The University of Cologne produces a particularly large number of company founders. 2.3 percent of all founders have completed their highest academic degree at the UoC. This is the result of Deutsche Start-up Monitor (DSM) 2023, which was presented in Munich on Monday. The annual study by the start-up association and the auditing company PwC, with around 2,000 founders surveyed, is considered the most comprehensive study on start-ups in Germany. This makes the UoC the most start-up friendly non-technical university in Germany, according to both Gründungsradar and Deutsche Start-up Monitor. Only RWTH Aachen, TU Munich and the private WHU in Vallendar have been ranked ahead of the University of Cologne by DSM.
One of the main findings of the study: Universities continue to be the main core for innovative start-ups. Almost every second start-up has received support from a university; nine out of ten rated this support as positive. The transfer between science and business practice is thus the most relevant tool for promoting innovative entrepreneurship, according to the authors of the study. The contacts and networks that result from being in the university environment are also fundamental.
“The success in the important rankings confirms our approach to promoting entrepreneurial thinking and action at our university, which offers a wide range of life sciences and humanities. With nine new professorships and highly specialized transfer scouts, we are anchoring entrepreneurship, digitalization and innovation at the Faculties,” says Marc Kley, Managing Director of the Gateway Excellence Start-up Center at the University of Cologne.
The University of Cologne had massively expanded its funding as part of the ‘Excellence Start-up Center’ initiative of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Gateway Excellence Start-up Center has not only improved the scope and quality of support. The number of start-ups is also growing. In the spring of this year, Deutsche Stifterverband confirmed in its Gründungsradar that the UoC’s funding for start-ups is one of the best in this country. The number of start-ups supported rose from 14 in 2019 to 22 in 2022.
Further information on Deutsche Start-up Monitor (only available in German):
https://deutscherstartupmonitor.de/
The Gateway Excellence Start-up Center at UoC is the contact point for all those interested in founding a company and for start-ups. The free offers include start-up coaching, funding advice, co-working places and an accelerator programme. In addition, students and researchers can acquire know-how in courses and workshops and establish contacts in the Cologne start-up ecosystem.
- Further information on Deutsche Start-up Monitor (only available in German)
