garage33
garage33 is the publicly funded startup center of the University of Paderborn, providing free incubator and accelerator programs, coaching, and a 1,000 m² Maker Space to university-affiliated and regional entrepreneurs across Ostwestfalen-Lippe, connecting them to a 120+ investor angel network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersPaderborn, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What garage33 does
garage33 is the official startup center of the University of Paderborn (Universität Paderborn), operating from a 7,000 m² facility on Ausblick 1 in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, that opened in February 2024 under the TECUP brand. It runs a portfolio of free-of-charge programs for university members and regional entrepreneurs — including Find your Idea, Shape your Idea, the garage33 Incubator, the garage33 Accelerator, individual coaching, and curricular modules such as Prototype your PhD and Capstone Course — and connects founders to a 1,000 m² Maker Space with ten workshops covering IIoT, electronics, metal, wood, plastics, painting, CNC, laser cutting, 3D printing, robotics, and textiles. The organization operates an event-driven ecosystem including the moonshots & moneten summit, OWL Start-up Pitch, Call for Ideas, Meet the Start-ups, and Digital Investment Pitch, alongside the Business Angel Network OWL (BAN.OWL) which links startups to 120+ investors.
garage33 is not a commercial company but a publicly funded, university-governed institution with ~36 staff. Its economic base is grant funding rather than product or service revenue: ~20 million EUR from Land NRW for the Exzellenz Start-up Center OWL (ESC.OWL) covering 2019-2024, plus BMWK EXIST concept-phase funding for Factory33 in 2024. Sub-brands and projects include BAN.OWL (investor network, 2017), ESC.OWL (excellence-level startup center, 2019-2024), gr33nUP (impact entrepreneurship), Factory33 (a four-university B2B startup factory for industrial digital transformation involving Universität Paderborn, Bielefeld UAS, Universität Bielefeld, and TH OWL, with corporate partners someventure, Miele, GEA, and OEDIV), and the Start-up Campus OWL. Garage33 serves a long-tail of ~60 portfolio startups across logistics, healthcare, sustainability, manufacturing, and technology, with no commercial pricing and no app or API products.
garage33 firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- garage33
- Legal name
- Universität Paderborn
- Website
- https://tecup.de
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- garage33 is the publicly funded startup center of the University of Paderborn, providing free incubator and accelerator programs, coaching, and a 1,000 m² Maker Space to university-affiliated and regional entrepreneurs across Ostwestfalen-Lippe, connecting them to a 120+ investor angel network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
garage33 industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Startup Incubation Services
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (61171)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated) (FSANAAAM), Makerspaces & Fab Labs (Open Build Studios) (EDAMADAC)
Keywords
Where garage33 is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paderborn
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
garage33 business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Public Funding / Non-Commercial: garage33 operates as a publicly funded startup center under the University of Paderborn and TECUP. All programs and services are free of charge for participants. Funding sources include BMWK (EXIST program), MWIDE NRW, and other government initiatives.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Other | Free programs and services for all eligible participants |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
garage33 product offering
Product offeringCore offering
garage33 is the publicly funded startup center of the University of Paderborn, providing free Incubator and Accelerator programs, individual coaching, Maker Space prototyping access, and connection to the Business Angel Network OWL (BAN.OWL) for university members, founders, and regional entrepreneurs in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- BAN.OWL: Business Angel Network OWL - a network connecting investors with startups in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region, initiated in 2017.
- ESC.OWL
- gr33nUP
Products and services
- garage33 Incubator Structured incubator program for university members and founders that systematically prepares participants for their startup launch and first financing round. Provided free of charge to eligible participants.
- garage33 Accelerator Accelerator program supporting existing startups in scaling and growth. Provided free of charge to participants in the regional ecosystem.
- Maker Space Approximately 1,000 m² prototyping facility with ten workshops (IIoT, electronics, metal, wood, plastics, painting, CNC milling, laser cutters, 3D printers, robotics, fabric cutting) used by founders and researchers to build hardware prototypes. Provided free of charge to university members and startups.
- Business Angel Network OWL (BAN.OWL) Investor network initiated in 2017 by garage33 and Sparkasse Paderborn-Detmold-Höxter that connects regional startups with over 120 business angels and investors through events including Meet the Start-ups, Digital Investment Pitch, OWL Start-up Pitch, and moonshots & moneten.
- gr33nUP Impact entrepreneurship program supporting the sustainable transformation of business models. Project-led by Sumaya Islam at garage33.
- Gründungscoaching (Founding Coaching) Individual coaching sessions provided to university members and entrepreneurs to support their founding journey. Provided free of charge to participants.
- Find your Idea Workshop designed to help prospective founders identify and develop initial business ideas. Provided free of charge to participants.
- Shape your Idea Workshop for founders who have an initial idea and need support in shaping and validating it. Provided free of charge to participants.
- moonshots & moneten (Start-up Summit) Annual startup summit that brings together startups, investors, and ecosystem participants from the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region for visibility, pitching, and networking.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 60 startups supported in the regional ecosystem
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use garage33
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
garage33 technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
garage33 partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Paderborn Universitycoregarage33 is the startup center of Paderborn University. The university provides institutional backing, talent pipeline, research commercialization opportunities, and funding support for the incubator.
- Bielefeld University of Applied SciencescorePart of the Factory33 consortium along with other OWL universities to establish a cross-university startup ecosystem.
- Bielefeld UniversitycorePart of the Factory33 consortium to create an internationally visible beacon for B2B startups in industrial digital transformation.
- OWL University of Applied SciencescorePart of the Factory33 consortium working to strengthen the startup ecosystem across Ostwestfalen-Lippe.
- someventure GmbHcoreCorporate venture builder acting as entrepreneurial practice partner for Factory33, leveraging startups from companies and industry in the OWL region.
- MieleminorRegional corporate partner collaborating with Factory33 to drive industrial digital transformation and potentially spin off or support startups.
- GEAminorRegional industrial corporate partner engaged with Factory33 for innovation and startup ecosystem development.
- OEDIVminorRegional corporate partner in the Factory33 ecosystem for industrial transformation initiatives.
- it's OWL (Leading Edge Cluster)minorLeading-edge cluster for intelligent technical systems that positions OWL as a pioneer in Industry 4.0 and 5.0, Industry.Zero, and Industrial AI.
- Fraunhofer Institutes (IEM and IOSB-INA)minorResearch institutions in OWL that contribute to the innovation ecosystem and technology transfer opportunities.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
garage33 competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Next Media Elevator: Hamburg-based accelerator for media and digital startups, operating programs with investor access and corporate partnerships. Comparable structure to garage33's event-driven founder support model.
- UnternehmerTUM: One of Europe's largest university-affiliated startup centers, founded at TU Munich. Operates incubators, accelerators, and Maker Space-style facilities that directly mirror garage33's model, though at significantly larger scale.
- Science4Life: German startup accelerator focused on science-based entrepreneurs, founded by Sanofi and Hessisches Ministerium. Operates structured incubator/accelerator programs with similar target audience of research-driven founders.
- RWTH Innovation: RWTH Aachen's startup and innovation arm, providing incubation, coaching, and funding access to students and researchers. Comparable in B2B/industrial DNA and university-backed model to garage33.
- Founders Foundation: Bielefeld-based (same OWL region) tech startup accelerator founded by Bertelsmann's Stiftung. Direct geographic and functional peer of garage33, with similar focus on coaching, investor access, and program-based founder support.
- SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator: Leipzig-based university-linked accelerator from HHL Leipzig Graduate School. Offers structured incubation/acceleration programs with mentor and investor networks, comparable to garage33's Incubator/Accelerator offerings.
- HPI School of Entrepreneurship: Startup education and acceleration program at Hasso Plattner Institute (Potsdam). Focuses on student and research-driven founders with structured programs, mirroring garage33's education-led approach.
Regional players
- Wendelstein GmbH: Bavarian public venture and startup builder focusing on university spin-offs. Comparable in mission (publicly-funded, university-anchored, regional development) but primarily serves southern Germany rather than NRW.
Emerging players
- Impact Hub Germany: Network of innovation hubs supporting impact entrepreneurs across multiple German cities. Partial overlap with garage33's gr33nUP initiative and general incubator/co-working model.
Others
- Startup Verband: German startup industry association representing the ecosystem nationally. Not a direct competitor but an enabling partner that shapes the policy environment within which garage33 and its peers operate.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
garage33 social profiles
Digital presencegarage33 financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
garage33 leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
garage33 subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries6 records
garage33 funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
garage33 M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about garage33
What does garage33 do?
garage33 is the publicly funded startup center of the University of Paderborn, providing free Incubator and Accelerator programs, individual coaching, Maker Space prototyping access, and connection to the Business Angel Network OWL (BAN.OWL) for university members, founders, and regional entrepreneurs in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region.
Is garage33 a public or private company?
garage33 is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was garage33 founded?
garage33 was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is garage33 based?
garage33 is headquartered in Paderborn, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does garage33 make money?
One revenue line is on record: public Funding / Non-Commercial.
Who are garage33's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Next Media Elevator, UnternehmerTUM, Science4Life, RWTH Innovation, Founders Foundation, SpinLab - The HHL Accelerator and HPI School of Entrepreneurship. Wendelstein GmbH is listed as a regional player. Impact Hub Germany is listed as an emerging player. Startup Verband is listed as an others.
Does garage33 have an API?
No public API is recorded for garage33.
What industry is garage33 in?
garage33's product category is Startup Incubation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMAHAC, Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators, with a secondary code of FSANAAAM, Accelerators & Incubators (Investor-Operated). Its NAICS code is 61171.