SciFlow is “Content Startup of the Year“ / The winner receives an innovation prize of 10,000 Euro /
The sponsorship programme would gladly welcome new investors from the industry in 2021
The decision has been made: SciFlow has won the final of the CONTENTshift accelerator as "Content Startup of the Year". The German founder Carsten Borchert and his team came out on top against four competing business ideas in the final round of the sponsorship programme of the Börsenverein (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) Group. Their approach: a collaborative online text editor that allows scientific texts to be created, edited and formatted in a team. As the winner of the competition, the startup will be awarded 10,000 euro in funding. The final was recorded in Frankfurt's House of Books and broadcast online via the Frankfurt Book Fair's THEARTS+ platform.
Carmen Udina, spokesperson for the jury, Head of Business Development and Cooperation at Publishing Group Oetinger and spokesperson for the Digital Interest Group of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, gave the following reasons for the jury's decision: “SciFlow is the future of scientific publishing. Carsten Borchert and his team simplify the collaborative creation and expert evaluation of content. The team has developed tremendously in the course of the sponsorship programme. With their compelling business model, they have acquired renowned research institutes as customers and created another business model during the competition for open publishing services. Within the mentoring programme, the startup also succeeded in networking with the industry and establishing new partnerships. In this way, they have demonstrated a high degree of professionalism and have embraced the spirit of the CONTENTshift accelerator in its truest sense. On behalf of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association and all partners, we cordially congratulate them!”
Carsten Borchert, co-founder of SciFlow, is very grateful for the experience: "As part of the CONTENTshift accelerator programme, we have benefited from a lot of valuable feedback on our product from absolute top leaders in the industry. Building on this, we were able to further develop our service and enter into firm cooperation with partners such as Cornelsen and Lehmanns Media. I would strongly recommend other startups to seize the opportunity and apply next year.”
The other four startups in the final round naturally also provided fascinating impulses for the book industry: automated text summaries and text compositions for media companies and regional event organisers (artificial connect GmbH), a hybrid of a book and a tactile learning toy as a barrier-free medium for blind and sighted children (PlusPlurall), the digital acceptance, management and analysis of submitted manuscripts based on artificial intelligence (Scriptbakery AI) and wooden storage boxes that combine analogue and digital travel memories using a cloud folder in the lid (Questlog).
All five business ideas were selected in June 2020 from a total of 39 applications for the Börsenverein Group sponsorship programme. Over the past few months, they had already won the first round of decisions (shortlist) and took part in individual coaching and consulting sessions with the jury and other experienced experts from the industry.
Alongside Carmen Udina, the jury this year also included: Sabine Haag (Wiley-VCH), Hartmut Gante (Wiley-VCH), Nina Hugendubel (Hugendubel), Per Dalheimer (Hugendubel Digital), Leif Göritz (Thalia), Olaf Carstens (Cornelsen), Detlef Büttner (Lehmanns Media) and Ronald Schild (MVB).
The CONTENTshift accelerator will be continued in 2021. Companies can participate as investors in the programme and thereby gain a place on the jury as well as direct and exclusive access to all the startups who apply.
About the CONTENTshift accelerator
Along with the CONTENTshift startup club and the icebreaker events, the CONTENTshift accelerator is part of the Börsenverein Group's CONTENTshift initiative, which promotes innovation and new business models in the book and media industry.
Further details can be found on the website: www.contentshift.de
Twitter: @ShiftingContent, Instagram: @contentshift
Hashtag: #cosh20
About the Börsenverein Group
The Börsenverein group is an advocacy group and central service provider for the German book industry. The group consists of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels and its business subsidiaries, the Frankfurt Book Fair, MVB, mediacampus frankfurt and the Holding Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Beteiligungsgesellschaft. From interest representation and cultural projects to fair organisation, training and further education, publishing and technology services, the group bundles services and educational opportunities for the book and media industry.
Frankfurt am Main, 14 October 2020
Press Contacts:
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels e.V.
Thomas Koch, Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone +49 (0) 69 1306-293, email: t.koch@boev.de
Anna Härle, PR Manager
Phone +49 (0) 69 1306-296, email: haerle@boev.de