Slick presentations and high quality ideas, presented in the Martini Church. Three student entrepreneurs from the Hanze University pitched their startup during the finals of the Anner Award last week. After a final selection, a qualifying round and a series of workshops in April, the three finalists competed for a €2,500 prize, which was won by IV Wear.
The Anner Award is named after the very entrepreneurial Hanze student Anner van der Mheen, who passed away in 2011. The award celebrates what he represented: endless curiosity and connecting and inspiring people.
Portable drip
IV wear has been around since 2017 and also won also won the Sustainable Healthcare Challenge and the EBF Pitch, hosted by the Economic Board Groningen. Their portable drip is meant to help speed up the recovery process of hospital patients. Exercise is one of the most important ways to speed up recovery after an operation, so the more patients are able to walk around, the sooner they will be discharged and the smaller their chances of being readmitted.
For this year’s Anner Award IV Wear won both the jury prize of €2,500 and the audience favorite award. Their biggest obstacle for the coming years? “We already made our prototype a lot lighter in the last two years, but we’re looking for a sizable investment to keep on developing it”, says Gijs Schumer.
RV Modules
Industrial Product Engineering student Jorn Hofman pitched his idea for interior modules for RVs (campers and motorhomes). RV owners, who normally have to make do with a fixed interior, are able to choose from different modules, which are easily installed and removed, a little like Lego. “I got the idea when I was 15 and bought my first RV”, Jorn tells the judges. “I didn’t really like the interior and decided to rebuild it.”
Baxx by DEXX
The third competitor was Anna Peterzon of DEXX Innovations. The industrial design student came up with Baxx, a convenient way to strap grocery bags on the side of your bicycle’s luggage carrier. It’s a little like the old fashioned saddle bags, but much more pleasant to the eyes. And they won’t get caught in the spokes of your wheel, as tested by one of the judges, who cycled a lap inside the church to be sure.
Another pitch
IV Wear will also be pitching tomorrow at the Academic Startup Award in Amsterdam, alongside three other startups from Groningen.