Founder laboratories: “Magdeburg Uni becomes hotspot for innovative start-ups”

Ude opens founder laboratories: €1 m from “ego.-INKUBATOR” programme for “Additiv+” and “FabLab”

Stimulus for innovative spin-off companies from science: today, State Secretary Dr Jürgen Ude officially opened what is in total the eleventh founder laboratory of the University of Magdeburg. The new production lab “Additiv+” was funded with EUR 700,000 from the “ego.-INKUBATOR” programme – in it, those who are interested in starting a business can try out producing and post-processing components and prototypes through selective laser melting in realistic fashion. The expanded “FabLab” was also inaugurated today. In this mini factory, students can develop their creative ideas into complex prototypes through innovative design and production processes. The expansion was funded with EUR 300,000 from the “ego.-INKUBATOR” programme.

Ude said: “Our universities have everything needed for successful start-ups: expertise from excellent research and dedicated people with creative ideas. The state-funded incubators help these good ideas to become innovative start-ups. Here, students, graduates and staff members have the opportunity to try their hand and to develop business ideas on a practical basis. With now its eleventh incubator, Magdeburg Uni is increasingly becoming a hotspot for academic founders.”

The production laboratory “Additiv+” is aimed above all at individuals from the areas of engineering, mechatronics or medical technology who are interested in starting their own business. It includes a laser-melting system, a precision grinding machine and a special light microscope for the precise evaluation of surfaces. The existing “FabLab” was expanded to include items such as machines for the fast production of injection moulds and an injection-moulding machine.

With the “ego.-INKUBATOR” programme, launched in 2010, the state is supporting the expansion of the founder infrastructure at the state’s universities. Funding is provided, for example, for the setup of laboratories, founder rooms, workshops and pilot plants, in addition to personnel expenses for support staff and operating costs – a maximum of EUR 700,000 for new incubators and up to EUR 300,000 for expansions. In the current EU structural funds period (2014-2020), so far 18 projects with a total volume of approximately EUR 10 million have been funded by ERDF funds of the state.