Start-up scene: "New clock" for Europe's start-ups

“The Munich start-up forge UnternehmerTUM has formed an alliance with other European centers. The goal: Successful examples such as Flix Mobility, Northvolt and IQM should not remain isolated cases.

The goal is clear: start-ups in Europe should catch up with those in America and China. To this end, the local culture of innovation should be strengthened. To this end, the Munich start-up company UnternehmerTUM has now joined forces with 20 other start-up centers from 14 European countries to form the “Rise Europe” association.

A good 20 participants, including from the University of Oxford and ETH Zurich, recently came together at Schloss Elmau for a seminar lasting several days at the invitation of the UnternehmerTUM start-up center, which is closely linked to the Technical University of Munich and the state capital. Many of the start-up forges from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain already knew each other, but had not previously worked together. The exchange should now go faster through the alliance.

Potential not yet exhausted

"There are already great examples of start-ups that have become the market leader in Europe," said Helmut Schönenberger, founder and CEO of UnternehmerTUM, in an interview with the F.A.Z. He names the German bus and train travel provider Flix Mobility, the battery manufacturer Northvolt and the quantum computing specialist IQM. In the future, however, these should no longer be isolated cases. "We have the potential to multiply that number, but we haven't realized it yet," he said.

The participating start-up centers already count more than 2000 start-ups, which collected almost 7 billion euros in funding last year. 

From the point of view of Schönenberger and his team, these young companies represent significant economic potential that needs to be supported. With Rise Europe, Europe now has a "new pacesetter," said Schönenberger. 

According to the initiators, it is not about getting funding, but much more about increasing the visibility of Europe's start-ups and creating a better environment for them.

Promote market entry in other European countries

In the future, for example, it should be easier for young founders to enter the market in other European countries and grow faster. 

The idea of networking female founders in particular is also good, after all there is a lack of them everywhere.

 In addition, the centers want to learn more from each other when it comes to training for founders. In addition, the exchange of specialists is to be promoted and access to capital and customers improved. In the future, the partners want to create an annual overview of the most important of their start-ups and then give them special support.

The UnternehmerTUM start-up center, which is backed by BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, started in 2002 with just two employees. The start-up forge now employs around 400. In the meantime, around 550 companies have emerged from it, also because in and around Munich it has developed an ecosystem of science, family businesses, corporations and young founders over the past two decades.”