Top 3 in the start-up radar 2025

Students and researchers who found a start-up at the University of Cologne are exceptionally well qualified and supported. This is the result of the Stifterverband's Start-up Radar 2025, the largest comparison of start-up support at German universities. The University of Cologne is ranked third in Germany among large universities with more than 15,000 students, tied with the Technical University of Munich.

The study confirms that we qualify and support start-ups particularly well. In addition, the University of Cologne has prominently anchored transfer and start-up support in its strategy and structures. This includes, for example, the establishment of a Vice-Rectorate for Transfer as well as the work of our subject-specific transfer scouts. These scouts examine research results for potential application and support scientists with start-up projects. We also occupy a leading position in networking with other universities, the start-up ecosystem and business partners.

While we already stood out in these areas in the last edition of the start-up radar two years ago, we have improved in particular in terms of start-up activities. The number of start-ups supported has increased steadily over the last few years, rising from 14 in 2020 to 38 in 2024. In addition, we have successfully supported founders in obtaining start-up grants and transfer funding such as ‘GO-Bio’.

‘We are particularly pleased that, as a non-technical comprehensive university, we are once again one of the most start-up-friendly universities in Germany. This confirms our approach of supporting spin-offs from the wide range of excellent research at the University of Cologne with specialised transfer scouts,’ says Marc Kley, our Managing Director.