NRW Minister Pinkwart wants to promote start-ups

The federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia is providing a total of 3.5 million euros over three years. Two professorships are to be created at the University of Duisburg-Essen - and a Colosseum .

The Ministry of Economic Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia is supporting the University of Duisburg-Essen in its start-up activities. The ministry is providing a total of 3.5 million euros for this purpose until the end of 2024. The state is funding two professorships and two co-creation labs. In Duisburg, the focus will be on digitalization, while Essen will focus on product innovations. "More research and technology-based start-ups from and for the Ruhr region - that is our common goal," says NRW Minister of Economic Affairs Andreas Pinkwart (FDP) about the funding decision.

The funding ties in with the "Center for Start-ups and Innopreneurship" at the University of Duisburg-Essen, which was founded in August 2019 as a central service structure and advises prospective founders and supports start-up teams in implementing their ideas. In addition, a "Colosseum" is to be set up in Essen to serve as the first point of contact for founders. Both co-creation labs can hold joint events there. The new start-up centers are due to be completed before the end of the year.