A quarter of a century full of innovation and startup spirit: the dresden|exists startup service has been supporting people interested in founding a company from Dresden's universities and research institutions since 1999. dresden|exists celebrated the 25th anniversary of the network with an anniversary event in December, 2024. 150 companions, former start-up teams and stakeholders from the regional start-up ecosystem came together to look back on innovative ideas and business models as well as exciting events.

Originally launched at TU Dresden and HTW Dresden, the Startup Service now supports startup enthusiasts from eight scientific institutions in Dresden and Eastern Saxony. Together, they pool their resources in start-up support. The start-up teams in particular benefit from the synergies: they receive a broad-based advisory team, specialized qualification offers and a strong network.

After 25 years of start-up support, the joint start-up service has an impressive track record: The advisory team has supported more than 3,500 start-up ideas, from which over 700 start-ups have emerged. With 145 successful funding applications for the federal EXIST program and other start-up funding, the team was also able to raise more than 75 million euros for projects in the pre-start-up phase.

© Justus Iserhagen & Jonas Kellert

Dr. Frank Pankotsch, Head of the network and Managing Coordinator at the TUD Center of Excellence for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship (TUD|excite): "The past 25 years show impressively how important it is to join forces and actively support start-up activity from science together. This has resulted in companies such as Novaled, Tracetronic and watttron, which not only create jobs, but also contribute to technology transfer and the development of the region. We are proud of the contribution we have been able to make as dresden|exists."

Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Dulig: "I am optimistic that we are seeing an increase in start-ups in Saxony. In 2023, 35% more start-ups were launched than in the previous year. This is a strong development against the nationwide trend of falling start-up figures, which also shows that founders find good support here. The start-up initiative dresden|exists is setting a good example here. I congratulate the network on 25 years of start-up spirit and wish everyone involved many more innovative ideas."

Dietrich Hoffmann, responsible at Projektträger Jülich for the EXIST program of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs an Climate Action: "The start-up network dresden|exists is one of the most successful and oldest start-up networks in Germany. As the initiator, TU Dresden has succeeded in bringing together all universities and non-university research institutions within dresden|exists to form a joint regional start-up ecosystem. The figures speak for themselves. Alongside TU Munich, TU Dresden is the university with the most successful deep tech spin-offs that have received funding via the EXIST research transfer program."

Prof. Dr. Marius Brade, Vice-Rector Research, Development and Transfer, Dresden University of Applied Sciences: "I was made aware of my own spin-off from research through the advice of dresden|exists. I am particularly pleased to be able to use this biography as part of my many years of experience to support the network in raising awareness among students and university staff. We see enormous social potential for start-ups, especially in application-oriented research, and will therefore continue to be involved in the future."

Background:

In 1999, dresden|exists started as one of five model regions of the federal program "EXIST - Existenzgründer aus Hochschulen" with the first courses at TU Dresden and HTW Dresden. From 2006, cooperation with Dresden research institutions such as the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, the Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden followed. In 2019, the network grew to include three more universities: FHD - University of Applied Science, Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden and Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences.

Contact:

Frauke Posselt
TUD|excite, Communication Startup-Service dresden|exists
Phone +49 351 463-39204
E-mail:
www.dresden-exists.de