Waldenburg (Germany) – The Würth Elektronik eiSos Group, manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical components, has positioned itself as a technology promoter at Slush’D in Heilbronn, Germany. The festival has been a popular meeting place for founders, start-ups, medium-sized companies, researchers, and investors since 2022.
In an intensive panel talk, Alexander Gerfer, CTO at Würth Elektronik eiSos, Dr. Carsten L. Herzhoff, Managing Director and CTO/COO at Lohmann GmbH & Co. KG, and Timo Gessmann, CTO at Schunk SE & Co. KG, spoke on the topic of start-up support; specifically removing obstacles on the path from idea to product. This task was considered particularly important in the discussion moderated by Dr Sonja Sulzmaier, Managing Partner at Navispace GmbH. The representatives of each company then presented themselves as cooperation partners for start-ups in what was described as a “reverse pitch.”
Alexander Gerfer knows typical start-up problems from his own experience. Before his career at Würth Elektronik, he failed with a start-up because a component was not available in the required small quantity, and there was a lack of support from a manufacturer.
Scalability, Momentum, Credibility
In his reverse pitch in Heilbronn, Gerfer identified important aspects of start-up funding. For example, it is important to ensure that the prototype can also be produced in series. This means taking a critical look at the product in terms of the availability and producibility of any special components, and also taking into account the service life, recyclability, and reusability in the product design.
The second important aspect is the opening of a network of engineers and potential manufacturing partners within Würth Elektronik’s customer base. In this way, small but time-consuming problems can be solved with swarm intelligence, and suitable manufacturing partners can be recommended for the application. In this context, Gerfer described the diverse support options that Würth Elektronik makes available to hardware start-ups, including know-how transfer, design-in support, and EMC pre-compliance tests in the company’s own laboratories. The company has a great deal of practical experience in supporting start-ups, most recently in connection with vertical farming, indoor algae cultivation, harvesting robots and biodiversity measurement.
The third aspect, which is especially important for the search for investors, is the increase in credibility through such a co-operation with Würth Elektronik.
“Slush’D is exactly the right environment for us to present our hardware startup funding,” confirms Gerfer. “We are constantly on the lookout for new ideas. We help founders to develop products that are ready for the market and series production – with a focus on ecological and social benefits; electronics for positive impact. At Slush’D, we were able to impressively present what we do and what we promote, and were pleasantly surprised by the interesting feedback and many new contacts that we are consistently pursuing.”
