Fast Forward – startup platform by electronica & Elektor

Startups continue to change the face of electronics. The Fast Forward startup platform by electronica and Elektor has given a stage to dozens of aspiring young startups on the world’s leading trade fair. But for 2022’s 5th edition, Fast Forward is gearing up to be faster than ever before!

For its first anniversary edition in 2022, Fast Forward will showcase the impact of startups by inviting the ‘crème de la crème’, the most interesting and innovative young entrepreneurs. We will offer a stage to successful startups and young scaleups that will attract a crowd on their own. Fast Forward 2022 focusses on the success rather than the promise.

If ever there was a moment to be part of the Fast Forward startup platform, 2022 is the one! A young, vibrant, and innovative platform will emerge in the heart of electronica this November.

Over the past 6 years, Elektor and the electronica team have organized 3 electronica fast forward – powered by Elektor competitions. We selected and showcased 79 innovative and unique but very talented start-ups and prototypes. Each Startup was also full of young inspiring electronics engineers who have had an innovative approach and were eager to go the next steps. Many of them have successfully made their path and found an advantageous position in this fast-evolving and growing electronics environment. Below is a list of 3 success stories, which really impressed us.

At the very first electronica fast forward 2016 – powered by Elektor, contest was based on 3 different categories, consisting of Ideas, Prototypes and Start-ups. The biggest steps were made by 2 participants.

KEWAZO started in the Idea category, where electronics engineers could give their ideas which they wanted to see become true in the future. KEWAZO’s founder Artem Kuchukov had the dream to construct a robot for Scaffolding assembly to avoid accidents and create a more efficient way of scaffolding. He presented his clear idea to the visitors and businesses during the trade fair electronica and used this knowledge to work on his dream. With a clear plan in his mind, he made it now, 6 years later, to an existing business with over 20 employees and their first working product, called ‘Liftbot’. After that product got launched, they redirected their ambition towards digitizing construction with robots and data. What a success!

BotFactory, from the United States of America, started in the Startup category. Start-ups required to have a business plan and a working product. Their ambition was it to show their technology, a PCB Printer and a Pick and Place machine for the electronics companies in the world. And there couldn’t have been a better place to present their technology than electronica fast forward 2016 – powered by Elektor. Due to the show, they got in contact with important electronics distributors and partners. After 6 years, they developed their products further and brought out new versions of the PCB printer for the professional market. Also due to the cooperation they did at the electronica, they are selling their products not just in the States but in many countries in the world.

At electronica fast forward 2020 – powered by Elektor memetis showed their first presence at a virtual trade fair. Memetis is a German-based, deep-tech, research-based spin-off from the Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT) / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Their innovative actuator technology based on shape memory alloys ensures increased miniaturization of fluidic components and systems and a resulting high packing density. What started as a science technology grew into an industrial product to realize movement in the smallest of spaces, e.g., in optics or to implement closure mechanisms. Now they are trying to grow their team into a competitive market.