Young startups have the opportunity to apply for Batch #5 of the inCUBE Incubator until April 28 and benefit from individual coaching and a strong network. For the first time, we are opening our doors not only to teams from the IT security sector, but also to startups interested in working on future communication technologies (5G/6G). The Next Gen Incubator inCUBE is specifically geared towards the needs of early-stage start-ups in the future fields of 5G/6G and IT security. Here, ambitious teams can expect a five-month journey full of tailored training and practical support. Participants are trained in the key areas of startup mindset, ecosystem building and impact entrepreneurship. The teams receive intensive support in developing business models, building their companies, developing sales strategies as well as online and HR marketing. They also benefit from a strong regional and national start-up ecosystem with partners from research and industry. Teams of at least two people from all over Germany can apply. Participation is free of charge. The application deadline for Batch #5 is April 28, 2024. Further information and details on the application process can be found here.
Startup
Cube 5 / WSC Matchmaking Event: Find Your Perfect Startup Partner!
On December 5, 2023, starting at 4:30 PM, the Open Space in the MC Building at RUB will host an exciting matchmaking event. The Cube 5 / WSC Matchmaking Event provides the perfect opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and potential team members for your startup idea.
Whether you’re already working on a promising startup idea or just exploring the world of startups, this is where you can find your perfect match. Perhaps you’re searching for team members with different skills, whether it’s in the fields of business, IT security or other disciplines. This event brings together students, postdocs, and co-founders from various departments at RUB. The event offers the following agenda:
- Inspirational keynotes by Jan Löwer, CEO of Deeplify and Neal Dietrich, Startup Coach at Incubator Heatlh+ on topics related to the “Team” factor
- The opportunity to find your match during speed-dating sessions
- Casual networking over pizza and drinks
Registration is open until November 29. Sign up now at https://matchmaking.cube-five.de/ to secure your spot!
Startup Identeco gets StartUpSecure funding of 770,000 euros
As part of the “StartUpSecure” initiative, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research has been funding the Bonn-based company for one year since June 2023. Identeco was founded in 2020 by Dr. Matthias Wübbeling and Prof. Dr. Michael Meier. The startup protects companies and accounts of customers and employees in the B2B sector from account takeovers.
The two founders know each other through their work at the University of Bonn and conducted research together between 2017 and 2020 on a BMBF project, whereby their subjects first encouraged the results to be made available as a service. Matthias Wübbeling did his PhD at the University of Bonn and Michael Meier holds the Chair of IT Security at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Bonn and is head of the Cyber Security Department at Fraunhofer FKIE. In an interview with Cube 5, Matthias Wübbeling answered five questions for us.
How do you secure more than 100 million accounts from being taken over by criminals?
Actually, we help our clients to protect their accounts. These are usually accounts on online platforms such as social media, shops or layalty programmes. We search the depths of the internet for users’ login data. These are exchanged and traded there and then misused by criminals for attacks. After analysis by our systems, our customers can then effectively prevent abuse within their own infrastructure and thus provide a secure platform for consumers. This ensures trust in the platform and strengthens the loyalty of our customers.
What differences did you notice from science to business?
Companies often have different requirements for services for a demonstrator or a proof-of-principle in research. We had to completely redevelop the entire framework – our analysis pipeline, the backend software and the appliance – for our buyers in order to meet the high security requirements of our clientele.
What have been your biggest challenges so far?
We are all computer scientists. This means that we know our solution very well and do good work, but selling it to international companies and corporations is a very different business. Here we had to learn two things in particular: “Companies don’t always buy the best product on the market” and “We don’t have to sell a product by our performance alone, but also by our company name”. Today, Identeco itself is a good brand in the IT security market. A good three years after our founding, we have many regular customers, some of whom have been with us since the beginning and continue to renew our services and book additional services.
In which area of your business will the funding be particularly helpful?
The funding flows primarily into development. As providers in the IT security sector, we must have a secure software environment ourselves. We need performant infrastructures – after all, we have more than 30 billion entries in our database, which is searched several hundred times a day – and we have to invest in education and documentation for our customers and consumers. In addition, we are still looking for more test subjects for our products. Since leaked login data poses a massive threat to all industries and sectors, but different requirements exist in each industry, we still have many requirements to collect and implement so that we can soon protect all accounts in companies and on platforms.
How can Cube 5 continue to support you in the future?
Cube 5 supported us very well from the very beginning. From the first sketch of request to the final application. Many thanks at this point. And it doesn’t stop after the application. Through Cube 5, we are part of the SpeedUpSecure Accelerator, where we receive a lot of valuable input for our business development. In addition, we were recently guests at the Cube 5 stand at Digital Demo Day in Düsseldorf for the second time and are always in contact with potential customers via the Cube 5 network.
Clicked
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (in German): StartUpSecure
Startup: https://identeco.de/
AI startup ai.dopt receives StartUpSecure funding
Before we talk about recent developments, can you briefly describe what solution ai.dopt offers in the field of artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence (AI) holds enormous potential to change the way we work and do business. But implementing AI projects is challenging – especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition to financial and human resources, there is often a lack of expertise in topics such as IT security and data protection. We offer easy and secure access to AI-powered value creation for all companies. Our software solution enables the secure application of artificial intelligence – without prior knowledge and with just a few clicks. This means that the existing expert knowledge in the company, e.g. on existing data, can be used efficiently and in a way that adds value.
You all originally come from southern Germany. How did you end up in the Ruhr area and at the Ruhr-Universität?
As a team, we have known each other for a very long time and very well, as we already worked together in different constellations before ai.dopt. The idea to found ai.dopt came up during a phase in which we were all busy with our master’s or doctoral theses. During this time, the Ruhr University Bochum with the start-up center of the World Factory Bochum was also recommended to us by the start-up we were friends with – Lidrotec GmbH. As a team, we were open to which city we would go to, so we evaluated Bochum as the perfect location for us in the field of IT security. In October 2021, we received funding of € 240,000 through the “Start-up Transfer.NRW” funding program and were able to start as part of the “Pandia” research project with Prof. Dr. Thorsten Berger at the Faculty of Computer Science at Ruhr University Bochum.
How would you rate your time at the RUB?
As a complete success. Here we designed and developed a prototype. We were also able to win our first customers and development partners. At the same time, the RUB with its ecosystem and the institutions located here, such as the Horst Görtz Institute, the Max Planck Institute, and the cybersecurity incubator Cube 5, were important points of contact for us when it came to starting up. Last April, ai.dopt GmbH was founded as a research spin-off from the Faculty of Computer Science at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, which has already created 10 jobs.
How did you get to know Bochum and its ecosystem?
The open-mindedness, sociability and down-to-earthness that is said to characterize the people in the Ruhr region is something we have definitely encountered here right from the start. We benefit greatly from the contacts and networks that have opened up for us in the past year.
Where do you currently stand?
At the moment, our focus is on testing the software with various development partners from research and pilot customers from industry. In October, we were able to acquire a grant of € 737,000 through the StartUpSecure program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which was another important milestone for us.
What’s next for you?
We will definitely remain loyal to Bochum. In addition to the funding from the StartUpSecure program, the Bochum Economic Development Agency has accepted us into the Startup Incubator WERK X. Here we receive funding of another € 33,000 and new great office space in the middle of Bochum’s city center. On this basis, we can now further expand our team. To this end, we are also looking for students as interns or working students – of course also from the RUB.
Cube 5 seeks startups for cybersecurity incubator inCUBE Batch #2
The Cube 5 team from Bochum is sending its Next Gen Startup Incubator inCUBE into the next round. Early-stage cybersecurity startups can apply for Batch #2 until 30 September and benefit from customised coaching and networking content.
With inCUBE, Cube 5 has developed an innovative Next Gen incubator for the difficult first steps in the start-up process, which is completely tailored to the needs of early-stage start-ups in the areas of cybersecurity and IT security. The offer for ambitious founders focuses on sustainability and provides intensive five-month support for a maximum of five teams with customised further training and operational assistance. The participating teams can benefit from the connection to a strong regional to supra-regional start-up ecosystem with partners from science and business.
Batch #1, which started in May, is currently underway. Participants receive support from experienced experts on relevant topics such as business model development, company formation, sales, online and personnel marketing. In addition, they can access more than 200 software programmes for free or at significantly reduced rates and are considered for the provision of free office space in Bochum.
The inCUBE funding programme takes place twice a year, with new batches starting in the summer and winter semesters. Teams of two or more people from all over Germany can apply. There are no costs for the participants. Nor do they have to give up any shares in the young companies. The application deadline for the second batch is 30 September 2022.