At the Association of Municipal Utilities' conference, Leaf Republic GmbH was named winner of the first VKU Innovation Pitch. More than 1,000 decision-makers from the municipal sector selected the winner in a live vote.
Leaf Republic prevailed over four other finalists, who first presented their business ideas to the audience in a five-minute pitch. Leaf Republic won, among other things, several weeks of mentoring and additional support in sales and marketing measures. The Munich-based startup develops, produces, and markets product innovations based on leaves in the packaging, pulp, and paper sectors.
Innovative business models were convincing
In addition to Leaf Republic, vestaxx GmbH iG, which focuses on alternative heating systems, pixolus GmbH, which offers reading software for gas, water and electricity meters, EnerSolve GmbH, which offers modular thermal storage systems, and Binando, which offers sensors for detecting fill levels in waste disposal, qualified for the pitch.
By January 2017, 58 founders, startups, and young companies had submitted their innovative business models for the 1st VKU Innovation Pitch. The five finalists were nominated via an online vote among VKU member companies in February 2017.
