ISLYE mobilities: from Leipzig to Wrocław & from Minho to Leipzig

Arqus initiative ISLYE – International Soft Landing for Young Entrepreneurs offers mobility opportunities for entrepreneurial students and researchers. The Alliance connects entrepreneurs with incubators, potential international clients, suppliers and startup ecosystems at other Arqus universities.

From Leipzig to Wrocław

Leipzig entrepreneur Nils Walper, supported by SMILE/SEPT, visited the University of Wrocław on 18-21 March 2025. This opportunity was possible thanks to Arqus ISLYE mobility.

Nils Walper is the founder of “Walper Education”, a start-up in the field of mathematics tutoring. In Wrocław, he discussed his business idea with the local start-up initiative and pitched to the local Startup Accelerator. There were also talks with the Lower Silesian Federation and the Wrocław Business Promotion Agency, among others.

The input on site ranged from financing and funding strategies to the further development of the MVP and new business contacts. Nils Walper summarises his experience with the Arqus mobility as follows:

“Sunny and warm weather was a nice surprise. After I had accommodated myself, I met Szymek, the current student counsel, who showed me around and made me check out the local market and try a Polish pretzel. The old town and corporate buildings impressed me, as well as the cleanliness and beauty given to everything. Maciej, my local coordinator, with great expertise, organised four meetings of high value, which we attended together on Wednesday and Thursday. In hindsight, I can not emphasise enough how significant the impact on myself and the business is: from funding strategies, MVP development, to new contacts. These intense three days leave me with a feeling of satisfaction and excitement. Thank you to everyone who made this opportunity possible!”

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From Minho to Leipzig

Diogo Macedo and Marta Sampaio, founders of the food engineering AI startup “OmniumAI”, travelled from Braga to Leipzig University on 14-19 April 2025.

They were welcomed by SMILE/SEPT, the entrepreneurship promotion within SEPT Competence Center at Leipzig University. The programme for the two young founders of OmniumAI included meetings with local start-up teams supported by SMILE (Hybeam and others) and start-ups (greenhub solutions GmbH) as well as a visit to the ScadsAI research centre at Leipzig University.

Diogo Macedo and Marta Sampaio were able to exchange ideas with the AI start-up AI-Driven Therapeutics GmbH and take part in a networking event. They had the chance to meet with the initiator of the “Code for Leipzig” meetup in the coworking space Basislager. They also held a customer meeting with a local confectionery manufacturer, discussing the arrangement of timely digital sales pitches with potential customers.

The entrepreneurs from UMinho visited as well the biotech hub BioCity and the marketer LeapUp, and they had a historical and cultural city tour in Leipzig. The ISLYE mobility was framed by individual discussions with the SMILE founding coaches about the startup’s business model, with a focus on customer segments, potential partners and expansion potential.

The start-up OmniumAI has designed the software CibusAI to enable interested customers to create new food products or adapt existing products to an optimal recipe with regard to factors such as taste, appearance, shelf life, EU specifications, etc.

Original news