The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) wants to promote the potential of tomorrow's production in the current round of its competition with the 'Special Industry 4.0 Award'. "Thanks to the digital networking of manufacturing processes, resources can be used much more efficiently," says project manager Wolfram Groß. "In addition, completely new business models will emerge, which will lead to an enormous increase in added value," Groß continues. In addition to the special prize, the BMWi also awards prizes for cross-industry start-ups and start-up projects.

Previous winners of the start-up competition include start-ups whose development is intended for industrial use in particular:

Start-up teams can apply online with their business concepts until October 4, 2017. This gives them the chance to win one of the six main prizes, each worth 32,000 euros. The 'Special Industry 4.0 Prize' is endowed with 10,000 euros. The BMWi will also award up to 15 other start-up projects with prize money of 7,000 euros each. The winners can expect an individually tailored coaching and mentoring program. It is designed to help them identify business potential and develop important start-up skills. The young entrepreneurs also gain access to an established network of experts and investors.

The 'Founder Competition - Digital Innovations' takes place annually in two competition rounds. The application process is divided into two phases: In the first phase, all those interested in founding a company have the opportunity to submit an idea outline of their project of up to fifteen pages at www.gruenderwettbewerb.de . The company does not have to have been founded yet. All applicant teams receive detailed written feedback. This analysis of strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and risks is carried out by experienced experts. They give the applicants an assessment of the feasibility and marketability of their idea. In the second phase, the start-up teams whose idea outlines are among the maximum top 50 have until January 2, 2018 to take on board the feedback received, revise their concept and resubmit it. The best start-up projects will be awarded prizes in spring 2018.