Cyber Valley AI Incubator Batch #9 culminates in Demo Day

Hosted at the MPI-IS in Stuttgart, Demo Day marked the culmination of two weeks of intensive workshops exploring customer needs, business models, funding, prototyping, and pitching. The event opened with welcome remarks from Christoph Keplinger and Leila Masri of the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), who reflected on the achievements of batch 9 and the growing impact of the AI Incubator. Lukas Findeisen of the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, the program’s principal sponsor, highlighted the foundation’s continued commitment to advancing innovation and research-driven entrepreneurship. 

A highlight of the evening was the keynote address by Theodora Preda, partner at Plug and Play, who shared insights into the investor mindset and investing dynamics, offering perspectives on how investors assess opportunities, and what founders should understand when approaching the investment landscape.  

The spotlight then turned to the batch 9 teams, who presented their final venture pitches before an expert jury consisting of: 

Christoph Keplinger (Director, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems) 

Daisy De Souza Paiva (Senior Program Manager, ZEISS Ventures) 

Maximilian Worms (Analyst, LEA Ventures) 

With all seven teams demonstrating an exceptionally high standard, selecting the winners proved challenging. 

The following ventures were recognized for their outstanding achievements: 

Best Pitch Award: Voclair, founded by Rustom Firdosh Bhesania, Mehryar Lessani, Deepam Maurya 

Picture: Jury member Daisy De Souza Paiva, Founders Mehryar Lessani, Deepam Maurya, Rustom Firdosh Bhesania (from left to right)

Copyright: Cyber Valley GmbH 

Best Business Model Award: TANOCRIX, founded by Marta Kriukova, Bolun Liang, Wei-Bo Tang 

Picture: Founders Bolun Liang, Marta Kriukova, Wei-Bo Tang, jury member Maximilian Worms (from left to right)

Copyright: Cyber Valley GmbH 

Best use of AI Award: Angel, founded by Melis Ilayda Bal, Stefano Esposito, Michela Petriconi, Marko Zaric 

Picture: Founders Marko Zaric, Melis Ilayda Bal, Michela Petriconi, jury member Christoph Keplinger (from left to right)

Copyright: Cyber Valley GmbH 

Each winning team received $10,000 in AWS Credits, generously provided by Amazon, to support the continued development and scaling of their AI solutions. 

The evening concluded with a networking reception, providing participants, mentors, investors, and guests with the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of Batch 9 and strengthen connections across the Cyber Valley innovation ecosystem. 

About the Cyber Valley AI Incubator 

Organized by the International Max Planck Research School for Intelligent Systems (IMPRS-IS) and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS), the Cyber Valley AI Incubator continues to play a key role in supporting research-driven entrepreneurship within the Cyber Valley ecosystem. The program is made possible through the generous support of the Carl Zeiss Foundation, whose commitment to advancing innovation and scientific entrepreneurship enables researchers and innovators to bring their AI ideas closer to real-world application. 

The Cyber Valley AI Incubator is designed to help researchers, engineers, and aspiring entrepreneurs bridge the gap between scientific discovery and startup creation. Open to participants from fields including artificial intelligence, robotics, computer vision, machine learning, biomedical technology, and data science, the program combines entrepreneurial education with mentorship from experienced founders, investors, and innovation experts.