Three outstanding business models receive the Oderland-Spree 2025 Business Start-up Award from the "ExistenzgründerPartner ODERLAND" working group
The jury for this year's Oderland-Spree 2025 Business Start-up Award had a difficult decision to make. A total of 23 start-ups had applied for the prize.
"An impressive line-up of applicants," said Ralf Steinbrück, Head of Internal Administration, Construction and District Development in the Oderspree district, to the finalists during the award ceremony on November 18 at the Kreiskulturhaus in Beeskow.
The young business ideas ranged from offering pet burials, homemade ice cream in their own café, life coaching, innovative technology to an event location on the water or handmade cosmetics.
In the end, three start-up ideas won out. The Existenzgründerpreis im Haupterwerb went to Andreas Hierl and his innovation of the so-called 'Solar Igloo', a solution for efficient electricity and heat generation as well as energy storage. With his innovation, Hierl is responding to the question of affordable and constantly available electricity. The engineer thanked the city of Fürstenwalde in particular for believing in his young company and giving him an entrepreneurial home.
The Mutmacher Prize for sideline start-ups went to the 'First Aid Brothers'. Christian and Florian Horst teach health topics, especially for younger people. They work together with the Frankfurt (Oder) Fanfare Guard, Viadrina University and a Frankfurt integration daycare center, among others. Frankfurt's new Lord Mayor, Axel Strasser, presented the award and praised their social responsibility, especially in the use of life-saving technology such as automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
IHK Managing Director Monique Zweig presented the Succession Award to Mandy Roth-Grycza and her Strausberg business 'Altstadtkind'. She emphasized that succession is a great task of our time and at the same time represents a special challenge, as it has to combine tradition and innovation. An emotional moment followed when the previous owner, Kerstin Winter, took to the stage as a surprise guest and expressed her joy at the succession.
The evening showed that East Brandenburg is full of opportunities and is on the move, with people who dare to try new things and believe in visions.
The Oderland-Spree start-up prize is awarded annually by the "ExistenzgründerPartner ODERLAND" working group, a network of 14 public and private partners, the city of Frankfurt (Oder) and the districts of Märkisch-Oderland and Oder-Spree. The aim of the network is to provide optimal support for start-ups. Find out more at www.existenzgruender-oderland-spree.de