EXIST - founding scholarship for agricultural robot SEPP

19.8.2020 | THD-Pressestelle

Founding team of the Startup Campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) receives an EXIST founding grant of € 117,000 for the idea of the agricultural robot SEPP.

The idea is simple and ingenious: a robot that takes care of the domestic vegetable garden. The useful helper will make it easier for garden owners who do not have the time to regularly water or weed their garden. This is the vision of Andreas Stockinger and his two founding colleagues Niklas Rohne and Martin Seidl. With this idea, the team approached the DIT's Startup Campus and, with its support, received an EXIST start-up grant.

Supported by the scholarship in the amount of € 117,000, the prospective founders now have twelve months to turn the vision of the agricultural robot SEPP into a marketable product. During the development of the robot, the construction of the first prototypes up to the planning of a serial production, the founding team can count on the support of DIT and its Startup Campus, no matter if it is the solution of technical problems or the production of single metal components. If everything goes according to plan, home gardeners can hope for a significant reduction in workload because of SEPP for the 2022 gardening season.

The founders will be supported by their mentor Prof Dr Wolfgang Dorner and the DIT Startup Campus. The team of founders will move into the Startup Lab of the Startup Campus as their workplace during the funding period. The DIT's Startup Campus supports students, employees and alumni of the university in all phases of a business start-up.

The EXIST founding scholarship is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy and the European Social Fund. In addition to students, the scholarship also supports graduates and scientists who want to implement their founding idea with a business plan.

Bild (DIT): The SEPP team: Niklas Rohne, mentor Prof Dr Wolfgang Dorner, Andreas Stockinger, Alfons Weinzierl, Prof Dr Thomas Geiss (both DIT Startup Campus) and Martin Seidl (from left to right)