YETI and Infineon: From an Industrial Project to a Startup—How a YETI Team, Together with Infineon, Turned a Challenge into an Opportunity

     

Learning Through Real-World Challenges

YETI is an entrepreneurship fellowship for students from various universities and disciplines. Over the course of three semesters, the fellows—the Yetis—learn entrepreneurial thinking primarily through hands-on experience.

A central component of the second semester is industry projects. Companies present real-world challenges that are tackled by interdisciplinary teams over a period of six months. The Yetis speak with users, develop potential solutions, test hypotheses, and validate their concepts together with the industry partner.

The joint project with Infineon demonstrates just how far this approach can go.

A Challenge from the Fab

The five-member YETI team began with a challenging question: What might a solution for remote maintenance of OHT systems in the cleanroom look like that supports employees in the fab in their daily work?

At the kick-off meeting, two representatives from Infineon were initially at the table. This was followed by six months of interviews, tests, and validation directly on the fab floor. The key question throughout was always: What actually helps the people on site?

The final presentation at the end of February showed just how much interest had grown within the company during this time: The two Infineon representatives present at the kick-off had grown to about 15 people who followed the team’s results both on-site and remotely.

A colleague from the cleanroom summed up the development particularly well:
“At first, I wondered what this was all about. But now I’m fully behind the solution and am ready to continue supporting its implementation in the future.”

The YETI project becomes a startup idea

The story could have ended with the final presentation. However, two YETI team members decided to continue pursuing the results in the third YETI semester.

Infineon would like to use the developed solution in the future but cannot further expand the underlying business model on its own. With the backing of their industry partner, the two therefore pressed on—and brought a third co-founder into the team to turn the project into a startup.

The next milestones weren’t long in coming: In the boOst Startup Factory incubator, the team further developed its project and was awarded the “Best VC Story” at the boOst Demo Day. At the same time, they established valuable new contacts with industry and investors.

And they’ve already secured their first pilot customer. How could it be otherwise: Infineon. Together, they are now continuing to work on the solution.

Your challenge. Our next YETI team?

Not every YETI industry project has to end in a startup. But each one offers the chance to have a real-world challenge tackled for six months by an interdisciplinary team with a fresh perspective and entrepreneurial methods.

Companies gain new perspectives, access to entrepreneurial talent, and the opportunity to develop and validate ideas outside their own structures. The Yetis, in turn, learn entrepreneurship where it gets particularly exciting: by tackling real problems, with real users, and under real-world conditions.

Do you have a challenge where a fresh, outside perspective could help? Then become a YETI industry partner and turn your problem into the next industry project.

Maybe it will end after six months with a really good solution. Or maybe that’s just where the real story begins.

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Further Links

👉 https://yeti-dresden.org/ 
👉 https://www.infineon.com/de/regional/dresden 

Photo: Yeti