Successful program: Since the program's launch in 2007, around 1,800 founders have been supported in their first steps toward establishing their own startup with an EXIST start-up grant from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.
This was reported by the digital association Bitkom, citing figures from the ministry. This means that more than half of the approximately 3,300 applications were approved.
"EXIST is an important component of startup financing in Germany and a successful model. With the help of the start-up grants, we have succeeded in paving the way for young entrepreneurs to start their own companies after university,"
is Bitkom President Achim Berg secure.
Startup funding: Taking it up a notch
In the coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD agreed that “to continue successful programs such as EXISTHowever, the EXIST start-up culture part of the program will expire in mid-2018, and concrete measures for its continuation are still lacking.
“We should not only continue the EXIST start-up grants, but rather step up our support for startups,”
demanded Berg. He continued:
"This absolutely includes providing sufficient resources to make the launch as easy as possible for anyone who wants to spin off a university startup. It's also about transforming future technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, or 3D printing, where we are at the forefront of research, into promising ventures."
Bavaria at the top of EXIST
Over the past eleven years, Bavaria has received the most start-up grants, supporting 358 founders. It is followed by Berlin (292), North Rhine-Westphalia (266), and Baden-Württemberg (201). Saxony, the first eastern German state, ranks fifth (132), with Brandenburg and Hesse following closely behind (91 grants each). This is followed by Bremen (29), Saarland (19), and Schleswig-Holstein (13).
The EXIST start-up scholarship is a funding program of the BMWi and has been supporting students, graduates and scientists from universities and research institutions with their start-up ideas since 2007.
