Network Role: Partner

  • Cyber Valley Start-up Network welcomes hydrop systems

    Cyber Valley Start-up Network welcomes hydrop systems

    The Stuttgart-based start-up aims to increase awareness of water consumption, thereby addressing environmental issues, including water shortages and droughts. 

    With the use of their plug-and-play adapter, hydrop systems has made it easy to determine how much water is being consumed in a household. After the adapter connects to the water meter, the user-friendly central monitoring platform analyzes in detail the consumption of water within a specific period. Using the results, the start-up will optimize water utilization, enhancing a household’s efficiency and lowering costs.  

    hydrop systems application

    Image: hydrop systems

    With the help of artificial intelligence, hydrop systems develops software that pinpoints exactly where water is being used, delivering an even more detailed analysis of consumption than is possible without such software. With this knowledge, preventive measures can be taken before problems like leakages and bursts occur.    

    “At hydrop systems, we believe that we unlock the path to a greener and more resilient future through the fusion of sustainability and cutting-edge AI innovations. We are excited to be part of the Cyber Valley, where the synergy between research, industry, and start-ups in this domain is shaping a brighter future for all,” says Katrin Kreidel, CEO and Co-Founder of hydrop systems. 

    About Cyber Valley 

    Cyber Valley is Europe’s largest research consortium in artificial intelligence (AI) and modern robotics. Cyber Valley has a public mandate to advocate for entrepreneurship, research, development, application, and acceptance of technologies and methods in the field of intelligent systems. The company envisions a future where the full potential of intelligent systems is leveraged for the greater good of the world.  

    The Cyber Valley Community connects partners from science, industry, and society together, along with AI researchers and entrepreneurs. The Cyber Valley GmbH, funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg, acts as the central organizer, service provider, and host for this community. The GmbH is located in Stuttgart and Tübingen, but the Cyber Valley Community has a far wider reach: As a national and European driving force, we attract the best people from around the world to create the future with AI. 

    About the Cyber Valley Start-up Network  

    With the Cyber Valley Start-up Network, Cyber Valley is building and fostering a community of AI entrepreneurs. Members enjoy exclusive access to a wide-ranging network, connecting them with AI researchers, investors, corporations, and fellow startups. Members are required to have a connection to Cyber Valley, either by being located in Baden-Württemberg, or by being members or alumni of Cyber Valley partner institutions. The core of their business model must be centered around intelligent systems. The Start-up Network is growing continuously. More information about the current number of start-ups and the application process: cyber-valley.de/start-up-network.

      

    About hydrop systems 

    hydrop systems wants to proactively prevent water shortages through offering smart metering for water consumption. We provide a user-friendly solution for determining water usage via precise monitoring. The device, which anyone can install easily in under two minutes, attaches seamlessly to the existing water meter and offers real-time monitoring. Data is analyzed on hydrop systems' backend using artificial intelligence, which can perform tasks like tracking consumption by application and promptly spotting leaks. hydrop systems also provides personalized water-saving tips and an information platform with, among other tools, general facts about water and a community function. 

  • Parameter Lab enables a responsible AI evolution

    Parameter Lab enables a responsible AI evolution

    Through the extensive research of trustworthy intelligent systems, Parameter Lab provides user-friendly tools to safely bring software and applications to market. 

    Innovations in artificial intelligence offer numerous possibilities for all industries. However, the more intelligent systems become part of the everyday world, the more obstacles and challenges can occur. Some of these challenges are more prominent with Large Language Models (LLMs), including issues of privacy and copyright, or faithfulness and calibration. They may also incorporate unauthorized personal data and untruthful sources. 

    Parameter Lab understands these challenges and aims to address potential problems. To increase trust in these types of systems, the start-up provides the right tools and knowledge to enhance the understanding of each use-case, enabling responsible and secure use of AI. They are helping individuals and businesses safely navigate through the future of artificial intelligence.  

    Start-up Network 

    Since becoming a member of the Cyber Valley Start-up Network, Parameter lab is now part of the ecosystem to drive for a better and safer future for intelligent systems. 

    "Parameter Lab is bridging the gap between AI's promise and its challenges. We're democratizing safe, trustworthy AI—so you can focus on innovation, not hesitation,” says Young-Wha Park, CEO, Parameter Lab. 

    About Cyber Valley

    Cyber Valley is Europe’s largest and leading research consortium in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and modern robotics. Cyber Valley has a public mandate: As advocates for entrepreneurship, research, development, application, and acceptance of technologies and methods in the field of intelligent systems are at the forefront. The company envisions a future where the full potential of intelligent systems is leveraged for the greater good of the world.  

    About Cyber Valley Start-up Network

    The Cyber Valley Start-up Network fosters a community of entrepreneurs. Its members are invited to attend newly created Cyber Valley networking events such as talks, meet-ups, and tech brunches on a regular basis. They are listed on the Cyber Valley website and can use the network’s logo in their communication materials. Network members are required to have a connection to Cyber Valley, for instance by being headquartered in the state of Baden-Württemberg, or by having members or alumni of Cyber Valley partner institutions among their founders. Their activities must be related to the field of intelligent systems. Membership in the Cyber Valley Start-up Network is reviewed once a year to ensure that these requirements continue to be met. Founded in November 2019, the Cyber Valley Start-up Network currently has 43 members as of September 2023.   

    About Parameter Lab

    AI Journey, Secured. Parameter Lab is a leading innovator in the realm of trustworthy AI, addressing the key challenges posed by foundational models. Their solutions tackle privacy, copyright, and data integrity issues, providing a secure framework for the deployment of Large Language Models (LLMs). The start-up also focuses on safer and more responsible AI. Their tools and services are designed to empower individuals and businesses, ensuring a secure and ethical AI journey. For more information, visit the website or contact them.

     

  • Showzone provides AI-powered presentation delivery platform

    Showzone provides AI-powered presentation delivery platform

    While giving powerful presentations is crucial for any business, content creation is not the only important factor in delivering a strong message. Founded in January 2023 as ETH Zürich spin-off, Showzone’s vision is to evolve presentations into outcome-driven experiences for everyone.  

    Users can simply drag their slides into the Showzone app, where a QR code is generated for the audience to follow the slides and engage with the presenter during the presentation. At the end, a one-click summary of the transcript is created and shared with attendees. Showzone then notifies the presenter about audience interactions with the summary, enabling effective follow-ups with promising leads. The company strives to increase engagement between the presenter and their audience by making presenting more effective. 

    “Our attention span is very short, and we tend to forget over 80% of the information immediately after a presentation. For presenters, this means their presentation doesn’t pay off: they cannot engage their audience well, and once the presentation ends, they have no way to connect with them. We are here to fix it,” Eren Akbiyik, CEO of Showzone.

    About Cyber Valley    

    Cyber Valley is Europe’s largest and leading research consortium in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and modern robotics. Cyber Valley has a public mandate: As advocates for entrepreneurship, research, development, application, and acceptance of technologies and methods in the field of intelligent systems are at the forefront. The company envisions a future where the full potential of intelligent systems is leveraged for the greater good of the world.  

    About the Cyber Valley Start-up Network  

    The Cyber Valley Start-up Network fosters a community of entrepreneurs. Its members are invited to attend newly created Cyber Valley networking events such as talks, meet-ups, and tech brunches on a regular basis. They are listed on the Cyber Valley website and can use the network’s logo in their communication materials. Network members are required to have a connection to Cyber Valley, for instance by being headquartered in the state of Baden-Württemberg, or by having members or alumni of Cyber Valley partner institutions among their founders. Their activities must be related to the field of intelligent systems. Membership in the Cyber Valley Start-up Network is reviewed once a year to ensure that these requirements continue to be met. Founded in November 2019, the Cyber Valley Start-up Network currently has 43 members as of September 2023.   

    About Showzone  

    Founded in 2023, Showzone is an ETH Zürich spin-off and an ETH AI Center start-up. The team consists of Eren Akbiyik, CEO and AI lead with patent and research papers in artificial intelligence, Nicolas Zanotti, CPO with product experience from his long tenure in unicorn start-up GetYourGuide, and Simon Beyer, COO with proven skills in global sales & transformation initiatives as a senior consultant at Ernst&Young. Showzone is also supported by Microsoft for Startups, NVIDIA Inception Program, AWS EdStart, and Kickstart Innovation by Impact Hub.  

  • Cyber Valley welcomes synthavo into the Start-up Network

    Cyber Valley welcomes synthavo into the Start-up Network

     

    The Stuttgart-based start-up synthavo has introduced a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that uses Artificial Intelligence to identify defective spare parts within a machine or solution, with a single photo taken from a smartphone. The solution will then order the required replacement parts with just one click.  

    Visual recognition for mechanical engineering 

    For the first time, synthavo enables the automated visual recognition of spare parts in mechanical and plant engineering by using CAD data. With just one click, spare parts are not only recognized, but they are then easily ordered. This process increases efficiency and reduces error costs by up to 21%.  

    Service technicians can also receive and collect images of the damage to increase product sustainability, all in one interface. The use of an external application is not necessary.   

    synthavo SaaS solution

    The SaaS solution increases the profitability in service and after sales for machinery and equipment manufacturers.  Image: synthavo

    Start-up Network 

    “We look forward to sharing our expertise and benefiting from the large network in Cyber Valley. To stay at the cutting edge, knowledge sharing, and research is essential,” says Sebastian Stöcklmeier, CEO synthavo. The Cyber Valley Start-up Network was founded in 2019 and currently holds 43 members.  

    About Cyber Valley  

    Cyber Valley is Europe's leading center for excellence in advanced AI and robotics. Cyber Valley creates a vibrant ecosystem that enables seamless collaboration and rapid exchange between academia, business, and society. As an ambassador for entrepreneurship, Cyber Valley's mission is to strengthen the research, development, and application of intelligent systems, providing a platform for collaboration, resource sharing, and advancement of modern AI and robotics. With a focus on the ethical and societal aspects of AI, Cyber Valley fosters dialogue between society and AI researchers and strives for a future in which the full potential of intelligent systems is used for the benefit of society.  

    About the Cyber Valley Start-up Network

    The Cyber Valley Start-up Network fosters a community of entrepreneurs. Its members are invited to attend newly created Cyber Valley networking events such as talks, meet-ups, and tech brunches on a regular basis. They are listed on the Cyber Valley website and can use the network’s logo in their communication materials. Network members are required to have a connection to Cyber Valley, for instance by being headquartered in the state of Baden-Württemberg, or by having members or alumni of Cyber Valley partner institutions among their founders. Their activities must be related to the field of intelligent systems. Membership in the Cyber Valley Start-up Network is reviewed once a year to ensure that these requirements continue to be met. Founded in November 2019, the Cyber Valley Start-up Network currently has 43 members.  

    About synthavo 

    synthavo enables the mechanical engineering service to gain market share in the strategically relevant area through visual spare parts recognition, to raise massive efficiency potentials and to decisively counteract the shortage of skilled workers. With synthavo's AI, anyone who can operate a cell phone can identify and order a desired spare part in less than two seconds. 

  • $5 million for start-up’s expansion

    $5 million for start-up’s expansion

    Stuttgart-based AI start-up Sereact has raised $5 million of seed funding, with major investments from Point Nine and Air Street Capital.  Sereact has been a member of the Cyber Valley Start–up Network since 2021, partaking in its vibrant AI ecosystem of exchange between research and business. 

    Sereact specializes in advanced robotics solutions, utilizing AI-powered software to streamline pick-and-pack processes in warehouses and manufacturing. This vital process constitutes around 55% of warehouse operational costs, and businesses must rely on inflexible systems that struggle to adapt to new products and require highly trained staff. PickGPT is the first commercially available robotics transformer that enables robots to understand natural language and accurately perceive their environment. Through a userfriendly chatbot interface, employees without technical expertise can give instructions and perform system maintenance.  
     
    Sereact clientele comprises industry leaders, including ZenFulfillment, Daimler Truck, Material Bank, and Schmalz. The seed funding will facilitate the expansion of the Sereact team, alongside PickGPT’s development and international roll-out. 
     
    “I am pleased that with Sereact another start-up from our network has been able to secure its financing”, says Julian Enz, Director of Innovation and Economy at Cyber Valley. “This shows that deep-tech innovation from Baden-Württemberg is in high demand.”

    “By combining large language models and robotics, Sereact has created the world’s most accessible way of interacting with robots”, says Co-Founder and CEO of Sereact, Ralf Gulde. “Today’s milestone will accelerate our mission of using fully autonomous robotics to overcome labor shortages, fix supply chains, and boost productivity.” 
     
    The Cyber Valley Start-up has impressed investors. “The team at Sereact combines a deep understanding of the warehouse operating context with real technical ingenuity”, says Nathan Benaich, Founding Partner at Air Street Capital says. “As the first business to turn the combination of LLMs and pick-and-pack from an academic possibility to real-world impact, they’re building a product that’s still only scratching the surface of its potential use cases.” 
     
    Ricardo Sequerra Amram, a Partner at Point Nine says: “Sereact brings a new paradigm to AI and robotics. By combining vision transformers and LLMs their solution is fast to deploy, easy to configure, and provides the critical service level required by demanding industries like logistics and manufacturing. The research done by Ralf and Marc during their time in academia is now applied to commercial use cases and is currently in production in live environments with top enterprise customers.” 
     
    Additional seed funders include new and existing angel investors: Alexander Diehl; Oliver Cameron (VP Product of Cruise, Co-Founder of Voyage); the Founders of Proglove and OMA Ventures; Achim Baier and Wolfgang Frank (arconsis); Martin Giese; Michael Achtelik; Jan Stumpf and Daniel Gurdan (Founders of Ascending Technologies); and Mostafa Elsayed (CEO and Co-Founder of Automata).  

    About Cyber Valley

    Cyber Valley is Europe's leading center for excellence in advanced AI and robotics. Cyber Valley creates a vibrant ecosystem that enables seamless collaboration and rapid exchange between academia, business, and society. As an ambassador for entrepreneurship, Cyber Valley's mission is to strengthen the research, development, and application of intelligent systems, providing a platform for collaboration, resource sharing, and advancement of modern AI and robotics. With a focus on the ethical and societal aspects of AI, Cyber Valley fosters dialogue between society and AI researchers and strives for a future in which the full potential of intelligent systems is used for the benefit of society. 

    About the Cyber Valley Start-up Network

    The Cyber Valley Start-up Network fosters a community of entrepreneurs. Its members are invited to attend newly created Cyber Valley networking events such as talks, meet-ups, and tech brunches on a regular basis. They are listed on the Cyber Valley website and can use the network’s logo in their communication materials. Network members are required to have a connection to Cyber Valley, for instance by being headquartered in the state of BadenWürttemberg, or by having members or alumni of Cyber Valley partner institutions among their founders. Their activities must be related to the field of intelligent systems. Membership in the Cyber Valley Start-up Network is reviewed once a year to ensure that these requirements continue to be met. Founded in November 2019, the Cyber Valley Start-up Network currently has 43 members. 

    About Sereact

    With the combination of Artificial Intelligence and robotics, Sereact has brought to life a new era of intelligence, precision, and efficiency in logistics. Since its founding in 2021, the company achieved technological milestones such as industry-leading picking speeds of 1500 picks per hour, collision-free picking with any gripper, and fully autonomous object manipulation. Today, Sereact is trusted by partners across the e-commerce, manufacturing, and third-party logistics sectors, serving industry leaders like ZenFulfillment, Daimler Truck, Material Bank, and Schmalz. 

  • Institute for Artificial Intelligence established

    Institute for Artificial Intelligence established

    "AI is changing the world. But this change must also be reflected in new structures for research and teaching“
    Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science of Baden-Württemberg.

    “With the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, the University of Stuttgart is sending a clear signal for AI as an independent research area and is combining a broad range of scientific activities. The result is greater visibility for the topic of AI. Two state-funded “Cyber Valley” professorships will become part of the new institute, thereby building a bridge to our Innovation Campus. This will further strengthen the Cyber Valley Innovation Campus and the Stuttgart/Tübingen AI region," says Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science of Baden-Württemberg.

    Pooled expertise for interdisciplinary AI research

    With the founding of the institute, the University of Stuttgart is taking a further step towards realizing its vision of "Intelligent Systems for a Sustainable Society": "We are pooling our expertise in AI in order to explore AI applications across disciplines for the benefit of people. One area of specialization will be intelligent robotics, which will be used to achieve advances in medicine and production technologies, among other things," says Prof. Wolfram Ressel, Rector of the University of Stuttgart.

    AI institute with five working groups – more are planned

    Prof. Steffen Staab, the first executive director of the new institute, emphasizes: "The Institute for Artificial Intelligence aims to achieve three things: First, to conduct internationally outstanding research; second, to be a qualified research partner for other scientific disciplines that use AI to advance their research; and third, to promote the transfer of AI methods to industry and society." The AI Institute comprises the two "Cyber Valley" professorships "Analytic Computing" (Steffen Staab) and "Autonomous Systems" (Kai Arras), the professorship "Machine Learning in Simulation Sciences" (Mathias Niepert) located in the Cluster of Excellence "Data-Integrated Simulation Science" (SimTech), the junior professorship "Autonomous Sensing and Perception Systems" (Alina Roitberg), and the professorship for "Machine Learning and Robotics", which are currently being filled. There are also plans to expand the institute by adding professorships in the field of intelligent robotics.

    Networked via Cyber Valley, ELLIS, Clusters of Excellence, and more

    The close networking of the institute with numerous international and internal university initiatives related to AI is demonstrated by the participation of Cyber Valley and SimTech. The second Cluster of Excellence of the University of Stuttgart, "Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture" (IntCDC), also relies on advances in artificial intelligence for its research tasks. As part of the international network "European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems", the ELLIS Unit Stuttgart is promoting the exchange of knowledge with top-class universities throughout Europe. The Artificial Intelligence Software Academy (AISA) links interdisciplinary research and education at the Stuttgart site, and the Interchange Forum for Reflecting on Intelligent Systems (IRIS) and critically examines the societal implications of intelligent systems.

    Expert Contact:

    Prof. Dr. Steffen Staab, University of Stuttgart, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Phone: +49 (0)711 685-88100, E-Mail: steffen.staab@ipvs.uni-stuttgart.de

  • Cyber Valley Start-up Network continues to grow

    Cyber Valley Start-up Network continues to grow

    What does Visual Abstract do?

    The start-up uses texts of scientific publications and transforms them into clearer graphics with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). 

    Visual Abstract AI

    Visual Abstract to Paper: Spinal cord stimulation modulates descending pain inhibition and temporal summation of pricking pain in patients with neuropathic pain (Schuh-Hofer et al., 2018). Image: Visual Abstract

    The start-up's goal is to make science accessible to everyone. On the one hand, the graphics support researchers and students in easily and quickly absorbing newly published research results. In this way, the start-up wants to stem the flood of information to which researchers are exposed. On the other hand, the public benefits when scientific results are presented in a visually clearer way and are more easily accessible to interested parties.

    “Industry and researchers face the challenge of adequately communicating their often complex research findings,” says Saribek Karapetyan, CEO of Visual Abstract. “Our graphical abstracts are easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to memorize – and quickly available to customers thanks to our AI-powered automated production process.”

    Cyber Valley Start-up Network

    The Mannheim-based startup is part of the Cyber Valley Start-up Network. “As an AI startup from #TheLänd, it is a must and an honor for us to be part of the ecosystem of Europe's largest AI research consortium,” says Karapetyan. Founded in November 2019, the Cyber Valley Start-up Network now has 43 members.