Berlin Brandenburg Innovation Award 2024: Winners

Brain City Berlin

The winners of the Berlin Brandenburg Innovation Award 2024 have been announced. The five awarded companies received a prize of 15,000 euros each to further develop their groundbreaking ideas. A total of 125 companies, teams, and collaborations from science and industry applied this year.

Berlin is a high-tech location. Many innovations are created here in close cooperation with science. They are primarily driven by small and medium-sized enterprises in Brain City Berlin. According to the latest innovation survey by the Technologie Stiftung Berlin (Technology Foundation Berlin), almost a quarter (24 percent) of innovation expenditures in Berlin are sustained by SMEs. This puts the capital about ten percent above the national average. However, innovation successes are declining nationwide in many sectors. It is therefore even more important to make innovations visible. This is precisely the aim of the Berlin Brandenburg Innovation Award. Since 1992, the two states have jointly organized the competition – until 1984, Berlin did this alone. They aim to reflect and promote the region’s innovative capacity and economic strength. The competition focuses on the clusters of healthcare, energy technology, information and communication technology, media and creative industries, optics and photonics, as well as transport, mobility, and logistics. The Innovation Award is linked to the Joint Innovation Strategy of the States of Berlin and Brandenburg (innoBB 2025).

“The capital region is an optimal place for innovative economic development,” emphasized Franziska Giffey, Berlin’s Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises , at the award ceremony. The awarded companies represent “groundbreaking ideas and products made in Berlin and Brandenburg and a region that has developed into a driving force of the German economy with its innovative strength.” Jörg Steinbach, Minister for Economic Affairs, Labor and Energy of the State of Brandenburg, highlighted that new technological developments play a key role in the future of regional companies and the associated job security.

A total of 125 applications were submitted for the Berlin Brandenburg Innovation Award 2024. Since the first award in 1982, more than 180 awardees have been selected from over 4,560 applications.

The Winners of 2024

AKmira optronics: The ultra-miniaturized 3D camera module is based on a completely new concept of digital-optical holography. With the module measuring only a few millimeters, the third dimension can be captured without the need for complex mechanical refocusing of additional optics. This simplifies and enables 3D imaging in many areas: from medical 3D endoscopy to 3D AR glasses and smartphones, to ultra-light drone applications.

AudioCure Pharma: The innovative active substance ug AC102 was developed for the treatment of sudden hearing loss. Until now, there has been no approved and proven effective therapy for this condition. In laboratory tests, AC102 almost completely reversed hearing loss. The drug has already been successfully tested on humans for safety and tolerability. It is currently being investigated in a Europe-wide Phase 2 study for its effectiveness in patients with sudden hearing loss.

Cambrium: An AI-powered protein design technology enables the company to create novel, sustainable material building blocks. The current flagship product is NovaCollTM. This vegan-produced, micromolecular collagen protects against skin aging. Using proprietary machine learning models, Cambrium develops proteins that are sustainably produced in cell factories and optimized for various industries.

LAT Funkanlagen-Service: The Berlin-based company aims to accelerate and realistically plan the expansion of railway infrastructure as part of the “SchaufelPlus” (“ShovelPlus”) project through the use of robotics and previously collected data. The robot dog “Spot” is equipped with sensors and collects data on the construction site at the track for a real-time cable cadastre, as well as humidity and temperature. This allows the condition of structures such as tunnels to be determined.

WeldNova: In the production of wind turbines, around 700 meters of seam are welded per tower. With the current UP welding technology, this takes about 95 hours. With the WeldMagnet, the approximately 30-millimeter-thick plates can be joined using laser hybrid welding for the first time. This reduces the welding time to about eleven hours and lowers welding costs by around 90 percent. CO₂ emissions are also drastically reduced. (vdo)