GründES! Centre for Entrepreneurship der Hochschule Esslingen

What GründES! Centre for Entrepreneurship der Hochschule Esslingen does

GründES! is the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule Esslingen, a public university of applied sciences in Esslingen am Neckar, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It serves as the university's central point of contact for entrepreneurship and innovation, targeting current students, alumni, university staff, and both university-affiliated and external start-ups. The center delivers a full-stack entrepreneurship offering: physical infrastructure including the MakerSpacES! prototyping workshop, a co-working space for founding teams, and the GründES! Büro consultation office; personalized coaching from a team of approximately six start-up coaches plus a laboratory engineer; structured workshops (Mindset Engineering, Prototyping mit KI, Unternehmertum light); a podcast series; and facilitated access to German federal funding programs including EXIST, Junge Innovation, and Kickstart. The center accompanies more than 15 start-up foundations per year from idea to implementation and operates a network of over 50 regional, national, and international partners.

The business model is non-commercial and entirely publicly funded. GründES! does not generate revenue; all services are provided free of charge to its user base. Operating funds flow from Hochschule Esslingen (a state university of Baden-Württemberg) and from federal/EU programs including BMWK, EXIST, ESF, and BMFTR. Distribution is hybrid: on-site at the Esslingen campus, online via Eventbrite for workshop registration, and through community channels spanning Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Spotify podcast, and an email newsletter. Customer segments are predominantly a single institutional pool — the Hochschule Esslingen community — with a secondary, smaller segment of external start-ups and partner companies accessing the center's mentorship and funding navigation services.

Name

GründES! Centre for Entrepreneurship der Hochschule Esslingen

Legal name

GründES! Centre for Entrepreneurship der Hochschule Esslingen

Website

https://gruendes.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

GründES! is the entrepreneurship center of Hochschule Esslingen, providing free coaching, prototyping facilities, co-working space, workshops, and federal funding program access to students, alumni, staff, and external start-ups in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

University Entrepreneurship Support

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Makerspaces & Fab Labs (Open Build Studios) (EDAMADAC), Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Small Business & Entrepreneurship Community Education (EDAAAFAK)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Startup coaching
• Prototyping workshops
• Co-working space
• Funding program access

Headquarters

HQ city

Esslingen am Neckar

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Institutional Funding (University & Government): As an entrepreneurship center of Hochschule Esslingen, GründES! operates with institutional funding from the university and government funding programs including EXIST, Junge Innovation, and Kickstart. Services are provided free of charge to students, alumni, and start-ups.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

GründES! is the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule Esslingen, providing free entrepreneurship support services to students, alumni, university staff, and external start-ups. Core offerings include the MakerSpacES! prototyping workshop, a co-working space for founding teams, one-on-one startup coaching, structured workshops (Mindset Engineering, Prototyping mit KI, Unternehmertum light), a podcast series, and facilitated access to government funding programs such as EXIST, Junge Innovatoren, and Kickstart.

Product overview

GründES! is the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule Esslingen, functioning as a comprehensive entrepreneurship support ecosystem. The offering consists of physical infrastructure (MakerSpacES! prototyping workshop, Co-Working Space, and GründES! Büro consultation office), personalized coaching services delivered by a team of six startup coaches, structured workshops and programs (Mindset Engineering, AI Prototyping, Entrepreneurship Light), podcast content, and multiple funding programs (EXIST, Junge Innovatoren, Kickstart). The center accompanies over 15 startups per year from initial idea through to business formation, serving students, employees, alumni, startups, and external parties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MakerSpacES!: Ideas and prototype workshop where users can build prototypes, try out new technologies, and practically implement their concepts.
• GründES!-Podcast

Products and services

• MakerSpacES! Ideen & Prototypenwerkstatt Physical ideas and prototype workshop equipped with tools and equipment where founding teams can build prototypes, experiment with new technologies, and practically implement startup concepts. Available to students, alumni, university staff, and external start-ups.
• Co-Working Space Dedicated workspace for founding teams offering space for concentrated work, collaboration, exchange, and team meetings in an inspiring environment. Free for university-affiliated and external startup teams.
• Start-up Coaching & Beratung One-on-one personalized coaching and consulting provided by startup coaches and project managers, including free initial consultation sessions, guidance from first idea through to business formation, and support with funding programs.
• Mindset Engineering Workshop Workshop focused on developing a strong entrepreneurial mindset, teaching clear thinking and decisive action. Part of the Wintersemester 2026/2027 program offerings at GründES!.
• Prototyping mit KI Workshop Workshop focused on prototyping with AI technologies, teaching participants how to move from idea to first design using AI tools. Part of the Wintersemester 2026/2027 program offerings at GründES!.
• Unternehmertum light Workshop Lightweight entrepreneurship workshop covering fundamental business creation concepts. Part of the Wintersemester 2026/2027 workshop offerings at GründES!.
• GründES! Podcast Podcast series featuring conversations with founders, experts, and thought leaders from business, science, and the startup scene, covering founding experiences, innovative projects, and funding opportunities.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 50+ Partner NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrong network of over 50 partners including regional, national, and international partners spanning start-ups, experts, and business representatives who contribute to the entrepreneurship ecosystem through mentoring, collaboration, and knowledge transfer.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• RWTH Aachen Entrepreneurship Center: RWTH Aachen's entrepreneurship hub offering startup coaching, prototyping facilities, EXIST funding facilitation, and partner network integration—comparable in mission and workshop/coaching format to GründES!.
• Startup Center der Universität Stuttgart: University of Stuttgart's entrepreneurship center supporting founders with coaching, workshops, and access to funding programs—a regional peer in Baden-Württemberg with similar EXIST-aligned offerings.
• KIT Startup (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology): University-based entrepreneurship and innovation center at KIT providing coaching, MakerSpace-equivalent labs, EXIST funding support, and acceleration programs—closest peer in German university entrepreneurship landscape.
• Strathclyde Centre for Entrepreneurship (SCE - Hochschule München): Centre for Entrepreneurship at Hochschule München offering coaching, workshops,.incubation programmes, and a maker lab—closely comparable structure and target audience to GründES!.

Others

• Science4Life e.V. German startup accelerator and competition framework for science-based founders, providing workshops, coaching, and networking—comparable in mission to university-rooted entrepreneurship support but operating as a national program.
• EXIST Programme (BMWK): Federal German funding program that GründES! channels to its start-ups—relevant peer in the sense that EXIST is both a funding source and a network of university entrepreneurship centers participating in the same program.

Regional players

• Berlin Startup School at HTW Berlin: University-based entrepreneurship program at HTW Berlin offering workshops, coaching, and start-up support—comparable university entrepreneurship program but serving a different regional market.
• Werkstattgründerszene (Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart): Stuttgart-area university entrepreneurship initiatives serving a similar regional founder pool in Baden-Württemberg, comparable in student/alumni-focused entrepreneur support.

Broad incumbents

• Founders Foundation (Bielefeld): German non-university startup program offering pre-seed acceleration, founder education, and a corporate partner network—comparable in mission to expand German entrepreneurship but operates independently rather than within a university.
• UnternehmerTUM (TUM Entrepreneurship Center): Centre for Entrepreneurship at Technical University of Munich offering MakerSpace, workshops, coaching, and incubation—directly comparable university-embedded entrepreneurship center but at much larger scale and with stronger venture outcomes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC9s_zbEFqUtWacFFZGBxrtA?view_as=subscriber
• Facebookfacebook.com/Gr%C3%BCndES-Hochschule-Esslingen-102976784523721/?view_public_for=102976784523721
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gruendes-university-of-applied-sciences
• Instagraminstagram.com/gruend.es

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about GründES! Centre for Entrepreneurship der Hochschule Esslingen