Eight finalists will be given the opportunity to present themselves free of charge in the Start-Up Area of the 16th Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.D from June 25 to 27, 2019 at Messe Erfurt. A jury of experts will select the "Start-Up of the Year" from among them.

This title was awarded to Berlin-based Cellbricks in 2018 for its method of creating human tissue using bioprinting and thus contributing to the elimination of animal testing. Managing Director Dr. Lutz Kloke already describes his participation as a win: "Even without the win, it would have been a success. The competition was important for presenting our technology and the jury's feedback was an important plausibility check for us. There were also great opportunities to make personal contacts with investors, potential partners and founders."

The runners-up and third-placed companies drew a similar conclusion. "We could hardly have imagined a better way for our start-up to enter the corporate world," says Thomas Reiher, CEO & Co-Founder of AMendate Paderborn, assessing their participation in the award. The mentoring from experienced practitioners and the newly acquired trade fair contacts have promoted market entry for the provider of software for creating topology-optimized components with bionic structures.

For Kumovis Taufkirchen, which has developed a new 3D printer for the economical processing of high-performance medical plastics, the competition was an opportunity to present its start-up approach to experts. "We received further confirmation of our technology and our business model. As one of the winners, the media attention was of course also very helpful. In addition, the coaching is a great thing that helps us a lot," says Stefan Leonhardt, Managing Partner at Kumovis.

In the 2019 round of the Start-Up Award, the competition partners are once again offering top-class prizes. The winners will receive prize money of 14,000 euros, 2,000 euros more than in 2018, as well as free exhibition stands for Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.D 2020, company coaching and a free Cur3D software license for one year.

The platinum sponsor of the Start-Up Award is once again AM Venture, a leading global investor in the field of industrial 3D printing. Other supporters and partners are bm-t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen, Coparion, FIT, Ruhrsource, Trumpf Venture, Canto and MUST 3D Printing.

The tender documents are available at https://www.rapidtech-fabcon.de/rahmenprogramm/start-up-award-2019.html. The submission deadline is March 30, 2019.

The Start-Up Award is held as part of the international trade fair and conference for additive technologies Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.D. With more than 100 user-oriented presentations at the specialist congress and the 3D Printing Conference as well as over 200 exhibitors at the trade fair, the event is a unique, high-caliber industry get-together. More than 5,000 international trade visitors and conference participants are expected to attend the 16th edition in Erfurt from June 25 to 27, 2019.