HWR Berlin as the only Berlin university in the “Regional Networking” funding focus among winners of the BMWi competition EXIST. Major success for Startup Incubator Berlin and Entrepreneurship Education
The Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR Berlin) will receive two million euros over the next four years to strategically expand its startup support programs. 220 universities and universities of applied sciences from all federal states had participated in the funding competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). HWR Berlin entered with its concept titled “Boosting Startups @ HWR Berlin” in the “Regional Networking” category.
“The strong performance of universities of applied sciences in the funding competition to expand their startup centers underlines once again how much the federal government relies on practice-oriented approaches when it comes to startups and startup support,” says Prof. Dr. Andreas Zaby, President of HWR Berlin. “Being counted among the winners is both recognition and motivation. We are very pleased to have been the only Berlin university to succeed in the funding line for advanced startup universities, and we will use the funding to further expand our offerings,” says Zaby.
The goal is to strengthen the startup culture in the capital region by integrating HWR Berlin with players in the regional startup ecosystem and international partner universities. Christian Gurol, head of Startup Incubator Berlin, the startup center of HWR Berlin, considers the team and the exchange between startups to be key success factors. “With our startup center, we provide the platform and broad-based, intensive support so that startup enthusiasts become teams, ideas become market-ready projects, and companies are founded,” he explains.
The special feature of this startup hub, with locations at Campus Schöneberg and at the A32 Entrepreneurs Forum Berlin Siemensstadt, is that the teams work according to the Lean Startup method. At its core, this is about involving potential customers early on in order to align the development of products and services closely with market needs from the very beginning. The strategy is paying off: approximately 95 percent of startups establish limited liability companies after the “Berlin Startup Scholarship” and become economic actors themselves. “Startups are of high strategic importance for Germany as a business location: they drive innovation, are the engine of structural change, and create the jobs of the future,” emphasized Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier upon announcing the winners of the EXIST-Potentiale funding competition.
In the 2018 Startup Radar of the Donors’ Association for the Promotion of Sciences and Humanities in Germany, the Berlin School of Economics and Law emerged as one of the best universities of applied sciences in Germany. With the funds from the Federal Ministry, it can continue and further develop its successful startup support, and draw inspiration as a member of the network of successful German startup universities. HWR Berlin is focusing on four priorities for strategic expansion:
• HWR Berlin Startup Boosters: a regional network that directly benefits the supported startups
• Spin-off of HWR Berlin for commercial exploitation, in order to offer commercial activities on a demand-oriented basis
• Open Startup Academy: a regional network that ensures the institutionalized integration of HWR Berlin in the regional startup ecosystem
• International Startup Community: knowledge and people transfer between partner universities to support the regional network.
“We create the framework conditions under which creative startup teams can develop well together with established companies, and thus offer a crystallization point for knowledge transfer between academia and industry,” says Zaby.
For more information on Startup Incubator Berlin at HWR Berlin:
http://www.startup-incubator.berlin/
