Startup Campus Alliance: Innovation boost for Saxony's startup scene!

Startup Campus Alliance: Innovation boost for Saxony's startup scene!

On April 9, 2025, the “Startup Campus Alliance” was launched at the University of Leipzig with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship in Saxony and Thuringia. Founding members are eight Saxon and two Thuringian universities, including the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, the Technical University of Dresden and the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena. This initiative, like mynewsdesk reports, aims to establish Saxony and Thuringia as a leading deep tech start-up region in Germany.

The terms “Deep Tech” refer to technologies based on significant scientific or technical innovations. Professor Utz Dornberger, who was elected chairman of the alliance, explains that the strategic combination of the strengths of universities in this region is crucial for supporting start-ups. The alliance plans to create synergies through shared teaching formats and interdisciplinary collaboration to support talent and teams looking to start a business.

Common goals and measures

One of the main concerns of the Startup Campus Alliance is to make successes in the area of ​​university spin-offs visible. In 2023, almost 100 startups were successfully founded in Saxony, of which more than 60 emerged from universities and research institutions. The non-profit association serves as a coordinating platform for this start-up support and will also act as a joint interest group in the Business Opportunities Ost (boOst) Ecosystem gGmbH, which will also be founded parallel to the alliance.

Professor Dr. Tobias Dauth from HHL sees the alliance as a source of inspiration for innovative strength in Central Germany. HHL brings more than 15 years of experience in startup funding, supported by programs such as the “Leipzig Summer School for Diverse Startups” and the HHL Founders Initiative. The University of Leipzig will also contribute significantly to the alliance through its expertise in the area of ​​start-up qualification and support. There are also already discussions with private investors, including savings banks in Saxony and the SpinLab in Leipzig, to support innovative start-ups.

Importance for the region

With their joint efforts, the participating universities want to increase the public perception of Saxony and Thuringia as first-class locations for startups. The “Startup Campus Alliance” is thus positioning itself as a key initiative that not only strengthens the region’s innovation landscape, but also promotes economic development through entrepreneurship and technological innovation.

The next steps of the alliance include an application by boOst gGmbH for support in the “Startup Factories” competition of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in order to further promote knowledge-based spin-offs and thus sustainably revitalize the start-up culture in Saxony and Thuringia.