prototype.club

Innovation Knows No Borders: prototype.club takes you global

Jessica Mantel — Sun, 05 Jul 2026 05:30:29 +0000

In a globalized market, true technological leadership isn’t confined to a single tech hub or country—it can be found in any corner of the world. At prototype.club, we have always believed that groundbreaking solutions require looking beyond our own backyard. That is why we are expanding our horizons and taking our proven open innovation model fully international, bridging the gap between established corporations and the world’s most agile innovators.

Open Innovation Across Borders

We don’t believe in passive scouting. When a corporate partner brings us a challenge, we launch a targeted, highly active global search, manually tapping into international networks to find the absolute best-fit startups. The magic happens next: these startups don’t just pitch ideas; they build real, working prototypes.

Look at the map above, and you’ll see some of our footprint. We regularly bring together participants from diverse international backgrounds, giving our corporate partners access to top-tier global talent. Because at the end of the day, we don’t reward slides or concepts or participants for a specific region —we reward execution and real innovation progress, no matter where from.

Unlocking Global Ecosystems

Taking your company international means more than just entering a new market; it means understanding the local innovation landscape and finding the right tech partners to help you grow. We act as your boots on the ground, helping you discover international suppliers, map out regional tech ecosystems and source local talent.

A prime example of this is our work at AGRITECHNICA ASIA 2026. We partnered with leading German innovators like Nevonex by Bosch to run a high-impact hackathon on-site. To maximize the benefit for the regional ecosystem, we integrated powerful local and international organizations, including SEARCA and the German Agency for Business and Economic Development. This is how we turn international expansion into a structured, low-risk success story – using our existing networks and synergies for higher impact and smoother sailing for you.

Why Go International?

Innovation is often bottlenecked by geography. Companies look for solutions in their own backyard and miss out on breakthrough tech being built halfway across the world.For large corporations and ambitious Mittelstand companies, staying competitive means constantly scanning the global horizon. However, accessing foreign startup ecosystems is notoriously difficult, opaque, and time-consuming.

That is where we come in. We strip away the geographic complexity. Whether you are an established global player looking for niche suppliers abroad or a strong regional company wanting to test the waters in a new territory, we provide the network, the filter and the framework to find the right talented partners in the right places—without the usual friction.

Using Synergies from our Origin

Our roots are firmly planted in Germany, a country globally recognized for precision engineering, quality and robust industrial frameworks. We don’t leave this heritage behind when we cross borders; instead, we use it as our anchor.

By leveraging our deep-seated connections with trusted industry associations like the DLG and VDA, alongside global development partners like the GIZ, we combine German structural reliability with global agility. We use the strength of our home network to make our international execution faster, safer and infinitely more effective for you.

The Journey has just begun

Stay tuned—more international projects are just around the corner. In a globalized yet hard-to-access world, the demand for cross-border innovation is higher than ever, and we are accelerating our journey to meet it.

Many innovation hubs and accelerators focus on promoting talent from their area – a valid and important cause. Our focus instead lies on offering you the globally leading top talent to solve your problem.

Are you ready to see what the world’s best innovators can build for you? Reach out to us today to explore how we can drive your international growth.

AUTHOR

Sophia Bense

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This was HANNOVER MESSE 2026

Jessica Mantel — Tue, 26 May 2026 12:14:18 +0000

For a multiplier like prototype.club, HANNOVER MESSE 2026 proved that the most valuable trade fair conversations are the ones that don’t end at the booth. Across our dynamic stage sessions, we demonstrated how we connect concrete industrial needs with the agile tech ecosystems ready to scale them into reality.

Open Innovation Across Borders

True innovation requires a global perspective. In our first stage session, „From Rapid Prototyping to Scaled Collaboration,“ we explored how cross-industry partnerships turn rapid prototypes into resilient international ecosystems. Alongside panel experts like Lim Chaisung and Chunkwon Kim, we discussed the strategic importance of Korea-Europe testbeds. By connecting these insights with initiatives like the AGRITECHNICA ASIA Hackathon and AGMO Inc., we showcased how bridging startups with global industrial players creates a viable pathway to scale sustainable solutions across continents and markets.

How a Startup can Speed Up Corporates

It is notoriously difficult for startups to innovate rapidly within rigid corporate structures; large companies inherently take time to build trust and navigate internal decision-making. We addressed this bottleneck by focusing on robotics and industrial execution. Henning Janßen from AI Robotic provided an overview of their automated solutions, while Bosch shared critical insights into 3D printing and industrialization. To round out this forward-facing session, Lukas Fiedler from Tokenize.it added a vital perspective on how Web3 and tokenization technologies shape entirely new forms of decentralized collaboration and digital value creation, allowing corporates to transact and partner with unprecedented speed.

Bringing SPARX on Stage

The ultimate proof of our model came alive with the SPARX Challenge, an initiative tackled alongside Amprion GmbH. Amprion didn’t bring a vague innovation theme to Hannover Messe; they brought a concrete operational bottleneck: replacing bundle spacers under live-line conditions.
This project perfectly illustrates the prototype.club ecosystem advantage. We translated Amprion’s highly specific engineering need into a structured challenge, identified AI Robotic to build the automated system, and integrated Bosch early as an industrialization partner for 3D metal printing. This wasn’t a marketing show or a pitch deck competition—it was a multi-party masterclass in accelerating solution development with true operational backing.

Reviving Past Partnerships

The momentum of our ecosystem doesn’t stop when a trade show ends. We were thrilled to welcome Bruno Eisinger from Infinite Foundry back to the stage. As our Hannover Messe 2023 challenge winner with Siemens Energy, their presence was living proof of how collaboration continues long after the initial format. It highlighted that prototype.club builds lasting commercial relationships, not just temporary prototypes.

Hannover Messe 2026 made one thing clear: industrial organizations are full of oddly specific operational bottlenecks that quietly drain resources. Solving them requires clear demand signals, rigorous evaluation, and early ecosystem integration. We want to extend a massive thank you to all our brilliant panelists, partners, and attendees who joined us on stage. The conversations started in Hannover are just the beginning, and we look forward to moving more innovations from the stage directly into live application.

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Impressions

AUTHOR

Sophia Bense

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This was AGRITECHNICA ASIA 2026

Jessica Mantel — Tue, 26 May 2026 12:07:36 +0000

What a week in Bangkok! We came to AGRITECHNICA ASIA 2026 with a clear mission: ditch the corporate fluff, break down silos, and build real, field-ready solutions. Through our intensive program at the German Pavilion and on the Hackathon floor, we turned that mission into reality. By connecting German SMEs with local Asian solution providers and hosting a high-stakes hackathon, we proved that the best way to predict the future of agtech is to prototype it. Here is how our ecosystem transformed loose networking into concrete, cross-border progress.

AGRITECHNICA ASIA HACKATHON

Bringing Diverse Cultures Together for a Common Goal

Talent knows no borders, and the energy on the hackathon floor was proof of that. More than 60 brilliant minds—including hackers, organizers, and partners—came together for an intense, day-long sprint to develop the best solutions for real-world agriculture. Participants flew in from Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Myanmar, and beyond, bringing a vibrant mix of different cultures from all over Asia. Working shoulder-to-shoulder, these teams proved that when you build with a „Farmer-First“ mindset, you create an instant global impact.

From Use Cases to High-Stakes Hacking

The day kicked off with an opening ceremony where partners welcomed the participants, set the stage, and presented the real-world use cases. Gernot Hofmann from Nevonex by Bosch, along with several members of the local Bosch team, was on hand to provide vital technical guidance from hour one. After a quick team-building session, the teams dived into a 5-hour hacking window. The afternoon concluded with a powerful keynote address from Christoph Janesch (Business Lead Economic Development at AWE), presented in cooperation with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Celebrating Utility Over Complexity: The Winners and the Panel

We weren’t looking for tech for tech’s sake; we looked for utility, specifically judging on the „4 Ps“ (Pocket, Plate, Place, and People). The day culminated in a closing panel featuring Christoph Janesch, Thomas Riste (Bosch Management Consulting), Dr. Emil John Cabrera (SEARCA), Prof. Dr. Heinz Bernhardt (TUM), and Pasinee Tangsuriyapaisan (Enable Earth), followed by the award ceremony. A massive congratulations to our category winners who took home the launchpad for future incubation and acceleration:

Category Surprise Box Winner: Team Chicken Wings
Master of Plowing Category Winner: Team BiCPAL
Smart Farmer Monitoring Category Winner: Team The Plot Twist
Where Is My Machine Category Winner: Team BPD

Great Partners for Great Progress

Guided Matchmaking

The gap between having an innovative solution and finding the right business partner can often feel insurmountable. On May 21st, we set out to permanently close that gap. In close collaboration with the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Agency for Business and Economic Development (AWE), we hosted a curated guided matchmaking session designed for one thing only: immediate action.

We promised concrete needs instead of loose networking, and the ecosystem absolutely delivered. We brought together German SMEs and local Asian solution providers for targeted, problem-solving table sessions where every discussion was centered around a specific, pre-determined business demand. Attendees also received expert consultations on unique cooperation opportunities with GIZ and DEG. There were no wasted business cards or empty pleasantries here—just direct, curated conversations that created immediate tracks for market expansion, sustainable cooperation, and digital transformation in developing markets.

Open Innovation Across Borders

Looking back at the bustling energy of AGRITECHNICA ASIA 2026, this week was a testament to what happens when you stop over-engineering and start building for the real world. By breaking down international silos, we didn’t just talk about the future of smart farming—we prototyped it in real-time. To every participant who coded through the pressure, every exhibitor who brought their genuine business challenges to the table, and everyone who joined us for a rooftop debrief: thank you for shaping the future of global agritech.

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AUTHOR

Sophia Bense

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From Challenge Winner to Development Partner: proband15 x DaimlerTruck

Jessica Mantel — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 05:48:55 +0000

How proband15 Continued Working with DaimlerTruck After IAA TRANSPORTATION 2024

At IAA TRANSPORTATION 2024 in Hannover, prototype.club and DaimlerTruck launched the Driver’s Vital & Mood Detection challenge. The goal was clear: find new ways to improve road safety by monitoring a driver’s medical condition and mood in real time, using a combination of health wearables and driver-facing camera systems. Around a dozen startups joined the process, and within roughly two weeks of development time, the most promising teams were selected to present their prototypes to an expert jury in the final in October. Two teams stood out strongly enough to move beyond the competition itself: Nuverse and proband15.

One of those teams was proband15

What makes their story interesting is not just that they won. It is what happened next.

For many companies, startup challenges still feel like something between innovation theatre and early scouting. Interesting ideas, good presentations, maybe a pilot if things go well. But the proband15 story shows what can happen when the process is structured correctly and a corporate partner is genuinely open to moving quickly.

After the final, proband15 did not just walk away with recognition. According to the team, the collaboration moved into a 100-day proof of concept, followed by an additional assignment that extended the work further. The team describes the project as a real development effort focused on a vital data monitoring system for truck drivers, not just a conceptual exercise. They also said the results were strong enough to give DaimlerTruck a meaningful basis for deciding whether to continue the topic internally.

That is exactly the kind of outcome prototype.club aims to create.

The value of a challenge does not lie in the final presentation alone. It lies in whether a company can move from a clearly framed problem to a real decision basis — fast. In this case, the process appears to have done just that. proband15 said they were positively surprised by how quickly everything moved after the challenge, including the initial organizational steps and the follow-up engagement. Compared with the long and often slow timelines startups usually associate with large corporations, that speed mattered.

What is especially compelling about the story is the scale of the team. During the follow-up conversation, proband15 spoke openly about being a very small setup. That makes the collaboration all the more notable. A compact startup team was able to move from challenge participation into serious development work with one of the world’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturers. For large companies wondering whether small external teams can be relevant partners, this is a useful reminder: the deciding factor is often not size, but focus, technical clarity, and the right process around the collaboration.

The team also described the outcome in a realistic and mature way.

They did not claim that the project instantly became a large-scale rollout. Instead, they explained that the work had progressed to the point where DaimlerTruck could make a strategic internal decision about whether and how to continue. They also noted that the topic had moved beyond the innovation unit toward a more advanced internal context. That may sound like a small detail, but it is actually a strong signal. It suggests that the work was taken seriously enough to be considered beyond the original challenge environment.

This matters because it reflects what many corporates are really looking for. Not every challenge winner needs to become a direct production supplier. But if a startup can help a company test feasibility, reduce uncertainty, and provide a concrete basis for further decisions, that already creates real value.

Just as important: proband15 described the collaboration itself as positive. They said the cooperation worked well, the process was smooth, and the follow-up steps happened faster than they would typically expect in corporate settings. That may sound simple, but anyone who has worked in open innovation knows how rare and important that combination is: fast onboarding, a clear task, constructive collaboration, and a result that helps the corporate partner move forward.

For us at prototype.club, this is one of the core reasons we believe in challenge-driven collaboration.

A good challenge is not a beauty contest for ideas. It is a structured entry point into real cooperation. When the problem is relevant, the setup is focused, and the right people are involved early, startups can become working partners far faster than many organizations expect.

The proband15 story is also a good example of something else that often gets overlooked: progress does not always show up publicly right away. Large organizations naturally move at a different speed once a project leaves the innovation context and enters broader internal structures. That does not make the collaboration any less meaningful. In fact, it often means the work has crossed an important threshold.

And that, in many ways, is what made this challenge successful.

It created a setting in which a startup could demonstrate capability under real pressure, a corporate partner could evaluate more than just slides, and both sides could move into actual implementation work within a short time. That is what prototype.club is built to enable: not just connections, but collaboration with momentum.

What others can take from this

For corporates, the takeaway is simple: if you define the problem well and create a structured path after the challenge, small teams can deliver meaningful development work very quickly.

For startups, the lesson is just as important: a well-run challenge can be much more than visibility. It can be the beginning of a serious customer relationship.

And for us, proband15 is exactly the kind of story worth telling — because it shows what happens when open innovation is designed not as a campaign, but as a process.

AUTHOR

Jessica Mantel

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From Smartphone Concept to In-Vehicle Device: Nuverse x DaimlerTruck

Jessica Mantel — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 05:32:04 +0000

How Nuverse Advanced Driver Health Monitoring Through the DaimlerTruck Challenge

At IAA TRANSPORTATION 2024, prototype.club and DaimlerTruck launched the Driver’s Vital & Mood Detection challenge to explore new ways of improving road safety. The goal was to identify solutions capable of monitoring a truck driver’s medical condition and mood in real time. Within a short development phase, selected startups turned their ideas into prototypes and presented them in the final in October. Two teams were commissioned afterward — one of them was Nuverse.

What makes the Nuverse story especially interesting is how quickly the solution evolved.

According to the follow-up interview, Nuverse’s initial concept was based on a smartphone and camera setup. During the project, however, the team developed a separate physical device that could be mounted in front of the driver and continuously monitor health vitals from there. Daimler Truck reportedly appreciated the result and requested that the device be sent for testing in trucks.

That step matters. It shows how a challenge can move a technology from concept stage into something much more tangible and testable in a real application environment.

Nuverse also highlighted an important aspect of its technology: the system does not rely on storing photos or videos of the driver. Instead, it analyzes reflected light signals to derive health-related measurements. The team further emphasized that their products do not collect end-user data, which they see as a major advantage in privacy- and compliance-sensitive contexts.

For companies working in mobility, safety or health-related environments, this is highly relevant. Technical performance is only one side of the equation. Questions around privacy, usability and implementation often determine whether a solution can realistically move forward.

Opportunities across Borders

What also stood out in the conversation was that the DaimlerTruck project did not remain an isolated case. Nuverse described how the work continued to evolve in other contexts, including a proof of concept with an Indian transport company that expanded the solution beyond health monitoring to include behavioural detection such as smoking, alcohol influence and driver distraction.

That makes this more than a simple winner story.

It shows how a well-designed challenge can help sharpen an existing capability, adapt it to real-world requirements and create momentum beyond the original brief.

For prototype.club, that is exactly the point. A challenge should not stop at ideas and presentations. It should create a framework in which companies can discover capable partners and startups can prove that their technology works in a relevant industrial setting.

The Nuverse story is a strong example of that. A focused road safety challenge became an opportunity to turn a promising concept into a dedicated device and to push a technology one step closer to real deployment.

AUTHOR

Jessica Mantel

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test 3

Sophia — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 13:45:35 +0000

I need a tractor

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Smart Farming

Jessica — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:25:45 +0000

Lorem ipsum lorem ipsum

Der Beitrag Smart Farming erschien zuerst auf prototype.club.

Test 2

Sophia — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 15:20:07 +0000

weiß nicht

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test

Sophia — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:33:39 +0000

test

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SPARX: What Open Innovation was actually made for

Jessica Mantel — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 00:56:50 +0000

Case study · Amprion × prototype.club

SPARX: What Open Innovation was actually made for

Not a robotics story. A structured response to a real problem in critical infrastructure.

SPARX (Safe Powerline Access & Remote eXchange) is a case where a clearly defined operational need met a rigorous open-innovation process — and produced a deployable technological path in months, not years.

Read the story Get in touch

SPARX (Safe Powerline Access & Remote eXchange) is not a robotics story. It is a structured response to a highly specific operational problem in critical infrastructure. At its core, SPARX addresses a task transmission system operators know very well: replacing bundle spacers on high-voltage overhead lines. Today, this requires helicopters, lifting platforms or cable carts — proven methods, but costly, resource-intensive and increasingly difficult to scale as grids expand.

The question was not whether improvement was possible. The question was how to develop a fundamentally new technical solution without launching a multi-year internal development program. That's why SPARX is what Open Innovation was made for.

The challenge

Amprion's SPARX Challenge

A concrete need — not an innovation theme

Amprion defined a clear operational demand:

Enable a faster, more ecological and more cost-effective replacement of bundle spacers — ideally under live-line conditions.

This was not a vague "innovation topic." It was a defined technical bottleneck with cross-border economic relevance and implementation intent.

That distinction matters. Open innovation only works when the need is real, specific and backed by operational ownership.

Translating need into structure

prototype.club translated this demand into the SPARX challenge, working closely with the experts from Amprion. This included:

A clear technical scope
Defined evaluation criteria
Industrial feasibility requirements in a highly regulated environment
A realistic implementation pathway

Rather than collecting ideas, the process focused on identifying deep-tech companies capable of building deployable solutions that don't follow old approaches, but open up new doors.

The structured selection process allowed Amprion to evaluate approaches not just on creativity, but on engineering credibility and scalability — thanks to prototype.club's partnerships.

What prototype.club actually does

SPARX is not a robotics project — it is an example of our structured mechanism:

A company defines a concrete operational need.
We translate it into a focused, implementation-oriented challenge.
We identify and select capable deep-tech players.
Industrial partners are integrated early to ensure scalability.
Decisions on future collaboration are made based on demonstrated skills, not pitch decks.

The result is not idea generation. It is accelerated solution development with industrial backing.

Most organizations carry operational bottlenecks that:

Require specialized technical solutions
Are too small for strategic transformation programs
Are too complex for quick internal fixes
But are expensive enough to matter

These problems rarely reach the board. But they consume millions in effort over time. SPARX was exactly such a case, and prototype.club the ideal approach:

This is not consulting. This is not idea crowdsourcing. This is not replacing internal R&D. This is not a marketing innovation show. This is Open Innovation solving your real needs as an additional tool in your toolbox.

The technology

From challenge to technology

AI Robotics emerged as the winning team. Their approach focused on a robotic system capable of automating the replacement process while meeting safety and scalability requirements.

Bosch joined as industrialization partner, contributing manufacturing expertise and 3D metal printing capabilities. This shifted the discussion from concept validation to production feasibility.

The result was not a pitch deck. It was a concrete technological pathway.

SPARX in action — a first look at the working prototype

The bigger picture

Why SPARX matters beyond robotics

SPARX illustrates a broader pattern: large organizations are full of highly specific operational problems.

These "oddly specific" bottlenecks often sit in maintenance, logistics, production or infrastructure. They consume resources quietly — without ever becoming strategic headline topics.

Yet solving them can unlock disproportionate operational value.

What this shows about open innovation

SPARX shows where Open Innovation becomes structurally powerful:

When the demand signal is clear
When evaluation is rigorous
When implementation is intended from day one
When industrial partners are integrated early

These "oddly specific" bottlenecks consume resources quietly — without ever becoming strategic headline topics. Yet solving them can unlock disproportionate operational value. It is about accelerating solution development for well-defined, high-impact problems. The model reduces risk, shortens timelines and connects operational demand directly with technological capability.

A pattern that can be replicated

Every corporate organization has its own "bundle spacer problem."

A maintenance bottleneck
A production constraint
A safety-critical manual task
A legacy process that scales poorly

The question is not whether solutions exist. The question is whether there is a structured mechanism to find, validate and industrialize them.

prototype.club supports these bottlenecks in a unique way — by leveraging ecosystems and focusing on skills excellence. If you can think of your own "bundle spacer problem," feel free to reach out to see how we can support your solution journey.

In the press

VDMA on industry challenges like SPARX

VDMA reports on the collaboration between VDMA Startup-Machine and prototype.club, and shows how structured challenge formats help turn concrete industrial needs into practical solution paths. The SPARX project illustrates how startups and industrial partners can create real progress together.

Read the full report on VDMA's website →

On the ground

Impressions

Author

Sophia Bense

Have your own "bundle spacer problem"?

Let's talk about turning a specific operational bottleneck into a working solution.

Get in touch →

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