions is contracting. Worldwide proof gives two practical exercises: fortifying essential medical care can reduce the undesired impacts of social and segment change, duty is borne, or government medical care frameworks are more viable in advancing crucial medical care. Local people groups are heterogeneous in alternate manners, contrasting in populace thickness, distance from metropolitan regions, and monetary and social attributes. Several networks neighbouring urban areas are becoming more populated as they offer an alternative for those willing to drive to the workplace or work from home. Provincial regions additionally incorporate meagrely settled outskirts regions, numerous with stagnant or declining economies as the aftereffect of powerlessness to progress based on what was once a generally agrarian settlement. Generally, the more modest, less fortunate, and disengaged a country’s local area is, the more troublesome it is to guarantee the accessibility of top-notch wellbeing administrations. Contrasted and metropolitan networks, country networks will generally have fewer medical care associations and experts, all things considered, minor decision and rivalry among them, and expansive variety in their accessibility at the neighbourhood level.

Can you please describe the teams that have participated in the Rural Entrepreneurship Accelerator? 

Team 1: Solutions for the challenge: digital education Digi-Edu Deutschland 

Description of the challenge: Our short-term goal is to attract as many people as possible to the project to reduce the rate of dropouts, especially amongst teenagers. For the long-term goal, the team is planning to access all parts of Germany to decrease illiteracy levels as much as possible.

Team 2: Solutions for the challenge: digital education Educamus (consisting of 5 students)

Description of the Challenge: Developing a product that would provide an opportunity to everyone seeking knowledge, and has limited access to necessary resources or need a flexible schedule. The target groups are thus people of all ages, different market groups from dropouts to undergraduates to job seekers and even older people.

Team 3: VR-Memory Games – Medical care in rural areas (consisting of 5 students)

Description of the Challenge: The Group idea is to explore the use of VR Memory Games to assess and improve cognitive functions for elderly patients. The application connected with VR equipment will be developed to play VR Memory Games. It stores all data related to patient progress and illness history as long as the app is used. This solution would result in less dependency on medical staff and more health due to self-medication for older adults in rural areas.

Team 4: Novella Food Production – mealworm farming (consisting of 3 students)

Description of the Challenge: Development of alternative protein sources for animal feeding.

Team 5: ImmoConnection – real estate app (consisting of 2 students)

Description of the Challenge: Create transparency, heterogeneity and smallness as barriers to entry (investment inhibitors) as far as possible for private investors.