In the second part of our celebration of female entrepreneurs in the month of International Women’s Day, we introduce you to three additional women who have founded businesses incubated at the ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in Germany. From medical devices and flow management solutions to secure transactions, their innovations are making a real difference. Read about four further female entrepreneurs from the ESA Space Solutions network in Germany here.

Kumovis

Kumovis focuses on 3D printing medical devices with high-performance and biodegradable polymers. For example, its 3D-printing technology allows hospitals and medtech manufacturers to economically 3D print individualised implants and small or industrial batches of surgical instruments. 

Miriam Haerst is the co-CEO and co-founder of Kumovis. “Our main challenge was to develop a market-ready product with limited resources and to showcase a successful approach. By focusing on the lessons learned instead of failures, the team kept improving and launched the 3D-printing system Kumovis R1 in 2019”, says Miriam Haerst.

Vectoflow

Using 3D printing combined with smart software solutions, Vectoflow develops customised flow measurement systems that match perfectly to the customer’s application and deliver reliable results even under harsh and difficult conditions. Katharina Kreitz is the Co-founder of Vectoflow, which is located in the ESA BIC in Oberpfaffenhofen, close to the company’s supersonic wind tunnel. “For predominantly hardware companies, cash positivity is a challenge. However, except for a small seed funding round, the company is completely bootstrapped and has been cash positive since our second year. It was, and still is, a big challenge to grow without venture capital money, but we’ve proved it can be done”, shares Katharina Kreitz.

Blackpin 

Blackpin has developed a secure digital transaction platform for European organisations, based on mobile messaging under very high German GDPR security standards. Its CEO and Founder Sandra Jörg previously worked as a strategic consultant and coach, but had no network or business contacts when she arrived in Southern Germany. Nevertheless, after being hosted at ESA BIC IHK Reutlingen, the company was nicknamed “the flagship start-up of Baden Württemberg” at the Stuttgart Security Congress by Thomas Strobel, German Minister for Digitalisation. 

The challenge that Sandra faced was to put together a good team in a very short time, with the same values that she lived by and who covered all the important areas of expertise. She was looking for people with international know-how, innovative strength, speed, high motivation and commitment. Finding such a team was not easy, especially in some regions. However, Sandra proved that if you are well supported, it is possible. Today, Blackpin’s international team has 35 employees.

Conclusion 

We applaud these women for their innovation and the continuing growth of their companies. If you are an entrepreneur with a great idea using space assets, get in touch to find out how ESA Space Solutions can help you.

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects. 

International Women’s Day has been celebrated all over the world this month and we did not want to miss the chance to shine a light on the incredible women who are thriving in the space entrepreneurship arena. Here are some of the female founders of businesses incubated at the ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs) in Germany, to give you a flavour of the many women-led start-ups founded as part of the ESA Space Solutions Network. Prepare to be inspired! 

Astronautin

Astronautin GmbH is a commercial human spaceflight company located in Bremen as part of ESA BIC Northern Germany. Based on its vision to bring the first German woman into space, Astronautin’s space portfolio focusses on services for women, offering space training to the public, corporations and organisations. Its leadership training courses are based on elements from astronaut training, while its empowerment workshops, including rocket science and hands-on space experience, are used to bring women to the top, not only in space but also in society and economy.

Claudia Kessler, Astronautin’s CEO said, “The greatest challenge we had to overcome was – and still is – starting a business based on personal experiences at the beginning of the COVID crisis. We are still in the process of overcoming this by offering online formats like bar camps, deep dives and online trainings combined with an interactive experience in the form of our ‘space experience’ packages, which are mailed to participants before the training sessions.”

Planblue

Planblue develops ‘underwater satellites’ that are being used to build up a global seafloor database to enable the sustainable use and conservation of our ocean’s resources, while fostering the Blue Economy. Hannah Brocke, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO), has been working on commercial solutions to protect the oceans, since 2013. She is actively engaging with well-known company incubators, including continuous engagement with ESA BIC Northern Germany.

She describes her greatest challenge as twofold: “On the one hand I need to fully understand our company’s current and future needs, and on the other hand I need to match these needs at the right time to team building, infrastructure, strategic partners and funds. I can remember one particular moment when we urgently needed access to a testing facility, which we could not afford at that time. I solved this issue by connecting the right partners and acquiring the necessary public funds.” 

Valispace

Valispace is a start-up incubated at ESA BIC Northern Germany, where the team is developing a browser-based collaboration platform for engineers who are building complex hardware, such as satellites, rockets or fusion reactors. Co-founder and COO Louise Lindblad has a background in satellite systems engineering and worked across different space organisations and companies.

In the beginning, one of Valispace’s biggest challenges was to convince big enterprise customers to buy software for their core engineering activities from a small start-up team. Louise’s team persuaded them by suggesting new ideas for how to solve problems, as well as with their level of expertise. “As we have grown the team from 3 to 30 people, we have matured as a company and have faced other challenges inherent to starting a company, like setting up internal processes, hiring the best talent and fundraising”, explains Louise Lindblad. 

Ajuma 

Ajuma developed the UV-Bodyguard, a wearable device that combines UV measurement and satellite data to help people avoid sunburn, reduce their risk of developing skin cancer and monitor vitamin D levels. Founder Annette Barth MBA is a psychologist with international experience in sales, innovation and product management and the company is supported by ESA BIC Bavaria.

On its journey to bring the UV-Bodyguard to market, Ajuma’s main difficulty was gaining enough visibility to attract its first paying customers, which is crucial to short-term financing and long-term commercial success. “The way we solved it was reaching out to people – participating in different competitions like the Copernicus Masters, German Aerospace Center’s Health, Energy and Environment Challenge [which Ajuma won in 2019] and the international sports trade fair ISPO Brandnew Award in Munich, which we won as one of 10 start-ups in 2021. These competitions helped us to gain huge media coverage and get known by a wider audience within Germany”, says Annete Barth.

Find out more 

These amazing women deserve great credit for the creation and growth of their companies. At ESA Space Solutions, we are also proud of the work that the ESA BICs did to support them on their journeys, including establishing their online presence and building their online marketing funnels, growing their networks and getting support from project managers and mentors. You can read about other female founders supported by ESA Space Solutions here.

And if you are an entrepreneur with a great idea for a product or service that uses space assets in any way, find out how ESA Space Solutions and the ESA BIC network across ESA Member States can support you.

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go-to-place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. Our programme is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from 50KEuro to 2MEuro and supports everything from space technology transfer, early-stage incubation programs, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects. 

A high-tech skin treatment which comes right from the heart of the space industry is revolutionising the way in which global aesthetic and transdermal treatments are made. Why would anyone reach for Botox injections when technology inspired by innovations in rocket ignition can transform your skin without needles? 

This story began when ESA Space Solutions supported researchers from Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) in qualifying laser ignition technology for future rocket launchers – such as the Ariane family. 

SAL has a history of transferring ground-breaking research into application-orientated commercial projects. The team was optimistic that there were other possibilities for this ultra-compact, pulsed, high-power laser technology, which they called ‘HIPoLas’ (High Power Laser).

From rocket booster to skin booster

The next significant step in the technology translation took place when SAL and ESA Space Solutions technology broker in Austria, Brimatech, started in parallel to actively promote the use of HIPoLas in non-space sectors. An ESA Demonstration Project with an application in analytics began and in 2017 a commercial Feasibility Study was carried out by Brimatech. The development was supported by ESA’s Technology Transfer and Patent Office (TTPO).

“The Feasibility Study gave insights into the market opportunities for mobile analytical devices based on HIPoLas technology”, says Susanne Katzler-Fuchs, Managing Partner, Brimatech.  “The study also looked at the needs and even identified potential contacts in a special igniting application. The findings confirmed that the robustness of the HIPoLas solution is extremely beneficial for various sectors and mobile appliances. So, Silicon Austria Labs focused their search for partners in the medical and cosmetic sector on mobile devices”, adds Susanne Katzler-Fuchs.

In 2019 SAL established a relationship with LaserLeap S.A. for the production, use and application of high-frequency ultrasound for the permeabilisation of biological barriers such as the skin. LaserLeap S.A. produce high-frequency ultrasound by the ultra-rapid conversion of a laser beam into pressure through highly absorbent materials – which critically are not destroyed during this physical process. 

These converters absorb the energy of the laser beam and convert it into a high-frequency ultrasound capable of making the skin permeable temporarily. This means that drugs/molecules can be diffused or ‘transported’ through the skin, replacing hypodermic injections used in cosmetic treatments. The skin recovers its barrier function within just a few minutes giving impeccable results. 

The space laser system is set to be used in a new generation of mobile skin treatment devices, benefitting from its space-proven robustness and performance.

LaserLeap was created at the Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) in 2012. IPN has an ESA Space Solutions Centre, and was the first among the 22 other European ESA centres, to host within the same entity, the three areas promoting downstream businesses: ESA Business Incubation Centres, ESA Technology Broker Network and ESA Business Applications Ambassadors.

Deep tech spin-off success

Carlos Cerqueira, IPN Innovation Director and Portuguese ESA Space Solutions Centre Coordinator says: “LaserLeap is a clear case of a deep tech spin-off that has used state-of-the-art technology and created a new product and market. We supported them from an early stage in our incubator, and although deep tech start-ups with low TRLs always have a more difficult path to the market, it’s a more rewarding path in the end. Using space technology was the natural evolution of a start-up that has consistently been disruptive with the use of new technologies and one step ahead of the competition.”

The engagement of SAL's laser technology in non-space markets has been essential for the further growth of SAL's laser activities. Health and medical applications give SAL the chance to increase their scope and experience, helping them to be more competitive in the space business.

“We’ve made painless treatments possible for delivering cosmetics and drugs through the skin. It’s a safe, simple and affordable solution for the global aesthetic and transdermal drug-delivery market. We’ve created a whole new range of possibilities for replacing needle-based procedures in the aesthetic field”, states Carlos Serpa, CEO of LaserLeap.

ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AND PATENT OFFICE

The TTPO's funding for demonstration activities aim at proving the relevance of transferring a given technology or know-how into the non-space context, reducing the technical risk and confirming the market opportunity. An annual open call invites the submission of proposals from industry for Feasibility Studies, Proof of Concepts and Demonstrators. These have been designed as a funnel of activities, de-risking the activities on a step-by-step basis. Please see here for more information. 

ABOUT ESA SPACE SOLUTIONS

ESA Space Solutions is the go to place for great business ideas involving space in all areas of society and economy. Our mission is to support entrepreneurs in Europe in the development of business using satellite applications and space technology to improve everyday life. ESA Space Solutions is designed to provide multiple entry points such as ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), ESA Technology Broker Network, ESA Business Applications Ambassadors and ESA Business Applications programme. Funding typically ranges from €50k to €2M and supports everything from technology transfer, business incubation, Feasibility Studies to large-scale Demonstration Projects.