These digital start-ups show what North Rhine-Westphalia is made of
State prize OUT OF THE BOX.NRW 2025
A breath of fresh air for the economy: the most innovative digital start-ups were honored at the OUT OF THE BOX.NRW (OOTB) state competition in Bielefeld on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Ten young companies competed in the final. In the end, three winning teams stood on the podium. A total of 50,000 euros in prize money was awarded, sponsored by NRW.BANK.
First place went to Valoon from Dortmund, who can look forward to prize money of EUR 25,000. Second place went to ChemInnovation from Münster (prize money of EUR 15,000), followed by Comuneo from Münster (prize money of EUR 10,000). At the final at the internationally renowned start-up conference "Hinterland of Things" in Bielefeld, State Secretary for Economic Affairs Silke Krebs honored the winning teams.
Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Mona Neubaur: "Behind every good idea are people with vision, courage and entrepreneurial spirit. This is exactly what we need to make North Rhine-Westphalia sustainable and future-proof. The start-ups of today create the jobs of tomorrow - a piece of the puzzle in an economically successful and competitive future for North Rhine-Westphalia. The finalist start-ups of the OUT OF THE BOX.NRW Award impressively demonstrate how much innovative strength there is in our state. With the award, we are giving the start-ups the necessary tailwind for the next phase of growth."
Audience and jury decide together
More than 100 start-ups applied, ten of which convinced a jury of investors, a founder and representatives of NRW.Bank and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in several selection rounds. The public was also able to vote. The audience also voted at the live final in Bielefeld. As a special bonus, the first-placed start-up will receive a ticket to the "Slush" tech conference in Helsinki - provided by NRW.Global Business.
The winners of OUT OF THE BOX.NRW 2025 at a glance:
1st place: Valoon, Dortmund: The start-up enables efficient and secure communication on construction sites through a construction-specific project chat directly via WhatsApp.
2nd place: ChemInnovation, Münster: With its AI-supported METIS software, the start-up automates the analysis of GC-MS data in the chemical industry.
3rd place: Comuneo, Münster: The start-up offers a digital platform for data-based planning and implementation of municipal projects for modern local government
About the competition: The Ministry of Economic Affairs has been awarding the OUT OF THE BOX.NRW state prize to the best digital start-ups from North Rhine-Westphalia since 2020. The aim is to provide the start-ups with a high level of media attention and a platform to present their ideas to a broad audience and make valuable new contacts, in addition to the highly endowed prize money of 50,000 euros.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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This is what true pioneering spirit looks like: Plenty of innovative start-ups are bringing fresh ideas, lifeblood and entrepreneurial spirit to change tomorrow's world for the better. Immerse yourself in the world of these young companies and take the opportunity to get in touch with the founders.