At 33, Lukas Liedtke never imagined he would be leading a company with 25 employees when he first began his studies. Today, he sits in his Karlsruhe office exporting a smart insect bite healer to customers around the world. The inspiration: a mosquito-filled vacation in Italy and the VDE’s COSIMA competition – without which “heat it” likely would not have reached market readiness so quickly.
Liedtke learned about the “Competition of Students in Microsystems Applications” from the advisor of his bachelor’s thesis, who had participated himself years earlier. “So there was already some interest in taking part, and the right idea came to me during a vacation in Florence,” says Liedtke, who studied mechanical engineering and medical engineering at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. His invention is based on a well-established medical method: the smart device relieves itching and pain from bites by briefly heating the affected skin area to 51°C. The required power comes from the smartphone’s USB-C port, and the accompanying app allows treatment to be customized – for example, depending on the type of bite, body area, or age.
Liedtke developed a prototype with an appealing user interface and entered it in COSIMA. At the time, founding a company was not yet on the agenda – they were looking for a “technical and intellectual challenge,” as he recalls. “During the presentation, we realized there was huge interest,” he says about the showcase in Munich. At the COSIMA booth, visitors were practically snatching the prototype out of the developers’ hands. Contacts from the competition network then encouraged the team to apply for an EXIST start-up grant. They were successful, and Kamedi GmbH was founded in 2018. Liedtke and the heat it team continued refining the product and launched the first version in 2020. Today, the company delivers primarily within the DACH region but has recently expanded into the United States and is also eyeing the Asian market. In total, heat it has already sold 1.5 million devices worldwide.
Lukas Liedtke encourages students to pursue their own ideas and participate in COSIMA. “Without the competition, we wouldn’t have followed through,” he says today. There is no need to fear starting a company, he adds – Germany, and especially Karlsruhe with its universities, has a vibrant start-up scene. Heat it is now poised for further growth: the company is currently moving into its own building and aims to enter additional markets. “There is still enormous international potential for heat it,” the entrepreneur says. An exit by the founding team is not planned – they intend to continue for the long term.
