Founding a Start-Up
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RWTH Innovation
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As part of its excellence strategy, RWTH has explicitly established "Entrepreneurial Transfer" as an objective and it empowers the start-up culture at the University by offering a comprehensive range of support services. In this context, RWTH Innovation serves as a central point of contact for those interested in founding a company and offers a wide range of start-up advice, coaching and workshops. In addition, it provides access to topic-specific Expert Hubs and it offers a strong network for founders.
From the Idea to the Start-Up
From help with realizing your own idea to establishing the start-up – support is on offer for every stage of the start-up process.
Click here to arrange an initial consultation.
Offerings for Those Interested in Founding a Start-Up
The offerings for founders cover the three essential stages of a start-up and support the process to creating a successful start-up.
Getting Started - Inspiration for People Interested in Starting a Business
Interested students and researchers are given the opportunity to benefit from the experience of successful founders, both through participation in events and workshops and through access to the start-up community. In addition to inspiration and networking opportunities, coaching is offered on how to implement one's own ideas and on how to help identify and analyze potential.
Ideation Program – Coaching Offers for Founders in the Early Stage
From the development of a coherent concept for your future business model to the preparing strong application documents for a pre-seed funding program (e.g. EXIST, Gründertipendium NRW) , through to persuasive investor presentations – the Ideation Program guides young start-up teams through the most important initial tasks to create a successful start-up step by step.
Incubation Program – Support for Start-Ups Already Receiving Funding
The Incubation Program is aimed at advanced start-up teams who have already received initial financing (for example through EXIST). The program directly follows on from the Ideation Program and helps teams to further develop their product, access the market, and prepare for a professional seed funding round. The program is deeply rooted at RWTH and provides access to top-class mentors as well as the co-working area in the Collective Incubator.
Further Offers
The co-founder matching function on the start-up platform collaeb can be used to search for co-founders and to find existing teams that are looking for additional founding members.
Events
From the classic start-up training to the start-up meeting of the Aachen start-up scene to the atec conference or Stage Two. The range of events is constantly being expanded so that founders can network and continue their education.
Network
The RWTH Innovation Network is constantly growing and thus offers Aachen start-ups the opportunity to network with venture capitalists and mentors, gain access to further funding opportunities, and introduce promising start-ups to industry partners early on.
Measures to support start-ups at RWTH are funded by:
The start-up support activities are funded by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (formerly Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Digitalization and Energy) as part of the "Excellence Start-up Center.NRW" program.
Made possible by:
RWTH Innovation GmbH is a subsidiary of RWTH Aachen University and Uniklinik RWTH Aachen. It provides technology transfer and the interface for entrepreneurship activities of RWTH and UKA. The task of RWTH Innovation is to advise and support students and scientists in translating their research into viable business ideas. Together with the Entrepreneurship Center at the WIN Chair, RWTH Innovation specifically mobilizes prospective entrepreneurs, trains them and supports them on their way to creating successful start-ups.