170 ideas, 28 countries and one goal: the 16 winners of the Rhenus corporate initiative entitled “Rhevo” were selected at the headquarters of the Rhenus Group in Holzwickede in July. Using one major final pitch, the finalists from all over the world had the opportunity to persuade the jury of experts drawn from the Rhenus world. The goal of the innovation competition, which was launched in the spring, is to develop new products and innovative business models with digital concepts.
Each of the 43 finalists had just seven minutes to introduce their business ideas and advertise them to attract investments and other resources so that they can be introduced. They had checked, revised and refined their ideas during many months of work and had built and tested prototypes. They were supported by training sessions and entrepreneurs from the start-up scene during this time.
The jury examined the finalists’ product ideas to see whether they were suitable for the future and might open up opportunities in the market place. “It was hard facing the jury’s questions. They tested our idea rigorously and examined it intensively from all sides,” said participant Usman Kahn.
After the pitches were over, it was clear that three ideas would be included in existing internal product developments. 13 will others receive ongoing start-up support. “This will be different, depending on the project. Some providers of ideas will be given more time in order to continue testing the market opportunities for their product ideas; others will receive a budget to continue developing their product,” said the member of the Rhenus Board and jury member, Tobias Bartz, summarising the process.
“We particularly liked a Spanish/German solution from the field of predictive analytics; it’s designed to help us better predict the needs and behaviour of customers,” jury member Petra Finke, who is Global CIO at Rhenus Freight Logistics, explained. An Asian platform idea for marketing free truck capacity and a Russian team with the prototype of an “instant quotation” solution were particularly singled out.
The jury consisted of Rhenus Board Member, Tobias Bartz, Petra Finke (Global CIO Rhenus Freight Logistics), Vivek Arya (CEO Rhenus India), Jörn Schmersahl (CEO Rhenus Air & Ocean Europe) and Jan Harnisch (COO Ocean Freight Asia); this was an international group of Rhenus experts with great experience in the fields of digitalisation and business development.