SRH University achieves top position in EXIST start-up grant programme

SRH University is one of the most successful universities in Germany in the EXIST start-up grant programme in 2025: in terms of approved funding, it ranks third among all grant recipients nationwide with 1.15 million euros. "In comparison with large state universities and colleges, this result is particularly remarkable, especially as SRH University is the only private university to make it into the top 10," says a delighted Prof Bernhard Küppers, Head of SRH Gründer-Institut.

With 8 out of a total of 217 approved applications, around four per cent of the EXIST funding approved nationwide went to start-up teams from the SRH University environment. The EXIST Start-up Grant (EXIST-Gründungsstipendium) of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) is co-financed by the European Social Fund (ESF) and supports students, graduates and researchers preparing innovative, technology-based or knowledge-driven start-ups.

Focus on smart solutions and future technologies

A particular focus of the start-up projects funded at SRH University in 2025 is on smart solutions. These include digital business models and products using artificial intelligence, data-driven technologies, gamification approaches and knowledge-based services with which the start-up teams address key challenges in business and society.

GEQUMA, for example, offers digital and AI-supported solutions for occupational health management that enable small and medium-sized enterprises to implement health and safety measures efficiently and with legal certainty, while Sonora provides an ultrasound system with AI assistance that supports doctors in breast cancer screening.

SRH University as a strong driver of innovation

This success underlines SRH University's role as an active driver of entrepreneurship and innovation in Germany. As a private university, it combines academic excellence with a strong practical and start-up orientation based on the CORE principle (Competence-oriented Research and Education), which prepares students specifically for the requirements of the labour market of the future, in which entrepreneurial thinking and action is a central key competence. The aim is to promote innovative ideas at an early stage and provide start-up teams with targeted support until they enter the market.

"The fact that we are ranked third nationwide in the EXIST start-up grant programme confirms our approach: we think university in a consistently entrepreneurial way. Our students and researchers develop solutions with real added value - technologically sophisticated, economically viable and socially relevant," says Prof Bernhard Küppers.

The SRH Gründer-Institut has been active in the field of business start-ups since 2010, whether in teaching, project support or networking. A key success factor here is the close and continuous cooperation with medium-sized companies, which are involved in start-up projects as practice partners, pilot customers and initiators. Students, alumni and employees are actively advised and supported in turning their ideas into profitable and sustainable business concepts. This is one of the reasons why Heidelberg has once again made it into the top 10 for the number of start-ups per capita in the latest "startupdetector" ranking.