Entrepreneurship - Turning ideas into start-ups

Every semester, the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI) offers a variety of programmes and interdisciplinary key qualifications in the field of entrepreneurship - from the Startup Business Game Hackathon to the Startup Crash Course.

TRACES also offers interdisciplinary key qualifications:

• Students2Startup (takes place in the winter semester)

• Mindful Competence – Developing Resilience, Social Skills, and Self-Awareness for Study and Work (takes place in the winter semester)

We offer start-up counselling for all those interested in setting up a business and for those who are still unsure. You can also contact us if you are interested in suitable funding for your start-up idea. Our coaches can be contacted for an initial consultation. Our counselling is free of charge and, of course, strictly confidential.

You can take part in the open group consultation hour as part of the ‘Startup Coffee Series’ without making an appointment in advance. This takes place every Thursday from 1 to 2 pm in Café Freiraum on the campus in Vaihingen. Here you have the opportunity to ask questions and receive support from founders / startup coaches.

The transfer of scientific research results into an innovative product idea and a successful business model is not always easy. The University of Stuttgart therefore supports its founders with sponsorship agreements.

The Master's thesis has been written, the dissertation submitted - but how do you successfully convert the research results into products or services and a scalable business model? In order to finalise the prototype or minimum viable product (MVP), knowledge-based start-up projects usually require access to various university resources. The University of Stuttgart therefore offers a sponsorship agreement as an ideal solution. The legal framework is provided by the Baden-Württemberg State Higher Education Act.

Research results constitute intellectual property (IP) and, in principle, belong to those who have developed them. The University of Stuttgart has defined the handling of this intellectual property in its IP strategy and the corresponding implementation guidelines.

The Department 15: Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Division 1 provides support in identifying intellectual property rights and accompanies the start-up process. Individual agreements on the use of intellectual property (IP) enable legally secure solutions for employees and students.

At Cafe frei[raum], you can work on start-up ideas in a cosy atmosphere. If more space is needed, the Technology Transfer Initiative (TTI GmbH) in the Technology Centre (TZ) offers free coworking spaces in the immediate vicinity of the TRACES and TTI startup coaches.

The numerous makerspaces and workshops on the University of Stuttgart campus can be used to realise initial ideas.

Significantly fewer women found start-ups than men. That is why there are special funding programmes that support women in their start-up projects.

Female Accelerator

Female entrepreneurship is an important driver of innovative business models, but remains underrepresented. The pilot project ‘Start-up BW Female Accelerator’ specifically strengthens the visibility of female founders in Baden-Württemberg as part of the state's Start-up BW campaign and promotes their participation in the start-up scene.

EXIST Women

EXIST-Women offers women at universities who are interested in entrepreneurship the chance to explore the topics of start-ups and self-employment early on. The new EXIST funding programme includes events, mentoring, and support services, as well as financial grants for aspiring female founders.

Die Gründungsbeauftragten der Universität Stuttgart stärken das Gründungsgeschehen und unterstützen den Transfer von Forschungsergebnissen der Universität über Unternehmensgründungen in die Gesellschaft. Sie stehen gerne als Erstansprechpartner bei Gründungsideen zur Verfügung und dienen als Bindeglied zwischen den Studierenden und Mitarbeitenden und dem ENI, dem TRACES sowie der TTI GmbH.

Im März 2023 wurde Prof. Alexander Brem, Leiter des Instituts für Entrepreneurship und Innovationsforschung (ENI) und Prorektor für Transfer und Internationales, als Gründungsbeauftragter der Universität Stuttgart bestellt. Gemeinsam mit den Entrepreneurship-Beauftragten, Professorinnen und Professoren der zehn Fakultäten, stärkt er die Vernetzung, um das volle Entrepreneurship-Potenzial der Universität Stuttgart zu heben.

The start-up advisors at the University of Stuttgart strengthen start-up activities and support the transfer of research results from the university to society via start-ups. They are available as initial contacts for start-up ideas and act as a link between students and employees and ENI, TRACES and TTI GmbH.

In March 2023, Prof. Alexander Brem, Head of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI) and Vice Rector for Transfer and International Affairs, was named start-up advisor of the University of Stuttgart. Together with the other start-up advisors, professors from the ten faculties, he is strengthening the network in order to realise the full entrepreneurship potential of the University of Stuttgart.

The EXIST start-up grant supports students, graduates and researchers from universities and non-university research institutions who want to realise their start-up idea and turn it into a business plan. The funding includes, among other things, the provision of living expenses and material expenses of up to €30,000.

The EXIST research transfer supports start-up teams at universities and research institutions in preparing for the launch of particularly high-risk and complex technical development work, the results of which form the economic basis for a growth-oriented business start-up. The funding includes, among other things, the provision of living expenses and material expenses of up to €250,000.

If you have any questions, please contact us via startupcoaching@traces.uni-stuttgart.de

Support programme for the targeted preparation of business start-ups, including academic staff at the university.

Target group:

• Academic staff who have not interrupted their work at the university for more than one year
• Applicants who are completing a PhD, at the earliest from submission of the dissertation
• Applicants who have received upstream federal funding (e.g. EXIST funding)

Requirements

• Innovative product or process
• Submission of a detailed business concept (business plan)
• Supervision by a university lecturer

Förderung

• Securing the living costs for the duration of generally two years (in the event of a successful interim assessment)
• Free use of the university's premises and technical infrastructure
• group/individual coaching for business management skills 

Companies can use innovation vouchers to buy support on the national and international research market. The programme supports SMEs in the planning, development, implementation and further development of innovative products, services or production processes.

With the funding programme ‘Validation of the innovation potential of scientific research - VIP+’, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to tap potential for innovation. This potential lies in academic research at universities, non-university research institutions (which are jointly funded by the federal and state governments) and federal institutions with R&D tasks.

Promotion of the innovative strength of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) under the motto ‘Impulses for growth’:

• Cooperation projects (ZIM-KOOP): Promotion of cooperation projects between SMEs and between SMEs and research institutions
• Individual projects (ZIM-SOLO): Funding for individual R&D projects by SMEs
• Network projects (ZIM-NEMO): Funding of external management and organisational services for the development of market-oriented networks of innovative SMEs

Awaken your entrepreneurial spirit - the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Science (ENI) offers you the opportunity to unfold your creativity and turn your ideas into reality by developing a start-up.

You deal with relevant customer problems and customer insights, work in heterogeneous teams and learn innovative methods - from design thinking to agile development methods. During the course, everything you learn is put into practice immediately: Your product ideas are brought to life and exposed to direct feedback in the prototyping process.

In the following phase, you will continue to work on your startup idea in diverse teams, design suitable business models and refine your start-up pitch. Finally, you will have the opportunity to present your startup concepts to a jury of experts from the startup world and receive valuable feedback that can lay the foundation for your own startup.

The module is organised around the ongoing lecture blocks to show that you can already pursue your own start-up projects during your studies.

AWAKE takes place every semester in close cooperation with ASAP BW.

Language: English

STARTUP AUTOBAHN is a joint project of Daimler AG, the startup accelerator and investor Plug and Play Tech Center, the research campus ARENA2036, and the University of Stuttgart.

STARTUP AUTOBAHN is an innovation platform that serves as an interface between industry-leading corporations and emerging technology startups. At the core of the six-month programs, corporate partners and startups collaborate as equals to explore potential partnerships, test technologies, and pursue the ultimate goal — successful, production-ready implementation.

Rather than being a typical startup accelerator, STARTUP AUTOBAHN offers a comprehensive ecosystem for effective collaboration. This approach promotes a cultural shift in mindset and the exchange of best practices within a neutral environment, driving digitalization across corporate structures and value chains.