ZEW Actively Involved in School Competition “Start-Up BW Young Talents”

A different kind of school day: On 24 March 2026, 24 motivated year 10 students from Liselotte Gymnasium visited ZEW, accompanied by three teachers from the school’s business department. In addition to the Germany-wide school competition YES! – Young Economic Solutions, ZEW also participates in the “Start-up BW Young Talents” challenge initiated by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism, thereby serving as a special extracurricular learning environment for schools. The one-day “Innovation Workshop & Pitch” gives students an insight into the world of start-ups. Using creativity techniques and tools from the start-up scene, they develop innovative business ideas, design a business model and finally present these models in an elevator pitch to an external jury. 

ZEW researcher Dr. Bastian Krieger opened the competition day with a brief introduction to ZEW and explained what innovation economics research is about. The students then worked in six teams to develop their own creative solutions to a wide range of challenges. The jury, comprising ZEW experts Dr. Bastian Krieger and Karla Schneider-Dörken, as well as Daniel Jung (Digital Analyst at BAUHAUS) and Florian Wetschoreck (Medbelle), assessed the young people’s ideas.

First place was awarded to “ReFix”, a platform enabling direct contact and exchange with craftspeople for household DIY projects. Second place went to the platform “Connects”, a platform designed to combat social media addiction and loneliness. In addition, the jury awarded two special prizes: The prize for the best sustainable idea went to “Eco-Plant”, a solution for households as well as for municipalities to plan and organise the nutritional needs and water consumption of plants. The idea for “Reflect”, a full-length mirror incorporating AI that provides tailored outfit feedback and suggestions, was elected as the best creative idea. 

The Start-up BW Young Talents competition is an initiative of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economic Affairs and has been held annually since 2018. It has successfully developed into an important platform for young entrepreneurs in Baden-Württemberg. The current round of the competition will conclude when the school teams present their innovative business ideas to a jury and an audience. This year’s final will take place on 26 June 2026 at the Haus der Wirtschaft in Stuttgart.