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The week began on Monday with a creative kick-off: a Lego® Serious Play® workshop. The workshop offered participants the opportunity to develop their creativity in a playful way and discover new perspectives.

The first evening of the start-up week at the Mönchengladbach campus kicked off with the 2nd F**kUpNight HSNR Edition 2023, where HNX presented inspiring and instructive stories of failure from Eva de Schrevel, Prof. Dr. Dirk Braun and Christian Peitz. The openness and courage of the speakers contributed to an enriching exchange of experiences.

The Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences then hosted a regional start-up get together in cooperation with various partners such as IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein, WFMG - Wirtschaftsförderung Mönchengladbach GmbH, KREFELD BUSINESS, Sparkasse Krefeld and Stadtsparkasse Mönchengladbach. Chancellor Prof. Dr. Fabienne Köller-Marek opened the event and encouraged active networking between regional players, supporters, founders and those interested in founding a company.

On Tuesday, Zerrin Börcek from the female innovation hub led the HNX workshop "Female Founder Personality". The workshop focused on exploring the personality of (prospective) female founders, identifying their own strengths and learning techniques to better manage challenges such as uncertainty, hassle and worry.

In parallel, Dr. Salima Douven, Corporate Vice President Open Innovation and Incubation at Henkel dx, conducted the workshop "Corporates as (Alp-)dream customers for start-ups?". Here, the participants delved deep into the dynamics between start-ups and large companies. Tuesday was rounded off by the HNX online workshop "Legal certainty for websites and online stores" with lawyer Dr. Maik Fettes, who showed founders how they can make their online presence legally compliant.

In the evening, HNX presented itself at the TexTech Start-up Night at the Textile Academy NRW in Mönchengladbach with an exhibition stand. The pitch battle was won by the start-up "octo" by Alexandra Plewnia and Sarah Neumann, who are supported by HNX and recently secured funding of 1.8 million euros as part of the EXIST research transfer.

Wednesday was dominated by the HNX workshop "Financial knowledge for (prospective) female founders" with Zerrin Börcek. This covered the structure of a financial plan, including analysis of the current situation, setting financial goals and insights into the world of financial planning.

Two workshops by Prof. Dr. Axel Minten completed the successful start-up week on Friday. The HNX workshop "Design Thinking Quickie" was extremely successful and not only innovative ideas emerged, but also tangible business ideas with potential for successful implementation. In the "Open Pitch Speed Dating", participants had the opportunity to improve their presentation skills and receive valuable feedback on how to upgrade their pitching techniques.

HNX proudly looks back on a successful start-up week that not only provided knowledge, but also generated inspiring encounters and innovative ideas.