The start-up factory

FAU and ZOLLHOF have good chances of becoming one of the “Startup Factories” in the competition run by the German government. In our interview, Kathrin Möslein and Benjamin Bauer explain their concept and how they plan to make the leap from incubator to ZOHO Factory.

Mr. Bauer, can you tell us a little about the competition?

Bauer: The “Startup Factories” are a national initiative launched by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs aimed at establishing start-up hubs linked to universities yet managed in an entrepreneurial way. The competition is offered in addition to the Exist funding line, that has been supporting start-ups from academia for the last 25 years. With the Startup Factories, political stakeholders hope to establish entrepreneurial beacons in Germany, giving Germany a competitive edge over other start-up nations.

Ms. Möslein, as Vicepresident at FAU, you share responsibility for start-ups. Why is the University taking part in this competition together with ZOLLHOF?

Möslein: The answer is clear: We can and we must encourage more startups from academia. If we look at the start-up scene in the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, there already is an impressive range of start-ups, but there is definitely potential for more. Especially deep-tech start-ups. There are huge opportunities in this area, especially as our FAU is regularly ranked among the most innovative universities in the world. A Startup Factory for the whole of Northern Bavaria with close ties to the university offers enormous potential for the whole innovation ecosystem.

“We can and we must encourage more startups from academia. The potential is enormous.”

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Möslein

What exactly do you mean by an ecosystem in this context?

Möslein: We are all familiar with ecosystems in nature. A coral reef or your garden at home may spring to mind. Innovation ecosystems in which academia, the economy, society and politics work hand in hand to drive innovation follow the same concept. Such ecosystems are already extremely successful in Bavaria. Our region is known as the patent metropolis of Europe, and is well known for successful innovation ranging from inventions to world market leaders. The fact that people often think of clever minds from Franconia in the context of innovation is not down to individual politicians, managers or researchers, but rather the interaction between many different team players. In this system, FAU acts as a driver of innovation. It is the source of great research results, it creates an innovation-friendly environment and takes the interests of many different stakeholders into account. In other words: FAU is great, but what makes it especially great is its cooperation with its partners.

From over four hundred prospective candidates, 15 applications successfully made it past the second last obstacle in the competition. FAU and ZOLLHOF included, the only finalists from Bavaria. How did you convince the jury?

Bauer: First of all, our reputation probably played a role. ZOLLHOF does not only exist on paper, it has been working very successfully as a start-up incubator for six years now. In this time, we have successfully accompanied more than one hundred start-ups, of which approximately 70 percent are still on the market – throughout Germany the quota is considerably less than 20 percent. Women are involved in half of all our start-ups, that is also a unique feature. The Financial Times currently ranks us as number four of the most successful German start-up hubs. Last but not least, it is certainly also due to the private capital that we have been able to acquire in the last six months. However, we have of course also scored with our concept for the competition that we drafted together at FAU.

Could you explain your concept to us?

Möslein: The concept covers three pillars: Firstly, we would like to support many more academics to become entrepreneurs. One way to do so involves awarding scholarships. Secondly, we want to give start-up teams the opportunity to use the technical structure of FAU and its partners for building prototypes. And thirdly, we are striving to establish a sustainable Franconian start-up fund to which successful entrepreneurs from Northern Franconia can contribute.

The German government is prepared to offer ten million euros for your project – provided you provide the same sum yourself as well. How do you intend to do that?

Bauer: We have proactively approached Franconian companies and their owners. And not only those who have been supporting us for years already, but also many with which we are not yet cooperating. Several of them have connections to FAU, either as they are alumni themselves or their children are studying here. I think we have brought good arguments and made a convincing case for the advantages of a financial contribution. We are currently aware of momentum gathering in the region – things are on the move.

What are the advantages of making a contribution?

Möslein: That takes me back to the ecosystem. Competition in academia and the economy does not mean that one takes something away from the other. Quite the contrary: This sparks innovations that benefit everyone. Why should start-ups not offer products or services from which established companies can benefit? And even “failure” can be an opportunity, although that is not a very widespread mindset in Germany. People who have received an academic education and obtained experience in entrepreneurship are highly sought after on the labor market, even if their first idea for a start-up may not have gone as successfully as they had hoped.

What are the plans for the future?

Bauer: We are continuing to campaign for private funds for this important initiative in Bavaria. We are also approaching foundations in the region. We have to present our final concept by February 2025. We are currently working very intensively on that. As the only competitor from Bavaria still left in the running, the initiative is linking institutes of higher education, associations, foundations, companies and innovators for the common goal: Together we want to become the start-up hub for Northern Bavaria.

And if it doesn’t work out?

Bauer: Even then, we will still need all the support we can get! The ZOHO Factory must go ahead, it is the entrepreneurial opportunity for Northern Bavaria. Strength in innovation, collaboration and stamina are the most important ingredients for success.

Author: Matthias Münch

This article is part of the FAU magazine

Innovation, diversity and passion: Those are the three guiding principles of our FAU, as stated in our mission statement. At FAU, we live these guiding principles every day in all that we do – in research, in teaching and when it comes to sharing the knowledge created at our university with society.

This, the second issue of our FAU magazine, underlines all of the above: It shows researchers who tirelessly keep pushing the boundaries of what has been believed to be possible. It introduces students who work together to achieve outstanding results for their FAU, talks about teaching staff who pass on their knowledge with infectious enthusiasm and creativity. And it reports back on members of staff with foresight and a talent for getting to the crux of the matter who are dedicated to improving the (research) infrastructure at FAU as well as people in key positions who are there for their university and are committed to its research location.