New university alliance Startup Campus Alliance

New network for founders: ten universities in Saxony and Thuringia join forces to form the "Startup Campus Alliance" with a focus on deep tech and innovation.

On April 9, 2025, eight universities in Saxony and two in Thuringia launched the "Startup Campus Alliance" at the University of Leipzig. The aim of the new alliance is to sustainably strengthen entrepreneurship and start-up culture in Central Germany and to establish Saxony and Thuringia as the leading deep tech region in Germany.

The founding members include HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig University and Dresden University of Technology.

The founding members of the "Startup Campus Alliance" are:

• HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
• Leipzig University
• Dresden University of Technology
• Chemnitz University of Technology
• TU Bergakademie Freiberg
• Dresden University of Applied Sciences
• Leipzig University of Applied Sciences for Technology, Economics and Culture
• Mittweida University of Applied Sciences
• Friedrich Schiller University Jena
• Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena

Focus on deep tech

The Startup Campus Alliance focuses on deep tech - i.e. start-ups based on significant scientific or technical innovations. The cross-university cooperation is primarily intended to create new synergies, for example through joint courses, shared infrastructure and more intensive interdisciplinary collaboration.

Most start-up ideas already come from the universities.

Prof. Dr. Utz Dornberger from the University of Leipzig, Chairman Campus Alliance

A central concern of the alliance is to make the success of university spin-offs more visible and to strengthen the perception of the startup region of Central Germany both nationally and internationally.

Cooperation for a strong start-up ecosystem

Prof. Dr. Tobias Dauth, Rector and Commercial Director of HHL, sees the alliance as an important driver for the region: "Especially in the field of deep tech, strong partnerships between academia and entrepreneurship are essential to transform ideas into scalable business models."

HHL brings extensive experience in promoting start-ups, including through programs such as the "Leipzig Summer School for Diverse Startups", the Female Founders Initiative and the university start-up competition "Stage Two".

Basis for future cooperation

The organizational basis of the new alliance is the non-profit association "Startup Campus Alliance". It is intended to coordinate and strategically bundle the start-up activities of the universities.

The association also represents the interests of the universities in the Business Opportunities Ost (boOst) Ecosystem gGmbH, which is currently being set up. The boOst gGmbH is applying for the federal "Startup Factories" competition and aims to further promote knowledge-based spin-offs as a platform organized under private law.