This year, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is awarding the special 'Smart Living' prize as part of the start-up competition. This prize is intended to recognize the fact that the market for smart living applications in Germany will triple in volume to 4.3 billion euros by 2022, according to Wolfram Groß, project manager of the competition. "People are enthusiastic about the digitalization of their living environment and have increasing demands on their homes in terms of energy efficiency, security, comfort and assistance functions," Groß continued. Start-ups have a huge opportunity not only to benefit from this development, but also to shape it. "We want to support this - just like all other clever business ideas on a digital basis."

The previous winners of the 'Start-up Competition - Digital Innovations' also include start-ups whose development is intended for industrial use in particular:

In order to participate, an idea sketch describing the project is required. The company does not have to have been founded yet. The start-up competition runs in two phases: In the first phase, all interested parties have the opportunity to apply online by April 3 with an idea outline of their project of up to fifteen pages. The analysis of strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and risks is carried out by a team of experts and provides a valuable initial insight into whether your idea could be feasible and marketable. Those who take this first step receive detailed written feedback on their start-up idea. In the second phase of the competition, until July 2, the teams whose idea sketches are among the top 50 have the opportunity to incorporate the feedback received into their concept and resubmit it.

The best start-up projects will be awarded prizes at IFA 2018 in Berlin. They can look forward to main prizes of 32,000 euros each. Up to 15 other start-up ideas will receive 7,000 euros each. The special 'Smart Living' prize is endowed with 10,000 euros.