FAU Digital Tech Fellows Program
Be Part of Something Unique!
The Digital Tech Academy is FAU’s Elite Entrepreneurship program open to outstanding innovative talents from all FAU degree programs and faculties! We impart all you need to follow your heart and passion for digitization, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Work in interdisciplinary teams, get in touch with expert coaches and mentors, develop your own pristine and validated business model for your start-up and get integrated in our Digital Tech Fellows and start-up network & community.
Check out DTF Batch# 8 Movie!
What are the benefits of the DTF Program?
Within a 12 weeks sprint, you will
- learn the latest state-of-the-art innovation methods
- work in interdisciplinary teams on your entrepreneurial challenge
- choose either your own start-up idea or one of the highly enticing projects from the other participants
- work with 20 other handpicked talents from FAU and our international expert coaches and mentors from former Batches
- widen your professional & personal network
- receive an official FAU certificate upon successfull completion of the program
There is no place you can’t learn something for your start-up!
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The DTF Program was an invaluable experience for me. Meeting all these talented and creative people from different backgrounds was amazing. This program provided me with a new perspective to see the world and myself. I discovered some potential in myself that I never knew I had, which helped me make new career plans for myself: build my own business. I highly recommend the DTF Program to anyone who wants to develop professionally and personally 🙂
Baihui Liu: Co-Founder of SafetyNet // B#9
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In the DTF program we were a really inspiring group of people with amazing ideas. I am so glad that I was part of this and had the opportunity to work on innovative ideas with like-minded peers. Before DTA, I was just interested in start-ups, but could never imagine founding one. I am really grateful for this opportunity.
Moritz Kraus: Fullstack Software Engineer @ itestra // B#9
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The DTF programme is a place to discover your new self. Whether you end up being an entrepreneur or not, DTF offers you tremendous opportunities to grow as a person and find like-minded people. Come and see for yourself that DTF is the place where miracles happen.
Oleksandra Derikova: IT Business Analyst @ Accenture // B#8
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The DTA program embodies the type of experience that international students aspire to engage in alongside our academic pursuits. Through workshops, extraordinary coaches, team-building activities, and enlightening startup discussions, we delved deeply into the entrepreneurial journey. The insights and skills I acquired from the DTA program not only contribute to my personal growth but also represent enduring knowledge for a lifetime. 🙂
Divya Mittal : (workstudent) Project Management @ Siemens Healthineers // B#9
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The DTA was my first point of contact with the topic of founding and the startup ecosystem in general. Through workshops, mentoring and networking, you get the tools you need to give it a try yourself. Even if the innovative ideas don’t always turn into long-lasting startups, the time at the DTA awakens an entrepreneurial spirit in many. As a result, I am still firmly connected to the topic of startups, live out this passion in further projects and am convinced that even founding a company is still a potential future for me.
Bastian Heinrich: Consultant Tech Strategy @ OMMAX // B#7
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My journey in Batch 9 of the DTA has been truly transformative. It’s like holding the keys to the future of tech and innovation. This program isn’t just a course; it’s a catalyst for innovation, refining my skills with hands-on training and invaluable mentorship. The knowledge, skills, and network I’ve gained are shaping my future, making DTA not just a program but a game-changer. Don’t miss your chance to join this incredible ride!
Naveen Narasapura Narasimhappa: Master student – Artificial Intelligence @ FAU // B#9
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I found my true talent in Marketing throughout the entire program, where each step motivated me to learn new things and to passionately love what our team is developing. I am grateful for the great community in the program who eagerly pushed through new challenges and yet still contributed to a happy and supportive working atmosphere.
Yupita Atuna: Master student – Standard of Decision Making across Cultures @ FAU // B#10
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The DTA program was a fantastic opportunity to gain an introduction to the startup world, especially for someone in medicine with zero business experience. The best part was, of course, the people – along with the skills and backgrounds they brought with them
Kaan Türkan: Medical student @FAU // B#10
What are the projects and objectives?
You can work either on your own start-up idea, or join a start-up idea from another participant – after the program you will have:
+ a validated Business Model
+ a validated Market Potential
+ a validated Financial Plan
+ defined / work in progress prototypes
What happens during this 12 weeks Sprint?
We will guide you through the end-to-end Business Design process and help you understand and figure out if you have the entrepreneur in YOU!
We also have our DTA Start-ups from the previous batches coming and sharing their journey & advice with the upcoming entrepreneurs.
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arfinity
Lucia Grom-Baumgarten from our DTF B#3 Start-up arfinity sharing their journey since participating in the Digital Tech Fellows Program back in 2018. Arfinity brings Augmented Reality to the world of trade fairs by enabling completely new ways of product presentation and interaction, which eventually offer significant value for all stakeholders at trade fairs. In an easy and cost-efficient configuration tool, exhibitors can create their own AR content and showcase a bigger portfolio in the form of true-to-original 3D-models during events. -
Oculai
Constantin & Tim from our Batch#6 Start-up Oculai joined us as mentors for Batch#8 during the Design Weekend and shared great insights on how to grow fast and what not to underestimate when going all in with your start-up. Oculai offers a solution for camera-based data collection on construction sites. Intelligent computer vision algorithms extract data on resource utilization, construction performance and construction progress from image material. This automates time-consuming documentation and reveals productivity deficits in individual processes at an early stage. -
Libati
Katrin & Doro from our Batch#4 Start-up Libati shared helpful validation advice with our Digital Tech Fellows. They show the different mock-ups and prototypes they started out with and how long it took to have their final app (which is of course always work-in-progress) today.Libati offers an App for the chronically ill people to discover new places more freely and independently. The user simply creates his personal trigger factors and preferences like stairs, pet hair etc. at the beginning and sees at a glance which locations around him/her are suitable and which are not. The input is based on the ratings of other users. -
INVRTUAL
Markus, Spyros and Michi from our DTF B#4 Start-up INVRTUAL shared their journey of starting a start-up next to studying with our fellows. Their Do’s & Don’ts when starting a business were really helpful for our Digital Tech Fellows.INVRTUAL’s mission is to redefine the way people collaborate in the virtual space. With our XR communication platform, we enable a variety of customer-centric applications ranging from virtual training to product presentation.
On top of that you will get a complete overview of FAU’s great innovation ecosystem!
Your Application for the FAU Digital Tech Fellows Program
This was B#10! Application for B#11 is now closed. Application for DTF B#12 will open in October 2025!
Please find here the full program and schedule of Batch #11:
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Name of the Event |
Date | Venue | Time |
| Kick-off Weekend | 25.04.2025 – 27.04.2025 | D.hip | 9 am to 5 pm |
| DTA Community Event | 26.04.2025 | D.hip | 5-9pm (optional) |
| Discover Deep Dive | 09.05.2025 | D.hip | 9 am to 5pm |
| Design Workshop | 29.05.2025 – 31.05.2025 | Forschungscampus
Waischenfeld (Transportation & Accomodation included) |
9 am to 5 pm |
| Pitching Workshop | 06.06.2025 | D.hip | 10 am to 4pm |
| DTA goes BERG | 06.06.2025 | Bergkirchweih Erlangen | 6pm (optional) |
| Validate Workshop | 13.06.2025 | D.hip | 9 am to 5 pm |
| Financial Modelling Workshop | 30.06.2025 | Online | 5 pm to 8 pm |
| Review Workshop | 04.07.2025 | D.hip | 2 pm to 5 pm |
| Pitch Test I | 09.07.2025 | Online | Individual |
| Pitch Test II | 14.07.2025 | Medical Valley Center Erlangen | Individual |
| Final Demo Day | 18.07.2025 | D.hip | 9 am to 5 pm |
| DTA Celebration | 18.07.2025 | D.hip | 5-10pm |