For one year, entrepreneurs Dr. Mathias Michalicki, Stefan Blöchl and Johannes Fürst were able to focus fully building and developing their start-up company
“IFOX Systems”. This was made possible through their cooperation with Landshut University of Applied Sciences and the start-up grant they were awarded from EXIST. EXIST, which is a programme of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, supports innovative technology-oriented start-up projects which are based on scientific knowledge. The IFOX team has now succeeded in launching its business on the market.Information system for optimising processes
The IFOX information system provides industrial companies with information for optimisations, and highlights how much money is being wasted and where. The special and innovative feature of the IFOX solution is the clear distinction of the operating expenses between costs that add value and costs that amount to a waste of money.
In addition to the three founders, the IFOX team now includes four students from Landshut University of Applied Sciences, some of whom are supporting the further development of the information system on a full-time basis or as part of their final year projects. For 2021, IFOX is planning to add further staff in order to expand its information system and to be able to serve more customers.
The IFOX success story
University President Prof. Dr. Fritz Pörnbacher and Prof. Dr. Marcus Jautze, Vice President for Digitalisation, Start-ups and Continuing Education, congratulated Michalicki, Blöchl and Fürst on their great success. “At Landshut University of Applied Sciences, we place a lot of emphasis on supporting new business start-ups,” emphasized Jautze. Pörnbacher added: “We are therefore all the more pleased that with IFOX, we have been able to actively support a big success story here at the university.”
The university’s centre for start-ups is the first point of contact for all of those interested in setting up a business on campus. “In addition to a wide range of study and event formats, we offer advice to entrepreneurs and support with applications for the start-up grant from EXIST,” explains project manager Eva Rohrmüller. “We are very proud that as an innovative start-up, IFAX was awarded the funding a year ago, and that we have been able to make the journey to a successful market launch together.”
The start-up network at the university and LINK e.V. have accompanied IFOX on its journey right from the start. First of all, there was the successful application for the EXIST start-up grant and the associated funding totalling 146,000 euros from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The grant is co-financed by the European Social Fund. Another important building block for the success of the start-up was the willingness of Prof. Dr. Abdelmajid Khelil to be a mentor for IFOX. As Manager of the “Internet of Things” laboratory at the university, he provided active support to the founding team with his extensive experience in the field of internet technologies and software engineering.
Photo: Landshut University of Applied Sciences/Thomas Kolbinger
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