Start-up radar 2025 of the Stifterverband

More start-ups from universities. More and more universities are focusing on promoting start-ups. Universities in Munich, Bayreuth and Leipzig are particularly successful.

Essen, March 2025 - Students in Munich, Bayreuth and Leipzig currently find the best conditions for turning a business idea into reality. This is shown by the current start-up radar of the Stifterverband, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection. The study also shows that the start-up climate at universities has improved nationwide.

More start-ups from universities

In 2023, 2,927 new companies emerged from universities - an increase compared to 2,779 in 2021. The following universities performed particularly well in their respective categories:

Large universities (over 15,000 students)

• Munich University of Applied Sciences
• University of the Saarland
• Munich University of Technology

Medium-sized universities (5,000 to 15,000 students)

• University of Bayreuth
• East Bavarian Technical University of Regensburg (OTH)
• Augsburg University of Applied Sciences

Small universities (less than 5,000 students)

• HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management
• PFH Private University of Applied Sciences Göttingen
• Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF

Universities form the heart of a value-creation-oriented start-up and innovation ecosystem. Networking with other players helps to develop viable business models from research results.

Volker Meyer-Guckel, Secretary General of the Stifterverband

Universities as drivers of innovation

The start-up radar shows that universities are increasingly focusing on practical courses, targeted events and individual advisory services. The aim is to sensitize students to entrepreneurship at an early stage and to network them with the business world.

Universities are playing an increasingly central role in innovation and start-ups. Targeted support and networking with companies, investors and start-up communities create sustainable structures that combine science and entrepreneurship.

Anna Christmann, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Start-ups at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection

Close cooperation with external partners is a key success factor for start-up support. Since the last survey, the number of co-creation projects with companies and political players has more than doubled to 1,910 collaborations. In addition, 55% of universities are now working with international investors - an increase of over 10 percentage points compared to 2022.

Funding remains a challenge

Despite the positive developments, funding remains a critical issue. Almost 77% of the total budget for start-up funding comes from third-party funds - an increase compared to 74.3% in 2021. At the same time, 84.5% of universities are calling for political funding to be made more permanent in order to secure long-term financial and personnel conditions.

The Start-up Radar has been carried out by the Stifterverband with the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection since 2012. The study analyzes the performance of universities in the area of start-up support and identifies potential for further improvements. The current start-up radar is available from the Stifterverband for free download free of charge.

Startbase's own findings

For us as a start-up portal, the start-up radar has triggered some real aha moments. One particularly surprising example is Saarland University, which achieved second place among the major universities in the ranking. This ranking does not correspond at all with our own figures and publications. We base this not only on our own reporting, but also on our Newscircle, which includes a large proportion of German-language media with a start-up focus.

The study itself provides a possible explanation: The systematic recording of start-up activities is rated as a moderate to very big challenge by 70% of universities. The situation is even clearer when it comes to making start-ups visible, with 78% of universities citing this as a problem.

For us, this is a clear mandate: we must ensure even more transparency in the start-up ecosystem so that achievements are visible and young founders have the best chance of success.