idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The University of Cologne takes third place in the ‘Gründungsradar 2025’ ranking / The Stifterverband rates as particularly positive how the start-up support system is incorporated in the university’s strategy and institutions
According to the latest Gründungsradar 2025 of the Stifterverband – the largest comparison of start-up support at German universities – students and researchers who found a start-up at the University of Cologne receive outstanding qualifications and support. The University of Cologne ranks third in Germany among large universities with more than 15,000 students, together with the Technical University of Munich. This is an improvement compared to the last Gründungsradar two years ago, when it was in 6th place. Only HM Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences and Saarland University are ranked higher than the University of Cologne and the Technical University of Munich.
In addition to the good qualification and support of founders, the Stifterverband has recognized that the University of Cologne has integrated transfer and start-up support into its strategy and organization. This includes, for example, the appointment of a Vice-Rector for Transfer and the work of highly specialized transfer scouts. They examine research results for possible application and support researchers in their start-up projects. The University of Cologne is also a leader in networking with other universities, the start-up ecosystem and business partners.
While the university already stood out in these areas in the last edition of the Gründungsradar two years ago, it has improved in particular with regard to start-up activities. The number of start-ups supported has increased steadily over the past years, rising from 14 in 2020 to 38 in 2024. It has also successfully supported its founders in acquiring start-up grants and transfer funding programmes, such as the founding initiative biotechnology ‘GO-Bio’.
Professor Dr Joybrato Mukherjee, Rector of the University of Cologne, said: “The high societal relevance of the research in our Key Profile Areas and Faculties forms the basis of our transfer strategy. With eight new professorships focusing on start-ups, we are also integrating entrepreneurship, innovation and digital transformation into our teaching. Transfer scouts help to identify suitable people and ideas and to support them at an early stage. I would like to thank the scouts, the team at the Gateway Excellence Start-up Center, and of course the founders, for the good results in the Gründungsradar.”
“Our university is committed to playing an active and productive role in social, economic, political and cultural life. Our start-up support programme is an excellent example of how we create momentum in transfer,” added Professor Dr Werner Reinartz, Vice-Rector for Transfer. “The positive assessment by the Stifterverband motivates us to continue our transfer efforts.”
“We are particularly pleased that, as a non-technical comprehensive university, we are once again one of the most start-up-friendly universities in Germany. This confirms our approach of promoting spin-offs from the wide range of excellent research at the University of Cologne with specialist expertise and individual support offers,” said Marc Kley, Managing Director of the Gateway Excellence Start-up Center.
The University of Cologne has massively expanded its start-up funding as part of the ‘Excellence Start-up Center’ initiative of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2019. It will also support the growth of start-ups in future and is strengthening its regional network to this end: Together with RWTH Aachen University and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, it has founded a network – the Gateway Factory. The TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences, the German Sport University Cologne, Rheinische Hochschule Köln and the CBS International Business School are also part of this network.
Marijan Kojić
+49 151 14773401
m.kojic@gateway-unikoeln.de
http://www.gruendungsradar.de
https://www.gateway-unikoeln.de/en/
The InnoDome Cologne: Seat of the University of Cologne's Gateway Excellence Start-up Center
Ludolf Dahmen
Ludolf Dahmen, University of Cologne
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The InnoDome Cologne: Seat of the University of Cologne's Gateway Excellence Start-up Center
Ludolf Dahmen
Ludolf Dahmen, University of Cologne
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