care:xpo Newcomer Challenge

The platform for innovators and newcomers to the care industry

Winners 2026 Nominees Jury

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What is the Newcomer Challenge?

For many years, the Start-Up Challenge (Newcomer Challenge from 2026) has been the gateway to the elderly care market for young companies and new players in the care industry. The competition offers nominees the opportunity to present their products, services and concepts to an expert audience over three intensive days and to establish contacts for the next steps. Visitors to the trade fair experience innovative ideas here and can help shape the future of care with their important input.

The application period for the Newcomer Challenge 2027 begins on 15 September 2026 and ends on 15 January 2027.

What are we looking for?

The Newcomer Challenge is looking for analogue and digital solutions for care in a wide range of application scenarios, e.g. quality of life for the cared-for, promotion and appreciation of professionals in elderly care, self-determined living, relief and integration of caregiving relatives, shortage of skilled workers as well as process control and management.

Congratulations to the 2026 winners!

Category Documentation & Communication: Zenkopa
Category Living & Care: kwer und Barrierefreies Hochbeet Frieda
Category Concept & Strategy: #DubistPflege
Category Smart Objects & Smart Solutions: rectify

The Aveneo and Newcomer Challenge area at the Care Fair

Nominees in the category Documentation & Communication 2026

COPETEC offers a digital health world with certified ICT prevention courses for best agers in accordance with §20 SGB V. The focus is on the areas of exercise, stress management, and resource management. The offering is supplemented by short exercise routines, self-tests for strength, mobility, and balance, a digital community, and practical additional courses, such as first aid for family caregivers.

All applications can be used anytime, anywhere, do not require any equipment, and can be flexibly integrated into everyday (care) life. The aim is to holistically strengthen the physical and mental health of all groups of people, prevent falls and complaints, and thus promote independence and quality of life, which also provides long-term relief for caregivers.

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eDoer is an AI-powered platform that modernizes healthcare training by automating and personalizing curricula. With its integrated AI assistant, internal protocols or open medical resources can be quickly converted into structured learning modules.

Key features:

Personalized learning: Individual learning paths for caregivers based on competency profiles and roles.

Onboarding & compliance: Efficient training of new employees and automatic updates when guidelines change.

Patient education: Provides patients with understandable, structured content on diseases and therapies.

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KlaroCare is a digital solution for care facilities that records and processes admission interviews. Conversations with clients are recorded in a structured manner in real time and automatically converted into cost estimates, action plans, and other follow-up documents. This eliminates duplicate entries, media breaks, and time-consuming follow-up work.

In particular, upcoming costs for outpatient care can be discussed directly on site with all parties involved and adjusted as necessary. This means that all parties know from the outset of care which services have been agreed upon and what costs will be incurred.

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Nominees in the category Living & Care 2026

The multifunctional raised bed Frida combines inclusion, design, and functionality. The basic model features stepless electric height adjustment, a wheelchair-accessible stainless steel planting tray with a false bottom and water drainage, and heavy-duty casters with locking brakes for flexible indoor and outdoor use. A contact strip provides reliable protection against crushing and pinching. A storage table and tool bar make work easier.

Frida can be individually expanded with additional elements such as a viewing window, worm vase, grow light, or an orientation aid in the form of a bronze sparrow.

Available in three sizes (S, M, L), the raised bed has been partially tested for structural safety, tilt resistance, and stability.

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kwer makes (no) difference. It is suitable for young and old, for people with and without disabilities. kwer means independence when eating.

kwer is based on the needs of people for whom eating with conventional tableware is a challenge. Whether with motor or cognitive

disabilities – we all want to eat independently. Thanks to the sloping sauce edge, the raised plate rim, and the non-slip underside, kwer makes eating easier to manage.

Otherwise, it is no different from conventional tableware: it is stackable, dishwasher-safe, and suitable for everyday use.

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LagoLift is an innovative mattress lift system that significantly reduces the strain of caregiving. The system is easily inserted between the mattress and the nursing bed and uses simple, robust pneumatic technology to gently reposition patients directly in bed. The physically demanding effort required of nursing staff is significantly reduced, resulting in lasting improvements in health, safety, and job satisfaction. At the same time, LagoLift increases the comfort and well-being of those receiving care. Developed from practical experience for practical use, LagoLift combines user-friendliness, high quality, and patient safety.

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SoreAlert takes a new approach to wound prevention for immobile people. Continuous tissue monitoring and AI-supported analyses enable early warning of developing pressure sores, thereby preventing this serious and avoidable condition. This results in benefits on several levels: effective and personalized wound prevention, improved quality of life, and lower treatment costs. This is because wound care checks only need to take place when necessary. Rigid examination intervals and waking patients every two hours, even at night, are now only necessary in individual cases. In addition to improving the quality of care, SoreAlert also helps to reduce costs – providing relief for everyone involved in care.

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Nominees in the category Concept & Strategy 2026

#DubistPflege is an automated, overarching social media campaign aimed at attracting nursing staff. It is linked to an application chat that allows applications to be automatically validated and qualified. The facilities receive additional applications from the new target group of returnees. All applications are fundamentally suitable, as set filters and AI-controlled validation perform a pre-check before the application is delivered.

Result: Double time savings for facilities: No campaign management or ad placement and no pre-screening or dealing with unsuitable applications.

Another plus point: additional applications from the additional target group of returnees provide real relief in the face of the shortage of skilled workers.

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The Schaumburg Prevention Center is also aimed at people with care level 1 or higher and their caregiving relatives. The aim is to prevent the need for care or provide support at an early stage, maintain independence, and noticeably relieve the burden on relatives. The focus is on low-threshold group activities to promote mobility, balance, everyday skills, and cognitive abilities. The services are barrier-free, relevant to everyday life, and deliberately located in the neighborhood and centrally in the city center. The service times are flexible and based on demand—including evenings and weekends—and create free time for family caregivers. The Prevention Center sees itself as an open system in which concepts are shared according to the open-source principle.

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Sustain2care.ruhr is a regional transfer project for the sustainable transformation of care in the Ruhr region. Together with care facilities, service providers, industry, and scientific institutions, concrete sustainability measures suitable for everyday use are being developed and tested. In interdisciplinary think tanks, approaches are designed in a practical manner, piloted, and tested for their ecological and economic benefits. The aim is to establish a proven best-practice model that provides care providers with a sound basis for decision-making for the low-threshold introduction of evidence-based sustainability concepts.

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Nominees in the category Smart Objects & Solutions 2026

LEA is an intelligent assistance system in the form of a mirror that supports people who need assistance in their everyday lives. Using an integrated camera, it analyzes clothing for stains, twisted parts, or incorrectly fastened buttons and provides voice feedback. It compares the clothing with the current weather and recommends adjustments.

Reminder functions alert the user to missing items before leaving the house or apartment, and remind them to drink and take medication by scanning the medication plan. Fall detection via camera, among other things, increases user safety. It is constantly being expanded with modules, e.g., modules that allow you to read or have the daily newspaper read aloud (also in large print), or video telephony, which is very easy to use.

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Lumova is an autonomous exercise station designed for spontaneous, daily use in nursing homes. It is installed in common rooms or hallways and encourages short, self-initiated moments of exercise rather than planned activity sessions. With the help of a TV and a smartphone, residents move through picturesque environments on the spot, interact with animals via arm movements, and master playful cognitive-motor tasks. Individual moments naturally develop into shared group challenges, creating social motivation without pressure. The system adapts to different mobility and cognitive levels, switches on and off automatically, works completely offline, and requires no registration or supervision. This enables inclusive use by almost all residents and sustainable engagement even in facilities with limited staff resources.

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Nursing staff miss an average of 6.6 days per year due to back pain caused by incorrect lifting. Aids are available and well known, but are rarely used when staff are under stress. There is a lack of objective clarification of non-ergonomic activities and time for the gym after shifts.

rectify is the only product in the world that seamlessly tracks ergonomics in everyday nursing care: our FlexTail® sensor in a comfortable undershirt measures posture at 18 points with clinical precision 24/7. Wearers receive vibration feedback in the event of incorrect lifting, an app with ergonomic evaluations, and individual exercises.

The result: up to 50% better posture and significant pain reduction after 8 weeks. A nursing home with 50 employees saves up to €24,600 per year through reduced absenteeism.

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The Jury of the Newcomer Challenge

Thomas Althammer

Geschäftsführung der Althammer & Kill GmbH & Co. KG I Mitglied im Care Venture Circle und im Stiftungsrat der Stiftung Zukunft Altenpflege