The Stifterverband's Start-up Radar, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, has been studying the start-up climate at German universities since 2012. The current Start-up Radar concludes that the climate has continued to improve. The majority of universities (85 percent) have anchored the topic in their strategic objectives. Almost all universities (90 percent) are members of an institutionalized network and see enormous benefits in exchange and mutual support. Internationalization also plays a role for most. Thomas Bareiß, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, said:
"The 2020 Startup Radar shows that startup support has established itself as a strategic goal at many universities and is now an integral part of the Third Mission. This is fantastic considering the development since the first Startup Radar in 2012. Through the funding from EXIST Potentials, we are once again providing enormous impetus to structurally and comprehensively improve the structures of startup support at our universities. It is precisely startups from the academic world that are bringing about the innovations we need in Germany to meet the major challenges of our time!"
Before the coronavirus pandemic, universities' startup activities resulted in a dynamic startup culture. This is demonstrated by the number of startups originating from universities – they have increased by 22 percent to 2,176 since 2017. In 2017, there were 1,776 newly founded companies. Andrea Frank, Head of Science at the Stifterverband, however, sees further room for improvement:
"We need more women among entrepreneurs. And we need long-term financing models to build and retain entrepreneurship-related expertise at universities."
Universities see sustainable funding from the federal and state governments as an opportunity to further develop their start-up activities. Three out of every four euros spent on start-up support is currently financed through third-party funding. The knowledge accumulated by start-up staff cannot therefore be used sustainably. Improved planning through permanent start-up staff and simplified financial application procedures would be future success factors. Start-up projects could be transformed into actual start-up activities more effectively and quickly.
Good news for Munich as a startup location
The results of the Startup Radar are particularly encouraging from a Munich perspective. TUM achieved almost the highest possible score and is thus the leader in the category of 'large universities' with more than 15,000 students for the fourth time in a row. But the HM also impresses together with the SCE in the evaluation and is only 0.2 points behind TUM.
“The Startup Radar once again confirms our outstanding position in startup support among all German universities and universities of applied sciences,”
is glad Prof. Dr. Martin Leitner, President of the Munich University of Applied Sciences about the success.
"This is exceptionally good news for our university, but also for Munich as a location. We are particularly proud to be the only university of applied sciences to hold a top ranking among the 'large universities'.
In the "Medium-Sized Universities" category, with 5,000 to 15,000 students, Aalen University secured first place. And as a "Small University," with fewer than 5,000 students, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management impressed. The third Munich university, Ludwig Maximilian University, only made it into the bottom third of the "Large Universities" ranking with a total score of 34.9.
