HHL DIGITAL SPACE: Leipzig’s startup hub on the road to success!

HHL DIGITAL SPACE: Leipzig’s startup hub on the road to success!

On March 9, 2025, the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management reached a significant milestone with its early-stage incubator HHL DIGITAL SPACE. The incubator secured a place among the 150 leading startup hubs in Europe in the “Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs 2025” ranking published by the Financial Times and Statista. HHL DIGITAL SPACE occupies 19th place in a Germany-wide comparison and is particularly noteworthy in the technology sector with 4th place among German start-up centers. This award is the second in a row for the incubator, which was once again included in the list of leading startup hubs from 38 countries this year.

The assessment leading to placement is comprehensive and based on 85 percent feedback from alumni, assessing the quality of mentoring, business development, infrastructure, legal assistance, and funding and networking opportunities. In addition, the track record of the funded startups counts for 10 percent of the evaluation, while recommendations from experts account for an additional 5 percent. The HHL DIGITAL SPACE not only offers founders a twelve-week incubation program, but also workshops and individual support to accompany startups from idea generation to market readiness.

Support for founders

HHL's incubator promotes the entrepreneurial spirit through a broad network of successful founders and investors. Apart from direct support, HHL DIGITAL SPACE offers connections to partner institutions in Germany and internationally. Founders have access to current research results that are particularly important for the incubation program. An additional advantage is support in contacting successful founders or experts. This often takes the form of coaching, mentoring or as a potential investor and business partner.

Another highlight of the initiative is the co-organization of the “Leipzig Summer School for Diverse Startups”, which aims to promote underrepresented founders. In addition, HHL DIGITAL SPACE hosts “Stage Two”, Europe’s largest university startup competition, to create financing opportunities for emerging companies. The offer is supplemented by a new “Entrepreneurship seminar series”, which conveys central topics about starting a business online, free of charge and in a practical manner.

Events and networking

The HHL DIGITAL SPACE also offers other events such as the HHL Entrepreneur Day, Money4Founders and the summer BOOTcamp. These events are part of the comprehensive incubation program, which is based on scientific findings and promotes creative freedom for the development of marketable solutions.

As the article on t3n.de highlights, the number of accelerators and incubators in Germany has grown significantly in recent years. This is done primarily through the support of large companies, although some programs have had to be discontinued or narrowed due to strategic adjustments. Among the incubators, HHL DIGITAL SPACE speaks for itself: Only 15 percent of the hubs are pure incubators, and HHL DIGITAL SPACE is among the top 23 in this category.

In summary, it shows that HHL DIGITAL SPACE is not only an important player within the German startup world, but also acts as a pioneer in the further training and support of entrepreneurial talent.

For further information on this topic you can refer to the sources: mynewsdesk.com, hhl-digital.space, and t3n.de.