What exactly is a start-up?
Professor Dr. Günter M. Ziegler, spokesperson Berlin University Alliance and president Freie Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Günter M. Ziegler
Image Credit: Michael Zalewski / Berlin University Alliance
“To ensure lasting prosperity and cohesion in our society in times of global conflicts and the climate crisis, the energy transition and the transformation to a circular economy must succeed." Excellent research makes a crucial contribution to this. By way of the establishment of the Innovate!Lab of the Berlin University Alliance, we are bundling the most innovative research results of the Excellence Alliance for the transfer to sustainable materials and technologies. Participation in UNITE Science means the partners are intensifying their collaboration with innovation-driving companies in the capital region and creating a dynamic ecosystem for science-based start-ups. These milestones once again underscore the fact that every euro invested in excellent research strengthens Berlin as a location for knowledge and innovation,” says Professor Dr. Günter M. Ziegler, spokesperson for the Berlin University Alliance and president of Freie Universität Berlin.
Dr. Alexandra-Gwyn Paetz, Managing Director of the Berlin University Alliance
Alexandra-Gwyn Paetz
Image Credit: Michael Zalewski
“The impact of first-class research, embedded in Berlin’s unique ecosystem, is increasingly visible, tangible and effective.” In conjunction with our partners, we are shaping Berlin as an internationally embedded location for knowledge and innovation,” says Dr. Alexandra-Gwyn Paetz, managing director of the Berlin University Alliance since 2022. “Accordingly, establishing our first subsidiary is a further milestone in the Excellence Alliance’s mission. As our innovation platform, innovate! lab has a clear mission: apply the findings of first-class research to help solve the major transformations of our time. Thanks to the support of the Joachim Herz Foundation during the start-up phase, we can initially focus on the development of sustainable materials and technologies. The agile organizational structure and underlying business model are designed to render innovate! lab economically self-sustaining in the medium term,” says Paetz.
“We realized that we can achieve even more together”
Volker Hofmann
Image Credit: Wolfgang Siesing
Volker Hofmann is a member of the management team of Science & Start-ups, the network of start-up services in the Berlin University Alliance. In the interview, Hofmann explains what makes start-up funding in the Excellence Alliance so special.
Mr. Hofmann, Science & Start-ups has been recognized by the Financial Times, Statista and Sifted as one of Europe's leading start-up hubs in 2025 – that’s a great success! What does this recognition mean to you personally and to the Joint Start-up Service of the BUA partners?
The award recognizes the innovative strength of our spin-offs, our students, researchers and alumni! The incredible Science & Start-ups team deserves recognition for rendering excellent services for founders, at all times aimed at becoming even better. For me personally, the award is personal confirmation that we are on the right track with our “Better together” strategy.
What makes Science & Start-ups so special compared to other start-up services?
A joint start-up service for three of the most entrepreneurial universities in Germany is a real first. It is remarkable that this vision emerged from the individual start-up services. We have realized that we can achieve even more together and as a result, we are also more competitive, nationally and internationally. According to the current ranking, we are ranked first in Berlin, sixth in Germany and nineteenth in Europe. What is important here is that this applies to all start-up hubs, not just those with a scientific focus! Of course, we now also want to be among the top 10 in Europe.
What are your most important support instruments?
We tailor our offers to the needs of our target groups and the progress made in the start-up process. We offer the full spectrum of services, from activating and training entrepreneurial talent, to supporting the development and financing of the business model, providing co-working spaces and labs, to networking with investors and initial support for internationalization. All phases are accompanied by start-up consultants, coaches and mentors who provide intensive support to the teams. In recent years, we have also increasingly built up topic-related support structures, such as the Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Center (K.I.E.Z.), the largest German accelerator for AI start-ups from the scientific community. We are also placing a greater focus on the digitalization of our services. By way of match’em, for example, we have created a cross-university digital platform to facilitate the search for co-founders, among other things.
What do successful start-ups bring to universities and the capital region?
Our start-ups are one of the city’s economic drivers. They create new, future-proof jobs and increase tax revenues. For example, one study calculated that for the EXIST start-up grant, one of our most important funding programs, almost six euros of additional value are generated for every euro invested. It is important that the added value from start-ups is reinvested in research and teaching. Because strong universities are the basis for a vibrant start-up scene. In addition to the economic effects for Berlin, spin-offs also benefit the universities themselves. This includes career opportunities for graduates, who are enthusiastic about our start-ups early on through internships in our start-ups. Over time, many start-ups also grow into research partners. And finally, spin-offs also offer real added value for science communication: while as universities, on occasion we face the challenge of reaching the general public with topics in basic research, which our start-ups find much easier. After all, they develop solutions for specific everyday problems based on science. One example is the Aaron.AI start-up, which helps to arrange doctor’s appointments.
How is Science & Start-ups financed?
In the early phases of establishment, in the area of entrepreneurial activation and training, funding usually comes from the public sector, i.e. the universities themselves or state and federal funds. In the later phases, especially the start-up, companies and investors also make a greater financial contribution. One example of this is the annual Berliner Sparkasse Start-Up Prize.
What is your most important advice to students and researchers who want to start a business?
Unrestrained networking and 15-minute initial consultation can be booked directly with us: www.science-start-ups.berlin/kontakt.
“Get2Germany – Digital support for the professional recognition of foreign health professionals
The founding team of Get2Germany: Johanna Engelhardt, Dr. med. René Rheimann and Pasha Alidadi (from left to right)
Image Credit: Pia Schnarkowski
The German healthcare system will face a shortage of about 1.8 million skilled workers by 2035. At the same time, many qualified doctors and nurses from abroad are currently failing due to the hurdles of a fragmented and lengthy recognition process. The consequences: frustrated talent and an increasingly strained supply situation in Germany. The start-up Get2Germany, funded by Science & Start-ups, the Berlin University Alliance’s start-up service, wants to make it much easier for international health professionals to integrate in Germany. The start-up is developing a platform that digitally maps the professional recognition process for foreign professionals in Germany – from the first orientation step to integration in the German labor market.
In addition to medical professionals, Get2Germany also offers potential employers such as doctors’ clinics, hospitals and care facilities the opportunity to provide more efficient support to their future employees. To achieve this, the platform combines support services, such as automated document verification, translation services, targeted exam preparation and community elements.
The founding team consists of Dr. med. René Rheimann (CEO, studied medicine at the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the joint medical faculty of the Free University of Berlin and Humboldt University Berlin), Johanna Engelhardt (CSO, completed her Master of Business Marketing at the Free University Berlin) and Pasha Alidadi (CTO, contributes technological expertise as a business information scientist with a master’s degree from the Technical University of Berlin.
Get2Germany is currently in the product development and market entry phase. Pilot users and important partnerships have been established. “Science & Start-ups provided us with crucial support as part of the Berlin Start-up Scholarship – through financing, mentoring and a strong network,” says Dr. med. René Rheimann, CEO of Get2Germany. The exchange in the “Healthcare x Prevention” cluster, which is part of Science & Start-ups at Freie Universität Berlin, was particularly important.
Laura Möller: UNITE for Start-ups
Laura Möller
Image Credit: K.I.E.Z. / Viktor Strasse
Laura Möller is the director of K.I.E.Z., the Artificial Intelligence Entrepreneurship Center of Science & Start-ups, the network of start-up services of Berlin’s universities and the Charité - Universitätsmedizin. In addition, Laura Möller is leading the development of UNITE, the largest business incubator for science-based start-ups in Europe, which is currently being established in Berlin in a concentrated effort involving science, politics and business. “I am driven by the goal of transforming the immense potential of Berlin’s research institutions into successful start-ups,” says Möller about her two roles. As a former venture capital investor at Burda Principal Investments and IBB Ventures, Möller brings extensive expertise and an extensive network to her work for UNITE and K.I.E.Z. She increasingly focuses on the transfer of knowledge for AI and deep tech on growth, to establish Berlin as a permanent innovation location. The business graduate completed her master’s degree in European Studies at the Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin and the Technical University of Berlin. As an investor, Laura Möller was a member of several company advisory boards. In January 2024, she was appointed to the board of directors of KI Park and in November 2024 to the impact board of trustees of Ostwerk. Manager Magazin included her in its list of the 23 most important women in AI in Germany.
By way of UNITE, partners from business, society and science – including the partners of the Berlin University Alliance – are jointly offering internationally leading innovation and start-up services. A high degree of digitization ensures the resource-efficient mobilization of the entrepreneurial talents, innovation and start-up potential of the partners, efficient networking by ecosystem stakeholders and the data-driven further development of the center. Entrepreneurial structures enable speed, a willingness to take risks and the creation of space for development. In this context, internationality, diversity and corporate responsibility are drivers and success factors. This focuses on seven units: Talents, Education, Programs, Funding, Infrastructure, Marketing and Think Tank.
“I am driven by how we can accelerate innovation”
Prof. Dr. Søren Salomo
Image Credit: Christian Kielmann
Professor Dr. Søren Salomo heads the Department of Technology and Innovation Management at the Technical University of Berlin. He is investigating how innovations succeed – and as a university lecturer, he also likes to try out new things himself.
Mr. Salomo, how does one become an innovation researcher?
Anyone interested in how something new comes about and wonders why some innovations spread quickly while others do not at all will quickly come across explanations from the field of innovation management research. I am interested in innovation and technology management across the board. I am concerned with the question of how as a society we can ensure that innovative ideas are implemented as quickly and successfully as possible. Innovation researchers are actually almost all scientists who are looking for solutions to problems, because they are indeed already taking the first important step towards innovation. Innovation management is also interested in the parameters that determine whether new knowledge can be turned into a successful solution.
You and your team are investigating how companies can be innovative. What are the three most important innovation enablers?
There is no general answer to this question because, by definition, companies are always breaking new ground with innovation. However, it helps if companies create the conditions to deal productively with complexity and uncertainty. The first of these prerequisites is customer orientation: companies that are driven by the curiosity to understand their customers’ genuine needs will be more successful with innovations. The second prerequisite for successful innovation is technological expertise. Technology is becoming increasingly important in all areas of life. Those who know how to use technology in a targeted way to solve problems can surprise customers in a positive way. And finally, innovation requires freedom for employees. Innovation never works against employees, but at all times with and through them. The entrepreneurial art, then, is to create incentives for employees to commit themselves to innovation.
How do you teach entrepreneurial skills, such as project management?
Project management is more than just a business skill. Project management is important in many areas of life, for example in university studies and project management skills are particularly important for people who want to achieve success with innovation. This means that project management is just as important for engineers as mathematics. My team and I have, therefore, developed a “Serious Game” that simulates a “Real” project and in which students can acquire project management skills in a playful way.