RWTH and University of Cologne Partner to Launch Startup Factory
Germany’s Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck gives the green light for a joint application in the Federal Ministry’s Flagship Competition. If the concept is successful, the universities will receive up to ten million euros in funding to support deep-tech startups.
RWTH and the University of Cologne are jointly creating a so-called Startup Factory. With their Gateway FACTORY Startup project, the partners are among the 15 universities that have now been invited by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) to submit a comprehensive concept by 2025. They have thus cleared the first important hurdle of the prestigious competition. This was announced yesterday by Federal Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck at the Exist Congress in Berlin.
According to the BMWK, up to ten excellent projects will be given the opportunity to establish cross-university ecosystems with international recognition and strong integration into regional and national value chains as part of the so-called Flagship Competition. The program builds on the universities’ startup support initiatives and is dedicated to increasing the number of spin-offs from educational and research institutions. The final decision on the flagship projects to receive funding will be made in April 2025. Successful applicants will then receive up to 10 million euros over a period of five years.
Leading Role in the Development of Innovative Deep Tech Startups
The planned FACTORY Startup Gateway aims to play a leading role in the development of innovative deep tech startups, to boost the growth potential of the Aachen-Cologne startup ecosystem, and to make the region even more attractive for startups, talents, and investors worldwide. Gateway FACTORY Startup focuses on supporting the scaling of startups with profound technological breakthroughs based on advanced scientific findings or technical developments at research institutions and universities in the region.
The startups selected for funding and support have the opportunity to use existing production and IT infrastructures. In addition, the initiative seeks to facilitate the startups’ access to capital, talents and mentors, as well as pilot customers. The Gateway FACTORY Startup is thus set to become a flagship project attracting technology-based startups from all over Germany – and, in the medium term, startups from Europe and beyond, seeking to enhance the global competitiveness of German startups.
The joint project combines the strengths and potential of two universities that are cultivating a strong startup culture. “We are delighted that our joint concept has passed the first round of this highly competitive competition. Two strong universities are combining their strengths to achieve better results together. We contribute our technological expertise and many successful collaborations with industry. Together with the University of Cologne, we are focusing on areas of outstanding research,” said Professor Matthias Wessling, Vice-Rector for Technology Transfer and Translation at RWTH.
Five areas of reseach, known as “verticals”, were identified for this purpose: Future Energy, Mobility & Infrastructure, Chemistry, (Bio-)Materials & PropTech, Digitalization, Next Generation Computing & AI, Life Sciences, Health & Sport, and Legal, Insure & Gov Tech.
“Together, the University of Cologne and RWTH have a huge potential to successfully develop startups in the region. We complement each other well: In Cologne, we have outstanding management and financial expertise and a broad spectrum of outstanding research in the life sciences and humanities. We will also leverage the benefits provided by the vibrant economic hub of Cologne to promote growth,” said Professor Rainer Minz, the Rector of the University of Cologne’s Representative for Alumni Work, Fundraising and Technology Transfer.
The universities are supported by Start2Group GmbH (formerly German Entrepreneurship), which is considered an important player in the German and international innovation landscape – particularly in the areas of internationalization and scaling.