A full house, great ideas, and a gaming premiere: That was the Funkenwerk Award 2026
What happens when students take their ideas to the big stage? The Funkenwerk Award 2026, powered by LEW, made this impressively clear: More than 150 participants gathered at the Technical University of Applied Sciences Augsburg on October 29 for the Community Meetup. During the highlight of the evening—the live pitches by the seven finalist teams—Lecture Hall M1.01 was literally bursting at the seams. The audience was on the edge of their seats, asked questions, and then voted for their favorite in the Audience Choice Award.
Seven teams, seven ideas—and four awards
Thirty startup ideas were submitted to the competition. Seven teams made it to the finals and presented their projects to a panel of experts and the audience. The diversity of topics demonstrated just how varied student entrepreneurship can be: from positive psychology and social issues to AI and digital administration, all the way to sustainable construction and new payment solutions for campus.
The four awards went to:
Female Entrepreneur: Floevo – Anna Sigl, Xenia Pietsch, and Nils Kühl are developing an app that translates insights from positive psychology into personalized everyday tasks.
Innovation & Impact: Zahln – Nils Söder, Shabbir Maimoon, Aman Kumar, and Gaurav Singh are working on a digital payment infrastructure that connects various services on the university campus.
LEW Future Energy & Smart Infrastructure: HIMMA – Philipp Ecker and Mahmoud Abuisaac are developing a software solution that supports sustainable construction through a shared digital database for planning and energy consulting.
Audience Choice Award: eJugend-Akte – Lukas Funk, Simon Kalka, Bjarne Koprowski, and Benedikt Holland won over the audience with a web-based solution for digital organization in child and youth welfare facilities.
The other finalist teams also demonstrated the immense innovative potential of student ideas: Nachtschatten with their card set “30 Questions About Death,” DialectiQ with an AI-powered platform for leadership development, and Turnleft with a digital information platform for open-air events.
With their pitches, all seven teams demonstrated what an idea can become when you take it a step further and have the courage to present it.
A Dialogue Among Peers: Minister of State Mehring Visits the Project Booths
It became clear not only on stage but also in the lobby just how important direct interaction is. Bavaria’s Minister of State for Digital Affairs, Dr. Fabian Mehring, took plenty of time to visit the project booths and spoke personally with each team. He listened to their ideas and proposed solutions and discussed their projects with the students.
Representatives from the MittelstandMacher initiative were also on site. The initiative brings together young talent, universities, and small and medium-sized enterprises. This gave the teams the opportunity to present their projects to potential industry partners and supporters.
Gamingarea Premiere: Experience Games Right on Campus
A special highlight this year was the first Funkenwerk Gaming Area. Even before the official evening program began, visitors could immerse themselves in games from four young studios: Benobe, LM Interactive, Moonbloom Studios, and 7 Wolf Studio presented their creations and invited attendees to give them a try.
The Gaming Area brought another facet of student creativity to campus—interactive, playful, and immediately accessible. It demonstrated that the entrepreneurial spirit can take many forms: from digital business models to sustainable technologies to games.
After the award comes the next step
The teams’ journey doesn’t end with the awards ceremony. Funkenwerk supports students, researchers, and aspiring entrepreneurs from the initial idea all the way to the actual launch of their business. Even after the awards, the teams can draw on their experiences, contacts, and feedback from the competition to further develop their projects.
For HIMMA, there’s a special next step: The winning team in the “LEW Future Energy & Smart Infrastructure” category will receive personalized feedback and coaching tailored to their startup project from LEW experts.
And for everyone else, too: a good idea doesn’t have to wait for the next competition. Funkenwerk supports you in identifying potential, refining concepts, and taking the next steps toward starting a business.
See you at "Augsburg Gründet!" 2026
The next gathering of the startup community is just around the corner: On November 18, 2026, Funkenwerk will once again be part of “Augsburg gründet!” Look forward to fresh ideas, exciting startup stories, and the chance to meet people from the regional startup scene.
All the details on “Augsburg gründet!” 2026
Do you have an idea of your own, or would you like to find out how it could become a project or startup? Funkenwerk is your go-to resource at THA. We look forward to your spark!