Innovative care ideas in the spotlight: The Start-up Challenge 2025
Meet the nominees and winners of the Start-up Challenge 2025 and discover the most innovative ideas and solutions for the care sector!
Innovators present their ground-breaking concepts and engage in dialogue with experts and users. The nominees have already been selected by a preliminary jury and cover a broad spectrum - from robotics and care appreciation programmes to analogue aids.
Your vote counts: Vote for the best start-ups in the care sector
Now it's your turn! Find out more about the nominees and vote for your favourites in the public voting on site. Your vote counts and can make all the difference. Visit us and play an active role in shaping the future of care!
Winners of the Start-up Challenge 2025 present their innovations
After the jury of experts made their decision the day before the exhibition, this year's winners will present their innovations in the categories
- Smart Objects & Smart Solutions - vrblick UG
- Concept & Strategy - be2morrow GmbH
- Communication & Documentation - Parto GmbH
- Living & Care - INCLUSYS
The Nominees:
Category: Smart Objects & Smart Solutions
vrblick offers care facilities a platform for personalised virtual journeys and local experiences that bring back memories. The software enables easy control of multiple VR glasses and was developed together with carers to enrich the everyday lives of people with disabilities.
Robody Cares enables people to age with dignity and in the comfort of their own home. We support carers, professionals and relatives to care for older people remotely at any time with the help of humanoid robotic avatars.
RadarHero offers a system for contactless fall detection with a focus on care facilities. The sensor technology is based on radar technology and therefore does not require a camera or microphone. This ensures maximum data protection and privacy in the home. Falls or prolonged immobility are recognised without a device on the body and reported directly to care staff via an app. Waiting times and undetected accidents can therefore be significantly reduced.
The AI software for the Nova service robot enables remote control and autonomous motion detection. Residents can call for help, play games or be shown the way. It can be controlled remotely via the internet so that carers can check corridors and rooms without having to be present everywhere. This relieves the burden on staff and promotes communication in care homes.
vJourney enables virtual journeys with VR glasses. In approximately 30-minute films created with 360-degree images, a tour guide leads you through exciting experiences. Interactive elements enhance the experience and make every journey unique.
Category: Living & Care
Our innovative push-button cushion supports the heels without overstretching the knees, protects the ankles when lying on the side and relieves pressure on the elbows to prevent pressure sores. Sensory stimulation through appealing covers helps to reduce spasticity in the hands in neurological diseases such as dementia, stroke and MS through automatic movement impulses.
PLASMO®HEAL enables contactless, painless and cost-effective wound therapy and thus improves the quality of life.
The application of PLASMO®HEAL is simple and effective. The treatment time for a wound is reduced by a third on average in the long term. This not only relieves the burden on staff, but also significantly reduces material costs.
hellomed is the digital service pharmacy for professional care. It offers care organisations: Prescriptions on autopilot, medication procurement & blistering at the touch of a button, MD-compliant & safe medication plans, lightning-fast communication and a high degree of flexibility for medication changes
INCLUSYS develops barrier-free assistance products for time orientation and daily planning for people with cognitive impairments in order to increase their independence and quality of life.
Category: Communication & Documentation
HeyCarla is the complete solution that enables everyday help and care services to organise all company processes in a single software package. From employee management and scheduling to automatic invoicing with integrated payment reconciliation - everything is mapped in one software package. This enables companies to manage their administrative tasks efficiently.
The CURA platform uses smart algorithms and machine learning to make care coordination with practices, clinics and service providers easier. Seamless integration into existing systems simplifies coordination and makes the work of carers easier.
Making the world understandable for everyone - that is the mission of SUMM AI GmbH. The team of over 20 employees has developed an AI tool that translates existing texts into plain and simple language at the touch of a button. The application is widely used in the public sector, in welfare organisations and in the private sector.
Our offering includes corporate accounts, fiduciary deposit accounts and payment cards for employees and assisted persons. With our unique software for the digital management of safekeeping funds and the automated settlement of business expenses, process costs can be reduced by more than 75%.
Category: Concept & Strategy
The certification is a 6-month process of organisational development with a focus on appreciation. By implementing greater appreciation at all levels of the organisation, greater satisfaction and therefore staff safety is created in the care sector.
The Pflegeacker brings gardening to care facilities. This preventative measure, which is eligible for funding (SGB V and SBG XI), aims to improve the quality of life of those in need of care and increase staff satisfaction.
Hemby is developing the future of home care with its innovative model. Hemby's goal is to lay the foundation for how home care will be organised in the future.
With the model, Hemby is innovating the technology and operating system of home care to improve the experience for everyone involved. Family members are better integrated by making care work transparent and the potential of neighbourhood help is utilised. Hemby offers a holistic and technology-enabled solution for home care.
The be2morrow platform enables companies to create their own greenhouse gas footprint and develop a customised climate strategy with AI-supported measures. Sustainability reports (e.g. CSRD) are created automatically with AI.
Catering accounts for up to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in care facilities. Innovative approaches are therefore needed to make food more sustainable and healthier. The solution is called INWASTEMENT. As experts in the food industry, Green Guides supports care facilities in making kitchen processes more sustainable, efficient and resource-saving. The approach combines consulting, implementation and support in the areas of food waste management and food balancing.
The Jury
Expert jury
Thomas Hilse
Inhaber von Hilse:Konzept
Melanie Bargemann
Projektleiterin beim Living Care Lab Stadthagen
Thomas Eisenreich
Geschäftsführer der Home Instead GmbH & Co. KG
Christine Strathaus
Teamleitung Produktmanagement bei HEWI Heinrich Wilke GmbH
Jana Förste
COO bei der Cura Unternehmensgruppe
Bastian Haase
Strategische Leitung ZQM / Leitung DPM bei der Cura Unternehmensgruppe
Nominating jury
Prof. (em) Wolfgang Sattler
Deutscher Designer und emeritierter Professor der Bauhaus Universität Weimar
Brit Rebentisch-Krummhaar
Geschäftsführerin Pflege – Pflegewissenschaft beim Pflegepraxiszentrum
Olav Sehlbach
Gründer von Sehlbach & Teilhaber und Vorstand beim Care Venture Circle e.V.
Thomas Althammer
Geschäftsführer der Althammer & Kill GmbH & Co. KG
Christoph Weidler
Digital Business Developer bei Vincentz Network, Verlagsbereich Altenhilfe
