Skip to content

INTIE Blog

Last week, we wrapped up an exciting event on July 4th, showcasing a year of effort by our startup teams.
Over the past year, participants received extensive support from Startup Port, partners, and experts, including resources, mentorship, and a collaborative environment to turn their visions into reality.

On July 4th, our teams presented their refined ideas to a panel of judges. Each team had worked tirelessly, and it was their moment to shine. We enjoyed music, delicious food from Chickpeace, and post-pitch discussions. Some teams were already planning to implement their ideas and seek investment.
The top three teams received prizes, including pre-selection for the Next. Gen Incubator (Körber Start-Hub) and invitations to the Hamburg Innovation Summit in late 2024. The winning team got the chance to attend the Summit, offering a platform to elevate their startup. We also provided access to exclusive networking and lunch events to support and expose our promising startups.

In recognition of their hard work and commitment, all participants received certificates from our Jury Members, we had an amazing photo session, and it was enjoyable to see everyone pitching in.
Also, our partners’ backing helps us organise such great events.
The final pitches were evaluated by a diverse panel of judges, which included professors Paul Drews from the Leuphana University of Lüneburg, a program manager Thorben Koop from IFB, Community Innoimpact, Laura Savoca from Otto Krahn Group, Anika Hamester, Nono Weinzierl from Orbit – orbitdigital.de and other established professionals.

The best part about such a panel is the feedback from five different perspectives, finance, and industry-ensuring a well-rounded assessment of each startup.

The skills, knowledge, and networks these students have built over the past year are invaluable. We celebrate their achievements and look forward to seeing how they will innovate and impact the world. We might see the next big company emerge from one of these pitches.

Startup Port is committed to nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs. If you have an entrepreneurial mindset and a great idea, watch for the next INTIE applications and apply! We look forward to your application!

When was the last time you actually practised negotiating, or do you still need to do so?

On the 26th of June, we had a 2-hour negotiation session with Martin Pilch from Impact Negotiation Group. Some basic principles of negotiation and other related concepts were discussed in this successful event. The session started with the concept of how we as humans act and behave in negotiations because how we act and behave forms a crucial part of the negotiation since people negotiate with people. One of the implied points was the “Theory about the dimensions of negotiation”. There are lots of theories around negotiation, but only a few are useful when it comes to the process of negotiation.

The main takeaway was that if you want to maximise the results of a negotiation, you need to do two things. Firstly, you need to prepare properly and secondly, you need to practice. We have all heard the saying “practice makes perfect” and this is exactly the saying that needs to be put into practice to become a skilled negotiator, so Martin ran through a couple of cases, the first case was about negotiating the price of an expensive clock and the second case was about a tricky situation where a restaurant was due to hold an event but it was overbooked.

Ultimately, you want to get the other party to close on their worst outcome, because that is your best case, but you still need to create a high level of satisfaction for the other party. Last but not least, if you want to get better, if you want to get more out of the negotiation: practice, practice, practice.

Last Wednesday we had the pleasure of hosting an unforgettable event at Spice VR Lab and it was simply fantastic!
A big thank you goes to Rouven Seifert and Nicolas Chibac for their outstanding support and for making this event possible. And let’s not forget the incredible fun we had from the INTIE programme at Spice VR – the energy and enthusiasm was truly infectious!

The evening was full of innovation and learning opportunities and marked the perfect end to an exciting first term. But you know what? We’re already gearing up for next term and looking forward to the kick-off!
For those who couldn’t be there, here’s a quick recap of what you missed: 


An exciting VR journey through Namibia to start the evening and an up-close experience with cutting-edge VR technology – An interactive survey in collaboration with the University of Hamburg, contributing to important research in VR and entrepreneurship – A captivating talk by Nicolas, the CEO of Spherie GmbH & SpiceVR, where we were able to experience the latest VR trends as well as his start-up journey But the highlights also included the subsequent opportunities to explore the VRHQ and try out the games.
Many thanks to everyone who took part and contributed to the success of the event.

Last Wednesday it was time for the final pitches of the first INTIE semester. The aim was to discover opportunity fields that would be interesting for an impact start-up based on trend and market research.
The teams presented their ideas, which covered many areas from personalised food platforms to sustainable medical devices and sustainable fashion and got valuable feedback from our practice partners, professors and alumni. Thank you Körber Start-Hub for hosting the event! We are looking forward to the second semester!

We don’t have the solution (yet), but at the INTIE session, we had the opportunity to take part in a workshop on “Design Thinking” held by Patricia Brauer and Alexander Böhning from the Otto Group at the @AGILE CENTER and learn about new approaches to get a little closer to the solution. The participants had worked out social challenges and associated problems in small groups in advance, which were then addressed in the workshop using the design thinking method. The workshop was incredibly inspiring and showed us how we can solve complex problems with creative thinking and empathy. We are excited about how design thinking can help us make the world a better place.

Orbit – orbitdigital.de (Orbit works closely with their partners, utilising resources to scale proven business models. The start-ups they build generate sustainable growth). During our visit to Orbit, we received fascinating insights from Timo Möller-Gomez and Nono Weinzierl, who have been supporting INTIE since the beginning. They shared their insights on how they build ventures with established companies – a topic we were particularly interested in. We were given clear insights into their process, from idea generation to founding start-ups in collaboration with corporations. The key message was that early failure is the path to long-term success. In this way, you not only save time and effort but also make a targeted investment in sustainable success.

We would like to thank Timo Möller-Gomez and Nono Weinzierl for their commitment!