Who Cares? We Do! Because Our Future Is Now.

Game-changing innovations meet creative minds at the Young Innovators Camp, hosted by SAP AppHaus Heidelberg in July 2017

Imagine you have a pioneering idea that has the potential to change the world — an innovation that helps save the lives of people in developing countries, an invention that brings environmental protection to the next level, or a discovery that impacts our daily lives. But, then you face one big challenge: How do you bring your idea to life and convince the market of your product?

This is where the Young Innovators Camp comes into play. The Young Innovators Camp is an interactive event format that helps young innovators drive their ideas and turn them into business cases. It is funded by the Arnfried und Hannelore Meyer Stiftung Heidelberg and organized by Open State –a company that provides guidance about creating business concepts and realizing innovative projects from the very beginning.

From April to May 2017, young innovators from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland were asked to submit their innovations, from which the event organizers selected the most promising and interesting ideas:

CabinSpacey, Berlin:
A new genre of urban living above the roofs and in every niche of the city.

Deton, Berlin:
Innovative concrete for 3D printing of masonry walls and prefabricated elements for house construction, successfully prototyped in a four test series, promises cost savings of up to approx. 60%, and consists solely of renewable raw materials.

AmberSkin, Salzgitter:
Vegan leather substitute based on organic substances. The material grows through the reaction of microorganisms under laboratory conditions and promises considerable savings of energy and water.

Sunzilla, Berlin:
A portable, open source, solar-powered generator that provides a clean and easy-to-use alternative for off-grid electricity supply. Its battery storage ensures a reliable and flexible supply, even at night or on cloudy days.

Solar FabLab Toolkit, Barcelona:
Easy to use and understandable parts, tools, and tutorials, to create affordable and long lasting sources of energy that allow poor people to make and assemble their own sustainable solar systems.

Libre Solar, Hamburg:
An affordable, renewable energy solution based on open source hardware, for everyone.

WindGenEx, Den Haag:
A portable, low budget turbine for disaster areas that comes in a D.I.Y. set-up package.

The project teams of the selected innovations were invited to join a two-day workshop that was accompanied by process designers, design thinking coaches, campaigners and organizational developers from Open State, SAP and Deutsche Kinder- und Jugendstiftung. With their valuable expertise and insights, the professionals helped the innovators work out a holistic business concept that includes considerations from diverse perspectives.

However, to be successful, you cannot only rely on the right mixture of innovative minds to come together from different business areas. You also need surroundings that boost your creativity. The SAP AppHaus team in Heidelberg was delighted to host the Young Innovators Camp workshops and provide the participating talents with open work spaces that foster teamwork and collaboration.

During the two-day workshop at the SAP AppHaus Heidelberg, the project teams worked hard to find their main challenges and how to approach them. Together with the experts from Open State, they focused on their next steps toward bringing their ideas to life using diverse design thinking methods. Reviewing the results from both days, the teams were amazed by the progress they had made within the last few hours.

No matter if it was a holistic view of their projects, a real understanding of their challenges, or the creation of a business plan- including next steps to focus on — the workshop was enriching for everyone who participated, as all gained valuable insights.

Of course, the team’s efforts weren’t left unrewarded: a jury of members from the event’s organizing units determined the three winning project teams and awarded them first prizes. But, none of the participants went home empty-handed.

In the end, they were all winners — a team united by one vision: reshaping the future and making our world a better place.