Dr. Asa Asadollahbaik is the winner of the photonics start-up graduate seminar organized by OpTecBB.: OptecBB

Again, last winter semester OpTecBB, the regional photonics industry association in Berlin, organized a photonics start-up graduate seminar – this time as online-sessions. In the final session on February 11th, a little pitch event was organized and five concrete start-up ideas were presented in front of a jury (Gernot Berger (HTGF), Julien Noel (BPWT), Ann-Sophie Reinelt (HELLA), Stephan Schulze (IBB Ventures), Andreas Umbach (Auccept), Nicole Ziesche (TU Berlin)). Dr. Asa Asadollahbaik won the pitch contest with an idea to produce and market OM-LoT: A point of care cancer test based on fiber optical tweezers. “The price money of 1.500 euro will be invested into the development of the business idea”, she said.

The seminar was kindly supported by Berlin Partner. The aim of the seminar was to introduce PhD students and post-docs in photonics, quantum technologies, sensor technologies and microsystems technologies in different Leibniz and Fraunhofer institutes as well as different university departments in Berlin to the lively start-up ecosystem in Berlin. “We want to introduce and strengthen the idea of starting a photonics related business and we want young researchers to consider stating a company as a viable career option. And Berlin right now is THE place to do exactly that” Dr. Frank Lerch, managing director of OpTecBB, said. Different speakers from finance, law firms, university transfer offices as well as other start-ups and serial entrepreneurs gave insight into their experiences and discussed the business ideas with the approx. 20 attendees of the seminar.

The next photonics start-up graduate seminar will be organized by OpTecBB in the next winter semester starting in late October 2021 in Berlin (questions/suggestions/inquiries are very welcome optecbb(at)optecbb.de).

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