The Spark –
The German Digital Award

For the fifth time, Handelsblatt and McKinsey award The Spark – The German Digital Prize to exceptional new thinkers whose ideas have the potential to fundamentally and sustainably change markets and bring them together with business leaders.

The Spark 2019

In 2019, we were looking for the most exciting new reality concepts that are innovative, scalable and have already been successfully tested. Concepts that focus on people, their work and their everyday interaction space: from virtual and augmented reality, voice and gesture control to innovative, virtual training solutions.

Handelsblatt and McKinsey awarded “The Spark – The German Digital Award” for the fourth time on the 21st of November 2019 in front of more than 500 invited guests from politics, business and science. Ten digital pioneer start-ups were finalists at the Berlin station and presented themselves to the audience.

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2019

The Winners 2019

All ten finalists impressed the jury with their business model. But the following four were ultimately convincing and emerged as the winners of “The Spark 2019”:

1. Platz: Blickfeld

Blickfeld develops LiDAR (“Light Detection and Ranging”) sensors and software for environment detection. LiDAR is a method for optical distance and speed measurement similar to radar. Instead of radio waves as in radar, laser beams are used.
Thanks to the revolutionary proprietary MEMS technology, Blickfeld can offer a cost-effective LiDAR sensor that is both high-performance and robust – perfect for mass market applications. The solution can be used in autonomous mobility, mapping, robotics and smart cities.

2. Platz: Brighter AI

Brighter AI has developed an anonymization technology for visual data based on Deep Learning – Deep Natural Anonymization. Personal information such as faces and license plates are replaced by synthetic image data using generative artificial intelligence. The solution therefore enables companies to protect identities, comply with data protection guidelines, as well as provide analysis and AI development options when recording camera data in public. Deep Natural Anonymization thus represents a unique innovation for the privacy market.

3. Platz: Ubimax

Ubimax Frontline is a unique, fully integrated wearable computing platform that supports picking, manufacturing and maintenance processes and remote assistance – thus offering real added value along the entire value chain. Through the use of wearable computing solutions such as data glasses and augmented reality applications, information becomes immediately accessible to the industrial worker when he needs it, leaving the hands free. Ubimax Frontline connects the real and the digital world. Human workers are “upgraded” by providing data in real time and thus they can work perfectly together with their “digital colleagues”.

„Female Founder Special Prize“:
Anna Iarotska

In order to inspire more female talents to start up a business and to make more successful female start-up role models known, Handelsblatt and McKinsey awarded the “Female Founder Special Prize” for the first time. The special prize was awarded to Anna Iarotska, CEO and co-founder of Robo Wunderkind. She promotes the active use of technology by children. Anna Iarotska sows digital curiosity in a generation that will shape the future. In this generation, more girls should and must be interested in codes, digitalization and technology, and young women must have the courage and support to start businesses. With her start-up Robo Wunderkind she wants to inspire more children for technology and technological professions.

Jury

In a multi-stage process, ten exciting finalists were selected from a large number of interesting applicants, who presented themselves to our top-class jury in the live pitches of the jury meeting on September 30th. The winners were announced and honored at the awards ceremony on November 21st.

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For The Spark 2019, we once again put together a top-class jury, which used its expertise to select The Spark winners 2019 at the jury meeting.

Sven Afhüppe

Chefredakteur Handelsblatt

Cornelius Baur

Deutschlandchef McKinsey & Company

Christina Reuter

Mitglied des Aufsichtsrats KION Group AG

Lukas Zanger

COO Magazino & Gewinner The Spark 2018

Christian-Schlögel_Chief-Digital-Officer-Körber-AG-2

Christian Schlögel

Chief Digital Officer Körber

Markus Sontheimer

CIO/CDO und Mitglied des Vorstands Schenker AG

Reinhold Achatz

Chief Technology Officer und Head of Corporate Function Technology, Innovation & Sustainability der thyssenkrupp AG

Martin Hofmann

Konzern CIO Volkswagen AG

Prof. dr. dr. Ann-Kristin Achleitner

Wissenschaftliche Co-Direktorin des Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS), Technische Universität München

Alena kretzberg

Bereichsvorstand Group Digital Transformation & Strategy Commerzbank AG

Megumi Ikeda

Managing Director Hearst Ventures & General Manager Hearst Ventures

THE NOMINATION COMMITTEE

In the nomination phase, external topic experts, the Handelsblatt editorial team and a representative of McKinsey evaluate the applications. Here, too, the three evaluation criteria are the benchmark for arriving at a result. The best applications are nominated as finalists.
The experts for the nominations in 2020 are