Saar-Uni: Germany's second best university for founders!

Saar-Uni: Germany's second best university for founders!

Saarland University has achieved remarkable results in the Founding Radar 2025 of the Donors' Association for German Science. With a second place among large universities, the university confirms its position as a pioneer in supporting start-ups in Germany. Loud uni-saarland.de Various criteria were used for the evaluation, including anchoring the start-up, raising awareness and qualification, support and promotion of action, monitoring and networking.

The overall ranking includes 48 large universities among the 191 participants. The university president Prof. Dr. Ludger Santen emphasizes how important collaboration between science and business is. The aim is to further develop into a so-called “Entrepreneurial University”, which focuses even more on start-up skills.

Strengthening the startup ecosystem

Particularly noteworthy is the role of the Triathlon institution, which has systematically supported scientific start-ups since 1995. Ralf Zastrau, Managing Director of Triathlon, emphasizes how important the start-up activities are for the economic region. In 2023, all support offers were bundled in the central facility “Triathlon – Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transfer”. In the past decades, over 550 companies have been founded with around 4,000 jobs.

On average, the triathlon team supports 120 start-up projects every year, resulting in around 30 start-ups. A decisive factor for this success is Saarland's financial investments in the start-up and innovation landscape, as Minister Jürgen Barke confirms. These investments are necessary to promote the attractiveness and growth of start-ups.

Trends in the university start-up landscape

The analysis of the Starting base shows that universities in cities like Munich, Bayreuth and Leipzig are also increasingly supporting start-ups. A total of 2,927 new college-based businesses were created in 2023, an increase compared to 2,779 in 2021. Particularly large universities such as the Technical University of Munich, the Munich University of Applied Sciences and the Saarland University stand out in this regard.

Universities are a central part of the start-up and innovation ecosystem in Germany. However, financing remains a challenge, as 77% of the start-up funding budget comes from third-party funds. In addition, 70% of universities see the systematic recording of start-up activities as difficult.

EXIST program and its effects

The EXIST program, which was launched 25 years ago, has also contributed to strengthening the start-up culture at German universities. The initiative aims to promote technology-oriented and knowledge-based spin-offs and has launched numerous start-ups over the years. Under sce.de It is emphasized that the program has also been adapted to the changing needs of the start-up scene.

The first successes of the EXIST program were already visible in the late 1990s, when hundreds of ideas were submitted in the first competition. Since then, the program, described as a “learning program” by Fraunhofer ISI, has continuously developed its structure and content.

Overall, the interaction between universities, funding programs and economic developments is effective in sustainably strengthening and expanding the start-up culture in Germany.