Since 2012, the Gründungsradar of Stifterverband for academia in Germany has been examining the climate for business start-ups in academia and showing which universities are particularly good at supporting business start-ups. It explores the areas of start-up anchoring, raising awareness of start-ups, monitoring, evaluation, and start-up networks. The results of the nationwide comparison show that the University of Bremen and the Bremen university start-up network BRIDGE are fulfilling their social obligations with their activities and creating a positive start-up climate.
Bremen is ranked 15th in the overall ranking of large higher education institutions with more than 15,000 students, and the success of individual methodological components is even greater. The University of Bremen scores particularly well in the area of monitoring and evaluation (10 out of 10 points). It ranks eighth in the networking component (9.8 out of 10 points) and performs very well in the start-up qualification module (9.32 points, 14th place).
Success Through Networking and Start-up Qualification
Professor Michal Kucera, Vice President for Research and Transfer at the University of Bremen, is delighted with the good results. “We were able to maintain our position and view this as a validation of our start-up services, which are firmly embedded within the well-established university start-up network BRIDGE and the Bremen start-up community.”
“Our established programs, such as the StartUp Workout, have been vindicated by our success in the area of start-up qualification,” Meike Goos, Managing Director at BRIDGE empathizes. “We have continued to address the topic of sustainability and incorporated it into our international activities through our cooperation with Cardiff University as part of the ‘Bremen-Cardiff Initiative on Entrepreneurship & Sustainability.’ Social entrepreneurship has also been an instrumental topic in start-up support, as evidenced by a recent pilot project in collaboration with the Chair in Small Business & Entrepreneurship (LEMEX),” she continues.
BRIDGE advises around 160 start-up projects per year and organizes more than 80 start-up awareness and training events with over 2,200 participants, such as the BRIDGE StartUp Workout or the BRIDGE StartUp Lounge. Many events are held in collaboration with other stakeholders of Bremen’s start-up community.
Domestic Partnerships as Part of the hoi Startup Factory
“At the University of Bremen, we value the importance of networks. In collaboration with the University of Oldenburg and seven other universities, we are currently in the final stages of the concept phase of the hoi startup factory project in the flagship competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWiK). This initiative brings together universities, companies, start-ups, and other key players in the innovation and start-up community, with the shared goal of fostering the growth of start-ups in and for the region,” explains Anne-Kathrin Guder, head of UniTransfer at the University of Bremen. The hoi startup factory for the entire northwestern region will be established in the near future and will submit an application for the project phase to the BMWK by the end of April 2025. As Anne-Kathrin Guder explains, “Our performance in the Gründungsradar demonstrates our ability to build on the substantial start-up support provided by the two major universities in Bremen and Oldenburg. The potential of these universities can be further enhanced by the hoi startup factory.”
About the Start-up Support at the University
BRIDGE, which is part of the UniTransfer unit, is the central point of contact for students, alumni, and members of Bremen's universities when it comes to business start-ups. The BRIDGE university network is supported by the University of Bremen, Bremen University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, the University of the Arts Bremen, Constructor University, and Bremer Aufbau-Bank GmbH. BRIDGE has the aim of improving the entrepreneurial climate at all involved universities and supporting promising ideas with start-up potential at an early stage.
Every year, around 20 start-ups from Bremen’s universities are registered with the BRIDGE network. In addition, the network has acquired over 11 million euros in funds from the nationwide EXIST program since 2007. The CAMPUSiDEEN competition, with prizes worth over 20,000 euros, rounds off each year. Since 2003, around 800 entries have been submitted. This makes CAMPUSiDEEN one of the most continuous competitions of its kind.
About UniTransfer:
The University of Bremen is aware of its responsibility in the community and involves society as a whole with its broad understanding of research-based knowledge and technology transfer. UniTransfer is the University of Bremen's central point of contact between academia, business, and society. The experts at the knowledge and technology transfer office support collaborations and projects across the entire spectrum of university subjects. This ranges from business start-ups, the commercialization of inventions, the referral of specialists and managers or science communication services, to the coordination of school projects and the management of the University Foundation and university fundraising.
Further Information:
https://www.gruendungsradar.de/ (in German only)
https://bridge-online.de/en/
https://www.uni-bremen.de/transfer
Contact:
Anne-Kathrin Guder
Head of UniTransfer
University of Bremen
Phone: +49-0421-218-60330
Email: anne-kathrin.guderprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Meike Goos
Managing Director at BRIDGE
UniTransfer
University of Bremen
Phone: +49-0421-218-60346
Email: meike.goosprotect me ?!vw.uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
