Start-up campaign "Implementing your business idea"

© BMWi

Federal Economic Affairs Minister Peter Altmaier today entered into discussion with young entrepreneurs and students at a dialogue event for the “GO!” start-up camapaign at Freie Universität Berlin.
Federal Minister Altmaier said: “Creative ideas and new technologies boost innovations that allow new start-up concepts and business models to be invented. This is why we support the transfer of knowledge from universities through start-ups so that even more students and researchers can transform their projects into business operations. I want to enter into discussion with innovative young entrepreneurs on how we can make even better use of the entrepreneurial potential at universities and how we can stimulate the start-up scene in Germany. After all, artificial intelligence, digital applications and innovations also offer opportunities to tackle medical, social and societal challenges through the development and use of new business models.”

Prof. Günter M. Ziegler, President of Freie Universität Berlin, said: “In recent years, university spin-offs have benefited greatly from the initiatives undertaken by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. He want on to say that the EXIST funding programme ought to be mentioned first and foremost as Freie Universität Berlin ranked among the top universities when it comes to the number of start-ups it helps to launch and also provided scientific assistance for start-up projects from the Charité and the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing. “Freie Universität Berlin”, he added, “also benefits indirectly from the Joint Federal/Länder Task for the Improvement of Regional Economic Structures”. Funding provided under this programme is being used to finance the technology and start-up centre FUBIC, which, over the next few years, will become one of the most modern technology and start-up centres in Germany. It will be located in the immediate vicinity of the Freie Universität Berlin campus.

More than 150 students and prospective start-up entrepreneurs from Berlin universities will take part in the discussion, at which five start-ups which will share their experiences. Afterwards, guests will have the opportunity to receive individual advice from experts, not least from the start-up networks of Berlin universities (Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt University Berlin, Technische Universität Berlin, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin).

The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is providing funding for university start-ups in the pre-start-up phase under the EXIST programme. In addition to expanding the "profund" incubation centre, 91 EXIST start-up grants and 7 EXIST research transfer projects at Freie Universität Berlin have already received funding under the EXIST programme since 2007.

Further information about the EXIST Programme and the “GO!” start-up campaign can be found at www.exist.de and www.bmwi.de/GO.