Press Release
SciFlow Awarded Content Start-up of the Year 2020
SciFlow is "Content Start-up of the Year" | winner receives an innovation prize of 10,000 Euro | sponsorship programme would gladly welcome new investors from the industry in 2021
The decision has been made: SciFlow has won the final of the Content Shift accelerator as "Content Start-up 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 The Arts+ 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 start-up 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 Content Shift 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 Content Shift 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 start-ups 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), a hybrid of a book and a tactile learning toy as a barrier-free medium for blind and sighted children (Plus Plural), 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 Content Shift 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.
Additional Information
Links
- detailed information on the programme: www.contentshift.de
- Twitter: @shiftingcontent | Hashtag: #cosh20
About the Content Shift accelerator
Along with the Content Shift Start-up Club and the icebreaker events, the Content Shift accelerator is part of the Börsenverein Group's Content Shift initiative, which promotes innovation and new business models in the book and media industry.
www.contentshift.de | www.twitter.com/shiftingcontent | www.instagram.com/contentshift
About the Börsenvereinsgruppe
The Börsenvereinsgruppe (German Publishers and Booksellers Association Group) represents the interests of Germany’s book industry and provides practical and advisory services to book-related companies. The group consists of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) and its business subsidiaries – Frankfurter Buchmesse, MVB, mediacampus Frankfurt and Holding Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels Beteiligungsgesellschaft. The Börsenvereinsgruppe oversees a number of services and educational programmes for the book industry and media sector, including the organisation of representational activities, cultural projects, trade fairs, training programmes and publishing and technology services.
www.boersenvereinsgruppe-jobs.de
About MVB
Technology and information provider MVB makes books visible. Major platforms, based on international metatdata standards, enable publishers and bookstores to promote their products successfully and efficiently in their home markets and abroad. Editorial and advertising formats as well as face-to-face networking give orientation in different book markets. In close cooperation with customers and market players from all areas of the book industry, the teams located in Frankfurt am Main, Mexico City, New York and São Paulo continuously work on innovative Infrastructure solutions for the book trade of the future.
www.mvb-online.de | www.facebook.com/mvbfrankfurt | www.xing.com/companies/mvbgmbh
Contact
Thomas Koch | Head of Public Relations Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels
Tel.: +49 69 1306-293
t.koch@boev.de
Markus Fertig | PR Manager MVB
Tel.: +49 69 1306-374 | Fax: +49 69 1306-17374
m.fertig@mvb-online.de