Mannheim, 3. March 2026
In the state-wide Academic Seed Accelerator Program (ASAP) run by the NXTGN innovation platform—which supports startup teams from the academic community in further developing and validating their business ideas—Sapientec emerged victorious at the end of February and was named the “Overall Winner.” The team led by Mareike Matz-Kellner, Patrick Schülein, Niklas Rettig, and Simon Thimm prevailed against a total of 19 finalist teams. Previously, 65 applications had been received from across Baden-Württemberg. The jury was particularly impressed by the combination of a clear medical need, innovative technology, and a scalable business model. The spin-off focuses on an AI-supported assistance system designed to significantly improve radiation protection for medical staff in the operating room.
The innovative technology was developed at the Institute for Applied Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (A²IR) at Mannheim University of Applied Sciences under the direction of Prof. Dr. Marcus Vetter. Development is taking place in close collaboration with Heidelberg University at the M²OLIE research campus, particularly with Prof. Dr. Schönberg and Prof. Dr. Diehl. Clinics and medical professionals are continuously supporting the project with practical feedback.
Further information can be found here:
