Startup Factory boost

Volkswagen and boOst are opening an industry challenge to European startups.

At the Volkswagen engine plant in Chemnitz, cylinder heads undergo a 360-degree final inspection in accordance with detailed inspection guidelines.

We’re looking for startups that develop solutions for automated quality inspection and are willing to demonstrate their detection performance using defined component samples.

How it works:
• 3 to 5 European startups are selected
• Teams receive real component samples to validate their systems
• boOst organizes and moderates the challenge and coordinates all points of contact with Volkswagen
• Volkswagen provides structured feedback at set milestones
• The most successful team has the opportunity to implement their solution at a Volkswagen production facility, with scaling to additional lines possible
Open to startups and companies from across Europe. A team may consist of a single organization or a consortium.

📆Applications close June 25, 2026
🔗Apply now, link in bio.

June is full of opportunities across the BoOst ecosystem.

If you want to connect with founders, researchers, and builders in Saxony and beyond, these events are a good place to start.

Swipe for the dates and locations. Choose one that fits your focus. And join the conversation in person.

Which event are you planning to attend?

Last call for semiconductor start-ups: If you’re spinning research out of a lab, this is your stage.

is opening its startup stage at the Days 2026 for (pre-)foundations and university spin-offs in the idea validation or incubation phase, with research-based ideas and real industrial potential.

Selected teams get:
🎤 A 15-minute slot on the Infineon startup stage
🤝 Matchmaking with Infineon and selected ecosystem and industry partner
🎟️ Full access to the startup area and the entire Silicon Saxony Days program
🧠 Special sessions on spin-off founding and venture building

Focus topics: Quantum Computing, AI Supply, Confidential Edge Computing, Humanoid Robotics & Physical AI, Green Energy, Digital Health.

📅 15–17 June 2026 (startup stage: Monday afternoon, 15 June)
📍 Flughafen Dresden
📌 Applications close in 2 days

👉 Application link in bio.

Our second Innovation Sprint is a blast. And it’s still running.

We’re back in Jena. Five days. Around 50 people walked in with nothing. No idea, no team, no plan. Just a set of real-world challenges on the table, including ones brought in by .

Four days in, every team has a prototype. Not a slide deck. Something you can actually hold.

That was possible because of , the makerspace we worked in on day 3. 3D printers, laser cutters, electronics, and people who actually build things instead of just talking about them. One team wired up real sensors and got them running with live code.

The path every team walked:
Problem → Opportunity → Idea → Prototype → Pitch.

None of this works without the right people in the room. Big thanks to Matthias Menter and the Chair of Business Dynamics, Innovation and Economic Change for backing this sprint from day one.

Tomorrow is day 5: Pitch Day.
📍 Haus zur Rosen, Jena
🕙 10:00 – 12:00
Come by and see what 5 days can turn into.

The next sprint is already open. You can keep turning the idea over in your head, or you can come and build it. Link in bio

Most university patents never leave the lab. In 5 days, you can change that.

If you’re a PhD, postdoc or master’s graduate, you already know how to do the science. What you’re missing is the room, the team and the patent to build on.

The International TUD|excite Summer School 2026 brings you exactly that.

Join researchers from across Europe in international, interdisciplinary teams. Work on real university patents from existing research. Shape them into business models. And on day 5, pitch your concept to an external jury.

You leave the week with:
- Real startup experience, compressed into one intense sprint
- Direct access to inventors, founders and deep-tech experts
- Clarity on whether your next step is a lab, a transfer office or a company

📍 Saxony / Lusatia
📆 24–28 August 2026
💰 Free of charge
⏰ Applications close 31 May 2026

Apply now. Link in bio.

„Pitches definitely above average“ - not something you hear every day from a national VC.

Last Friday, we wrapped up the first batch of our Tech Incubator: 9 teams pitched in front of 100+ pairs of eyes from the ecosystem, investors and follow-up programs.
Research teams and early-stage startups took the spotlight after 12 weeks of hard work, pitching in front of a jury of VC & corporate partners.

Robin Allert (CEO of QTAS and Founder of QuantumDiamonds) closed things out with a keynote on the next 5 steps for deep tech spinoffs, sharing his own journey from research to startup.

The jury selected three teams for awards:

🥇Best VC Pitch — Remaint (Remote maintenance for fab logistics)
🌱Most Potential — BeLeaf (Fighting the climate crisis by capturing CO₂ directly out of the air)
🎯Audience Award — B-HiVE (Low-cost, scalable interception for ballistic missile defense)

Huge congratulations to all 9 teams, also to our guests from m3 masterclass and .

Want to connect with the teams? Drop us a message - or catch them live at .festival , where most of them will be pitching again on the Innovation Stage powered by Startup germany.

Chemnitz, ready to build?

We are bringing the Innovation Sprint to Chemnitz for the very first time. Together with .gruendungsnetzwerk and , we are creating a hands-on experience for students, researchers and aspiring founders who want to turn ideas into something real.

In just three days, you will form a team, work on a real industry challenge, build and test your own prototype and pitch it on the final day in front of coaches, experts and founders.

No team needed. No topic required. Just bring your curiosity and we take care of the rest.

📆 Sprint Days: 19 to 21 June
📆 Final Pitch: 22 June
📍 „Start up“ Gebäude, TCC Chemnitz

Apply now and be part of the first Innovation Sprint in Chemnitz.

Link in bio.

From a diamond microscope in a Munich lab to two deep tech companies. This is the story of Robin D. Allert.

Robin built a new kind of microscope at TU München that uses diamonds as quantum sensors to see biology at a scale far smaller than any MRI machine can. That research became the foundation for two spinouts: QuantumDiamonds, now building a €152M production site for quantum sensing in semiconductor inspection, and QTAS, where Robin is CEO, applying the same sensors to oncology so doctors can see within days if a cancer treatment is working.

At our Incubator Demo Day in Leipzig, Robin will share what it takes to transform a university spinoff into a successful startup. His advice to our teams: look further beyond your own ecosystem and move fast.

Insights for founders, investors, industry partners and everyone who wants to understand what the journey from lab to market really looks like.

Few spots left. Register now, link in bio.

From a diamond microscope in a Munich lab to two deep tech companies. This is the story of Robin D. Allert.

Robin built a new kind of microscope at TU München that uses diamonds as quantum sensors to see biology at a scale far smaller than any MRI machine can. That research became the foundation for two spinouts: QuantumDiamonds, now building a €152M production site for quantum sensing in semiconductor inspection, and QTAS, where Robin is CEO, applying the same sensors to oncology so doctors can see within days if a cancer treatment is working.

At our Demo Day at Leipzig, Robin will share what it takes to transform a university spinoff into a successful startup. His advice to our teams: look further beyond your own ecosystem and move fast.

Insights for founders, investors, industry partners and everyone who wants to understand what the journey from lab to market really looks like.

Few spots left. Register now: link in bio!

New in the startup world? Looking for a co-founder? This is your starting point

This month, our Tech Entrepreneurial Meetup and Quantum Leipzig came together for one evening at Basislager Coworking Leipzig. 30+ people from completely different fields in the same room.

One intro round so everyone knows who is in the room, then pure networking. People were genuinely curious about each other’s work and the conversations just kept going.

You never know what comes out of connecting the right people. A new idea, a new collaboration, a new perspective. And that is exactly why we do these meetups.

Want to be part of it next time? Follow us and show up.