PATEC: Passau – The Entrepreneurial Campus Intercultural Start-up Hub
First Entrepreneurship Day at the University of Passau
On Thursday, October 13, 2022, the first Entrepreneurship Day (E'Day) took place in the Innsteg Aula of the University of Passau with about 200 start-up enthusiasts. The great interest showed not only Passau's lively start-up scene, but also the University of Passau's path to becoming a start-up university. The event was organized as part of the PATEC project (Passau - The Entrepreneurial Campus) and moderated by Constanze Ruesga Rath, Research Associate at the Chair of Intercultural Communication.
The Entrepreneurship Day started with the workshops "How to start a Start-up" by Katharina Berres, founder of Mountain Zebra, and "Project Management for Founders" by the student consultancy INSTEAD.
Shortly after, Professor Christoph Barmeyer opened the final event of the University of Passau's Honours Degree in Entrepreneurship certificate program, which nine teams completed, presenting their business ideas in a final pitch.
After the official welcome speech by Professor Robert Obermaier, Vice President for Research at the University of Passau, Veronika Hackl, founder of Franz der Bettenbauer and bananaflippers, gave an inspiring keynote speech about simply trying out and not letting one's own fear slow you down.
Afterwards, the first Entrepreneurship Award of the University of Passau, endowed with 3,000 euros and a mentoring, was presented by Dr. Fritz Audebert, Chairman of the Neuburger Gesprächskreis and CEO and founder of ICUnet.AG. The winner was Tim Mergelsberg, a former student of International Cultural and Business Studies at the University of Passau, with his company nevi GmbH. Nevi produces birch bark material for interior design, design studios and the flooring industry.
In the following dynamic PATEC, PITCHES and PIZZA event, four teams presented themselves in a short pitch on stage and the audience voted on their favorite. The winner of the audience vote was the start-up Upcycle, which converts used bicycle inner tubes into bags.
At the start-up fair that accompanied the entire afternoon, the start-ups also had the chance to present their start-ups to a broad audience and to exchange ideas and network with company representatives, mentors, fellow students and potential investors.
To sum up, the first Entrepreneurship Day of the University of Passau was a great success and we are already looking forward to the continuation next year in 2023.
Enormous potential for creative ideas
Half-time in the PATEC project: Supporting people who want to start up in the best possible way
Intercultural Entrepreneurship Community Event
On May 09, 2022, the launch of the joint intercultural entrepreneurship community between Bavaria and Québec took place. The event was organized by Professor Christoph Barmeyer, Constanze Ruesga Rath and Sina Großkopf from the Chair of Intercultural Communication, together with Professor Kerstin Kuyken from the E S G UQAM (École des Sciences de la Gestion of the Université du Québec à Montréal).
The goal of the joint Entrepreneur Community is to connect founders, students and researchers from Bavaria and Québec.
For this reason, the event was hosted via the virtual showroom Agora - a software created by the Québec company: Atypic Labs.
This particular venue represented a new and interesting experience for many: Atypic Labs' mission is to overcome the typical interpersonal hurdles of a usual online meeting and thus provide an interactive experience. In this way, it was possible to successfully pursue the main goal of the event: The emergence and deepening of a Entrepreneur community between Bavaria and Québec, in order to further exploit the cultural and economic potential of the two regions and to inspire each other interculturally and entrepreneurially.
In the dynamic and interactive spaces of Agora, aspiring entrepreneurs from Bavaria and Québec were able to exchange ideas, and the already successful founders were able to share their experiences and intercultural challenges in starting a business. Promising contacts were made, helpful information was exchanged and the entrepreneur community between Québec and Bavaria was deeply strengthened. Thus, the community event and the launch can be considered a full success!
Closing event of the proseminar „Intercultural Entrepreneurship & Design Thinking” by Constanze Ruesga Rath
The closing event of the proseminar "Intercultural Entrepreneurship & Design Thinking" by Constanze Ruesga Rath on January 28, 2022 was a great success. Just like at semester start, the entrepreneurs Krista Anderson with ESSTAR, Ernesto Ruiz and Jan Sliva with RUIZ Modedesign as well as Ahmet Deniz from Establi were invited as guests. At the beginning of the semester, they presented the students with the following Design Thinking Challenges about their businesses:
ESSTAR: "Design a snacking experience for people in France that takes their cultural preferences and customs into account."
Establi: "Redesign a state's provision of bureaucratic paperwork (for founders) so that it is equally accessible to people with language barriers."
RUIZ Modedesign: "How should/must the environment be designed to make RUIZ Modedesign sustainably successful in Passau?"
The students presented the insightful results of their Design Thinking Challenges, on which they had worked with great dedication and creativity throughout the semester. In the discussion that followed, the entrepreneurs and guests had the chance to ask questions and exchange ideas with the students. The seminar was a great enrichment for both students and entrepreneurs and both sides could learn from each other.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank the students for their great commitment and creative solutions, as well as the entrepreneurs who enriched the course with their practical challenges and gave the students a good insight into the life of an entrepreneur.
2. Community Night: “Intercultural Entrepreneurship – Inspiring Life Stories and Founding Journeys”
On December 1, 2021, the 2nd Community Night of the Interculturality Start-up Hub took place. The event was organized by Constanze Ruesga Rath of the Chair of Intercultural Communication as part of PATEC (Passau the Entrepreneurial Campus).
Once again, an inspiring comprehensive program was offered. In addition to the presentation of the start-up offers of the University of Passau, two founders were invited to talk about their life story and founding journey: What motivated them to found, which hurdles did they have to overcome, how did they come up with their ideas, what intercultural challenges did they face and how did they solve them? We are very pleased to have had the US-American founder and CEO of ESSTAR, Krista Anderson, as our guest. After her own illness, she set herself the goal of making healthy snacks more accessible in the USA under the motto: Making the healthy choice, the easy choice, and thus contributing to a healthier society. Also invited was Ümit Uzun with his company Charterbar Yachting, who managed to combine his passion for the sea with entrepreneurship. Whether Croatia, Italy, the Caribbean or other popular travel destinations - the Turkish-born founder makes it possible for those interested in sailing to discover extraordinary destinations by yacht. Afterwards, Professor Kerstin Kuyken from the Université du Québec à Montréal presented the ideas of a joint founder community between Montreal (Québec) and Passau (Bavaria) and it was discussed in the plenum.
First PATEC Community Night - Inspiring Insights into Intercultural Entrepreneurship
On December 17, 2020, the first Community Night of the Interculturality Hub on the topic of “Intercultural Entrepreneurship“ was organized by Constanze Ruesga Rath within the project PATEC - Passau the Entrepreneurial Campus.
After an introductory presentation by Professor Barmeyer on “Intercultural Entrepreneurship“, two internationally operating startups enriched the evening with their presentations and the subsequent discussion: On the one hand Vivian Loftin from recyda, a startup that enables companies to produce in a more environmentally friendly way with a software for recording worldwide recycling standards. On the other hand, Daniel Moncayo from Galeras Coffee, which distributes his grandfather's Colombian coffee in Germany, brings producers and consumers together and ensures more responsible purchasing decisions through transparency. We wish both startups all the best on their road ahead!
Another highlight of the evening was the internationality of the audience, which included among participants from the University of Passau, also students and professors from the University of Minnesota Duluth, USA, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, Turkish-German University, Istanbul and University of Pavia, Italy. We were very happy about the lively participation of up to 70 participants!
With this fond memory, we now wish you all relaxing holidays and a happy new year!
Your Chair of Intercultural Communication
Event information: PATEC Community Night – Intercultural Entrepreneurship December 17th, 2020 from 6 to 8pm
On December 17, 2020, a virtual community night on the topic of “Intercultural Entrepreneurship” will take place from 6 to 8pm via Zoom, hosted by the initiatives PATEC (Passau the Entrepreneurial Campus) and DTE (Digital Technology and Entrepreneurship) and organized by Constanze Ruesga Rath from the Chair of Intercultural Communication. After a presentation of the various start-up support programs in Passau, Professor Christoph Barmeyer will start the evening with a short introduction on intercultural management. Afterwards, student entrepreneurs will report on their founding journey, with a special focus on (inter)cultural aspects. One of the start-ups presenting is “recyda” which has taken up the important challenge to help companies produce more environmentally consciously. They are developing a software that registers the different recycling standards of the various countries, so that companies can select the best recyclable packaging for their products. The second company, “galeras coffee”, distributes Colombian coffee of the grandfather of one of the founders and wants to help consumers make better consumer decisions and thus create a better life for coffee farmers through increased transparency. After these exciting stories, there will be opportunities for interactive discussion and networking.
We are looking forward to meeting you virtually!
Event Registration: https://uni-passau.zoom.us/j/95732308796?pwd=SDhMVWlySFRRUkRReGRzMXlheVJFdz09
Further information about the companies can be found under the following links:
Recyda:Recyda | Recyclability Assessment Software
Galeras coffee: bienvenidos | galerascoffee
For further information please contact Constanze Ruesga Rath (constanze.rath@uni-passau.de)
PATEC
The University of Passau wants to realize the great founder potential of Passau's students and develop into a real entrepreneurial university. Therefore, on September 1, 2020 the project: Passau - The Entrepreneurial Campus (PATEC) launched, supported by the BMWi program EXIST-Potentiale for over five years with almost two million Euros. The project aims to raise awareness, connect, and consult students about starting their own business in order to establish an active and vivid start-up culture at the University of Passau, especially targeting students of the humanities, social and cultural sciences as well as female students.
In addition to a sustainable and digital start-up hub, an intercultural start-up hub will be established under the direction of the Chair of Intercultural Communication and the research assistant and PhD student Constanze Ruesga Rath. Through the Intercultural start-up hub, aspects of culture, internationality and interculturality will be integrated into traditional elements of entrepreneurship, which nowadays are also indispensable for start-ups.
Next to the Chair for Intercultural Communication, the Transfer Center and various chairs/institutes of all faculties of the University of Passau are involved in PATEC. Furthermore, a network consisting of alumni founders, the INN.KUBATOR Passau, the BayStartUP, the Hans Lindner Foundation, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Niederbayern, the HWK Niederbayern-Oberpfalz, experienced coaches and mentors as well as seed-investors will be established to support the students in their start-up projects.
Under the following link you will find further information: https://www.uni-passau.de/bereiche/presse/pressemeldungen/meldung/detail/bund-foerdert-gruendungskultur-projekt-der-universitaet-passau/
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