Award for strong start-up culture

Out of the 48 participating major German universities, the Stifterverband ranked the University of Stuttgart 10^th in the recently published "Gründungsradar 2022" (Start-up Radar 2022). The university did particularly well in the start-up activities category (9^th place).

Prof. Peter Middendorf, Vice Rector for Knowledge and Technology Transfer at the University of Stuttgart, commented on this success: “Knowledge-based start-ups play a key strategic role for the University of Stuttgart as a knowledge transfer pathway, which is why we are delighted that focusing our transfer strategy on entrepreneurship and start-ups is bearing fruit and that we have not only been able to improve our "Gründungsradar” ranking from 12^th to 10^th place, but have also consistently achieved top rankings when it comes to the allocation of EXIST grants since 2019."

The key factor behind the University of Stuttgart’s success is the range of support programs, which have been expanded considerably over the last few years, through which the University makes students aware of what is involved in starting up one’s own business and funds start-up projects. The University of Stuttgart's Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI) has played a key role in its success. The Institute Director, Prof. Alexander Brem, and his team promote innovation and entrepreneurship and combine the relevant topics in their research, teaching, and practice by adopting a cross-faculty approach. “Our excellent performance in the Gründungsradar is a great success for the University of Stuttgart, though it’s largely as a result of work done before I started here,” Brem explained: “Special thanks for this go to the Vector Foundation, which, along with the many other stakeholders within the University and beyond, have been very passionate in their efforts to promote start-ups.”

The ENI seeks to inspire students about starting a business and entrepreneurship at an early stage, as well as promoting start-ups as an attractive career path. Another milestone is the “Startup Campus 0711” EXIST project, which was established in 2020, in which the University of Stuttgart is working with the Stuttgart Media University to supplement the existing courses related to entrepreneurship and integrate them into one of the most innovative regions in Germany. Some 1000 students have already received support since the inception of the project, in addition to which, the University of Stuttgart's Technology Transfer Initiative (TTI GmbH) has been providing support for all start-up ventures for many years, for example by helping with the preparation of a business plan, accessing federal and state funding opportunities, utilizing university resources, and setting up knowledge transfer and start-up companies.

Outside of the University, the University of Stuttgart has played a leading role in developing the “Gründermotor” (Entrepreneur Engine) initiative in collaboration with the Vector Foundation and Pioniergeist GmbH, which has now been granted additional funding by the state of Baden-Württemberg as part of the “Re-Start BW / Gründermotor” excellence program. This program is intended to stabilize and strengthen Baden-Württemberg’s position during and after the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure that the state continues to be competitive going forward.

The Gründungsradar, which was created by the Stiftungverband, rates and compares efforts by different universities in support of a start-up culture, whereby it focuses on Various aspects such as start-up awareness, qualification and support programs as well as institutional integration. It also takes start-up activities into consideration, i.e., the results of start-up support programs, and networking in addition to monitoring and evaluation activities.