Annalena Lüdeke, Celina Hölzel and Lena Hiltel have been awarded the EXIST start-up grant by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The three graduates from OTH Regensburg will now be able to work full-time for a year on further developing their RocketMIND project. “Before receiving funding, start-up teams at EXIST undergo a rigorous assessment of their level of innovation, business model, the team’s expertise and other requirements. ‘Receiving an EXIST start-up grant is a special honour for a team and, at the same time, a great opportunity, as such funding is regarded by investors as a mark of quality,’ says Prof. Dr Sean Patrick Saßmannshausen, Head of the Start-up Centre at OTH Regensburg.
The founders met during the 2024/25 winter term whilst studying for their Master’s degree in Digital Entrepreneurship. Although they come from different academic disciplines, they were united early on by a shared interest: the question of how mental health conditions can be prevented as early as childhood. It was during the ‘Digital Product Development’ module that the idea for RocketMIND finally took shape.
The team’s vision is an app that provides preventative support and builds mental resilience in primary school-aged children. Scientifically grounded psychological exercises are designed to foster self-esteem, resilience and emotional intelligence. Embedded within an exciting space adventure, children learn in a playful way through levels and challenges to better understand their feelings and cope with challenges such as school-related stress or the pressure to compare themselves with others.
“We have all experienced mental health issues ourselves or seen them in those close to us,” explain the three developers. “That’s why we’re convinced that prevention is key, and we want to give children the tools they need as early as possible to grow up mentally strong.”
The scientific basis for the app stems from the graduates’ Master’s theses
The graduates also devoted their master’s theses to various aspects of RocketMIND, thereby laying important scientific foundations for the project’s further development. Celina Hölzel investigated the app’s user-friendliness and, together with children and their parents or carers, tested how intuitive the app is and how much enjoyment the children derive from playing with it. Annalena Lüdeke analysed the potential of artificial intelligence in the management processes of start-ups.
Lena Hiltel developed an AI-supported concept for attracting and engaging potential users. Her research showed that digital marketing tools are particularly successful when trust is established first. From this, she derived strategies for community building and targeted communication with parents.
Numerous successes on the road to becoming a start-up
With their project, the founders can already look back on numerous milestones: In addition to the KickStart@FH funding from OTH Regensburg, RocketMIND achieved a top-10 placing in the BayStartUP Business Plan Competition for Northern Bavaria, won the ‘Tiger der TechBase’ competition and secured two awards at the Bavarian-Czech Innovation Day. Other highlights to date include winning both the jury and the audience prizes at the 2025 University Start-up Day at OTH Regensburg.
Furthermore, all three female founders took part in OTH Regensburg’s Female Founders Programme. This support programme helps women interested in starting a business to develop their business ideas through mentoring, workshops and personalised coaching.
“The success of RocketMIND impressively demonstrates the potential that arises when committed female founders combine their ideas with academic expertise and entrepreneurial courage. In the Female Founders Programme, we support women in further developing their business ideas and taking the plunge into starting a business. We are particularly delighted that a team from our network has now been awarded an EXIST start-up grant,” said Prof. Dr Sevim Süzeroglu-Melchiors, Head of the Master’s programme in Digital Entrepreneurship and the Female Founders programme.
Moving into the next phase of development with EXIST
With the EXIST start-up grant, the founders aim to bring RocketMIND to market readiness. Alongside further technical and content-related development, the focus is on a short-term study involving primary school children, in cooperation with the University of Regensburg. The aim is to conduct further scientific research into the effectiveness of the application. Interested parents can already find out more about the study and register their interest, with no obligation, via the project’s website: https://www.rocketmind.app/
“Without the support of our network, mentors, funding programmes, partners, and family and friends, many of these achievements would not have been possible,” say the three founders. Having completed their degrees, the three graduates are now focusing entirely on building up their start-up and preparing for market launch.
