
Startup USA - NRW
Business Mission of German Startups from the Life Science and High-tech Sector
New York City and Boston, USA
September 15-20, 2019
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is located in the heart of Europe and with 17.9 million inhabitants it is the most populous and the most densely populated of the 16 federal states of Germany. Roughly 160 million people live within a radius of approx. 500 kilometers around the state capital Düsseldorf. NRW has a gross domestic product totaling 705 billion euros (2018) and a high economic performance.
NRW has one of the most dynamic startup scenes in Germany. Many startups from the ICT, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, cleantech and energy sectors are among the best and most innovative companies in the world. NRW offers a perfect combination of highly efficient and creative startups on the one hand, and a strong industrial base with well-established corporates on the other hand, being possible customers, partners or investors for startups.
70 universities in NRW ensure that many excellent skilled employees are available. Currently there are more than 768,000 students in NRW. In addition more than 60 technology centers and incubators build bridges towards universities, serve as incubators for young startups and entrepreneurs and thus ensure the optimal development and implementation of new ideas.
NRW has a broad network of 16 chambers of industry and commerce that advise startups during their business formation phase and beyond. In cooperation with NRW.International, the state’s agency in charge of export promotion, the chambers support enterprises in doing international business through business missions and trade fair participation.
This year’s trip to New York and Boston is a project within the framework of NRW.International; it is lead-managed by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Düsseldorf and financed by the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy. It is the 5th anniversary of the project Startup USA – NRW.
A project of

Funded by

Lead-managed by



In cooperation with











Algiax Pharmaceuticals GmbH
Algiax Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biotechnology company established in 2011.
It is dedicated to the discovery and development of innovative products to treat diseases with a high unmet medical need.
Algiax’ lead candidate AP-325 is a small-molecule GABAA receptor modulator in clinical development as a therapy for neuropathic pain. Algiax is currently preparing clinical study phase IIa for AP-325 which is scheduled to start by the end of the year to demonstrate proof-of-concept.
Next to AP-325 Algiax has discovered novel GABAA receptor modulator compounds called Thioacrylamide (ThAc) derivatives. The company is advancing a selection of ThAcs derivatives from its discovery to preclinical characterization.


BG3000 Service GmbH
BG3000 is Germany’s No. 1 innovation leader in digital training and education for high school students, teachers and young professionals. More than 20,000 students have been trained in “SMART CAMPS” providing digital literacy, creative online skills and entrepreneurial inspiration. Working with sponsors and partners we are able to offer educational sessions free of charge. More than 130 trainers and 30 consultants have been working enthusiastically for BG3000 since 2014 and the company has been skyrocketing ever since.


Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK zu Düsseldorf)
The Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) represents the general interest of 85,000 member companies from industry, wholesale, retail, logistics, finance and services in Düsseldorf and the county of Mettmann towards politics, administration and public. It is responsible for several public tasks, is a customer-oriented service provider for the regional business community, and an independent counsellor in all business affairs.
The International Business Division offers various services regarding export, import and foreign investments. By organizing business events, business missions and by participating in international trade fairs, the IHK offers substantial support to its member companies, hence enabling them to explore new markets and strengthen the economic success of the region. IHK Düsseldorf is the main chamber for US-Business within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK zu Düsseldorf)
Ernst-Schneider-Platz 140212 Düsseldorf, Germany www.duesseldorf.ihk.de

Katrin Lange
Executive International Business Division Tel.: +49 211 3557227 lange@duesseldorf.ihk.deHyperion Energy UG
To assist countries and states in transitioning to 100 % renewable energy, we are developing a low-cost, large-scale energy storage system made from industrial waste materials. We will co-locate our units with solar plants, wind farms, and power substations to provide electricity storage services throughout a utility's service area. Our technology can store electricity at a fraction of the cost of current battery systems and keep it for days and even weeks. Ultimately, we aim to replace all fossil fuel power assets with low-cost, reliable, and clean solar & storage options.
Hyperion Energy has offices in Germany and Colorado and is looking to finalize technology development together with partners at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in and the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. We have a highly motivated team with backgrounds in physics, computer science, marketing, and entrepreneurship and are continually looking for new and exciting opportunities.


InnoME GmbH
InnoME GmbH was founded with the aim of developing and establishing innovative sensor-based products for medical technology, biotechnology and analytics on the market. As a realization partner for measurement technology and sensor technology, we develop smart products by integrating our cost-effective disposable sensors into products. These can be used in healthcare, biotechnology and hygienic monitoring.
InnoME aims to develop and sale smart consumables for the continuous monitoring of processes and procedures in the life science sector. The goal is to become the leading global supplier of smart consumables.


Matthias Schuh
Business Development - Sensor to Cloud Tel.: +49 160 8093076 matthias.schuh@innome.de
Litzar
A new world needs new niche networking fashion. We are committed to build a new networking-service generation and encouraging everyone to be a shine creator and share their passion and creative expression through their videos, using our services. After the concept of story became tremendously trendy, social media changed into the new form of personal expression. Now isn't it a good time to change for better, to make story concepts more attractive and more of a business potential form? You say: ”Social media”, I say: “An outlet to express the moments and create best captures out of them in the most attractive form.” There is no need to search or DL many editing apps when you can always use Litzar's unique Editing Kit to access to any trendy creative feature that makes your contents unique.


PerAGraft GmbH in foundation
PerAGraft aims to develop and produce patient individualised implants for cardiovascular applications.
The use of an end-to-end digital process chain in conjunction with an innovative textile manufacturing technology, enable a fast realisation of patient-individualised implants. We use the innovation potential of current research results. As a university spin-off, our goal is to develop marketable products from these results.
Our value statement is: Living innovation – from the idea through research towards clinical application. PerAGraft was founded to create solutions, which improve the patient’s quality of life.



SalesViewer® GmbH
Supercharge your sales with SalesViewer®! SalesViewer® identifies your anonymous website visitors and provides you with easy, accurate and actionable sales data. Only one simple line shows you what really matters:
1. WHO is visiting your website?
2. WHAT is the exact need of this company?
3. HOW to turn this lead into a customer?
Increase your sales productivity in minutes! Over 20 smart features make SalesViewer® your daily sales companion. Since 2011 SalesViewer® is used by world-famous brands such as Stepstone, Linde, Statista, Deutsche Messe and other international companies and was voted as "Company to watch" at the Online Marketing Rockstars Festival in 2019 (OMR19).



Serend-ip GmbH
Skin diseases are often chronic and raise health budgets. Clinical diagnostics mainly rely on visual inspection by dermatologists on-site. Current developments using smartphone cameras still require visual symptoms. Serend-ip's DERMATACT assay stages skin health regardless of visual syptoms using test persons' corneocytes. These are easily collected via adhesive tape strips and sent by regular mail. The analysis is so sensitive, that it is ideally suited for preventive medicine. Fields of application are: 1) Risk staging for newborns to develop atopic dermatitis, 2) Risk staging for outdoor workers prone to actinic keratosis or 3) Cosmetic applications in the managing of dry skin / premature aging.
Novel aspect is nanoscale cell topography being quantitated. Patent granted (US, EU), 10 high level scientific papers, proprietary software. First customers in university clinics.


Tennisfarm GmbH
In a busy world, leisure activities have to adapt to people's lives - not the other way around. For this reason, gym sports have been so successful in the last decades - they cover these needs well. The opposite is true for playful sports: you need to find and book a court, coordinate with a group of people, etc. With playSports, our team (+100 creative awards, +15 programming languages, +10 IPOs) makes each sport as convenient accessible as never before, so that it fits into people's everyday life.


VesselSens GmbH in foundation
The VesselSens diagnostic system is the first implantable sensor system that renders traditional check-ups obsolete by allowing patients to accurately diagnose vessel clogging in real-time. Unlike conventional stents which require expensive and highly inaccurate clinical check-ups our patented in-stent sensor technology provides highly accurate wireless diagnosis. Follow up examinations are no longer necessary.

