“Mission: Hilf Oma!” is a six-month innovation program in which students from various disciplines develop entrepreneurial solutions to the question of how the quality of life of older adults and people in need of care can be sustainably improved. The program focuses on challenges such as demographic change, the shortage of skilled care workers, and increasing loneliness among older people.
Through workshops, field testing, and exchange formats, participants work closely with senior citizens, practitioners from the social services sector, and start-ups. As part of the program, students visited one of the Bavarian Red Cross nursing homes in Bayreuth to engage directly with residents. At the same time, the initiative strengthens social entrepreneurship skills, promotes start-up potential, and builds long-term innovation networks.
The project was awarded second place in the Universities category of the MöglichMacher Award. Prof. Dr. Eva Jakob, project lead and Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Institute of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of Bayreuth, said:
“Our society is getting older. Loneliness and family caregiving are among the major challenges of our time—and they are full of opportunities. With ‘Mission: Hilf Oma!’, we bring together students, professionals from caregiving and senior advisory services, entrepreneurs, and senior citizens. This is how new ideas emerge.”
The award highlights the project’s unique strength in combining social impact, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Through direct interaction with affected individuals and practitioners, solutions are developed that are closely aligned with the actual needs of older people while also opening up new opportunities for social innovation and entrepreneurial ventures.
Bavaria’s Minister for Science, Markus Blume, emphasised: “Steve Jobs had his garage – Bavaria has its universities. One in two Bavarian start-ups originates from the university environment. This shows that our innovation policy is working. With our Higher Education Innovation Act and the High-Tech Transfer Bavaria initiative, we have established the framework: 40 business incubators across the Free State, the option of ‘start-up semesters’ and start-up funding as a university responsibility are making all the difference. Together with the vbw, we are presenting the ‘MöglichMacher’ Higher Education Award to young entrepreneurs from our universities, colleges and art schools. Congratulations to the ‘Mission: Hilf Oma!’ team from the University of Bayreuth on an outstanding second place. They combine social and societal responsibility with entrepreneurial impact in an exemplary manner – that’s brilliant. Hats off to them, keep up the good work, and congratulations on winning the ‘MöglichMacher 2026’ award!”
“StageHERo – Female Founders Take the Stage” is the flagship event of the cross-university alliance Female Founders Northern Bavaria, which brings together Nuremberg Institute of Technology (TH Nürnberg), the Universities of Bayreuth and Bamberg, and the Universities of Applied Sciences in Coburg and Ansbach within the framework of the EXIST-Women funding program.
Female founders present their business ideas through pitches and exhibition booths, establish contacts with investors, companies, and the start-up ecosystem, and receive valuable feedback for further developing their ventures.StageHERo brings female innovation power to life and supports women founders on their path toward entrepreneurship and business creation. The project received second place in the Universities of Applied Sciences category.
Dr. Daniela Jäkel-Wurzer from the Association of Women Entrepreneurs said about the project: “It is important to give women founders a stage and support them so they can build networks, access funding, and make their work visible. Starting a business requires a great deal of effort and courage. That is why this is such an important topic and why it deserves a major platform.”
