When WHU alumnus Marius Rosenberg joined the scientists of RWTH Aachen University in 2014, the research team had been already working on its revolutionary polyurethane-based surgical sealants since 2007.
After joining the team, Marius started the fundraising process within the WHU alumni community to secure a first pre-seed investment. Afterward, he took over a central role in developing a business pitch that won the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition in Houston, Texas which led to a $2.7 million investment by US investors and, in 2017, the acquisition of the spin-off to the pharmaceutical company Grünenthal.
Co-Founder Matching at WHU
Successful university spin-offs through collaboration with WHU business talents
Research teams struggle to become founders without experienced business team members.
The strategy consultancy McKinsey & Company estimates that increasing the number of new start-ups through additional initiatives will create an additional €500B in value and 340,000 jobs by 2030. A majority of these ventures could come from universities. 1,350 additional start-ups founded from universities in 2030 is the estimated number that McKinsey predicts.
So-called “deep-tech” startups that rely on profound technological understanding are at the core of the next wave of European innovation. Deutscher Startup Monitor 2024 found that 11.4% of German start-ups can be classified as deep-tech. Technical faculties are the institutions that foster the talent and intellectual property necessary to create such ventures.
According to the 2021 study of DSM, 55,9 % of academic founders see transitioning from a scientific to an entrepreneurial role as a crucial challenge for establishing successful spin-offs.
But there are significant obstacles stopping university scientists from becoming entrepreneurs. How to solve this problem? A team of founders who provide scientific and entrepreneurial know-how has proven to be a good choice.
15 unicorns = more than any other university in the DACH region¹
#1 German business school for degree programs and entrepreneurship education²
#1 Highest efficiency in Europe based on the number of startups per €100 Mn budget³
#1 University alumni network of active Business Angels and Venture Capital investors in DACH
Sources: 1) Antler Report, 2) Financial Times Ranking, 3) Redstone University Startup Index
Co-Founder Matching Program:
Adding a co-founder from WHU can accelerate the transition from research teams to startups. And this is where the WHU Entrepreneurship Center steps in with its Co-Founder Matching Program.
1.) Research teams create a short summary of their team & innovation in English (best including: innovation, potential applications, current team & funding, and future timeline and projects)
2.) The WHU Entrepreneurship Center forwards co-founding requests to its talent pool. The co-founding opportunities are published on the In Praxi job platform and sent to a selected mailing list of WHU students and alumni.
3) In Praxi is the alumni association of WHU. 90% of all graduates are members and can be addressed via mailing and our own intranet. Every WHU alumnus has direct access to our network of prestigious WHU founders and investors and can leverage this access for every venture they engage in.
4) Interested WHU alumni reach out to the research team to talk about further details.
Adhesys Medical
WHU alumnus Marius Rosenberg
Artificient Mobility Intelligence
WHU alumna Sherry Fei Ju
Artificient Mobility Intelligence was founded by Lining Wang and Alireza Moeini, both alumni of RWTH Aachen University, and Sherry Fei Ju, a graduate of WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management.
This award-winning deep-tech startup is leveraging a disruptive computer vision technology to develop Europe’s first AI-powered smart driving app to transform the auto insurance industry towards next-generation smarter, greener, and safer mobility.
This award-winning deep-tech startup is leveraging a disruptive computer vision technology to develop Europe’s first AI-powered smart driving app to transform the auto insurance industry towards next-generation smarter, greener, and safer mobility.
Better Basics Laborbedarf GmbH
WHU alumnus Mario Schneider
Better Basics Laborbedarf GmbH, founded in October 2019, is led by CEO Mario Schneider (WHU), with Dr. Sebastian Stein as Head of Production and Dr. Marcus Heinze as Head of Development (both from TU Dresden).
The award-winning startup specializes in developing, manufacturing, and distributing smart basic equipment for laboratories, notably the SmartRack®—a modular organization system designed to enhance order, safety, and efficiency in laboratory workspaces. By utilizing 3D printing technology, Better Basics offers customizable solutions that optimize space utilization and streamline laboratory processes.
The award-winning startup specializes in developing, manufacturing, and distributing smart basic equipment for laboratories, notably the SmartRack®—a modular organization system designed to enhance order, safety, and efficiency in laboratory workspaces. By utilizing 3D printing technology, Better Basics offers customizable solutions that optimize space utilization and streamline laboratory processes.
BioThrust
WHU alumnus Konstantin Kurz
WHU alumnus Konstantin Kurz joined forces with the RWTH members Patrick Bongartz and Moritz Meyer to turn the latters‘ research results into a company. BioThrust develops tailor-made, retrofittable gassing systems for bioreactors, which are more effective than all conventional systems. Together, the team wrote the application for the EXIST Forschungstransfer (Research Transfer) grant and were successful. In 2022 they incorporated their company.
BioThrust develops customized and retrofittable gassing solutions for bioreactors – such as highly porous impellers and in-situ membrane modules – that significantly outperform conventional systems in terms of efficiency and cell protection.
BioThrust develops customized and retrofittable gassing solutions for bioreactors – such as highly porous impellers and in-situ membrane modules – that significantly outperform conventional systems in terms of efficiency and cell protection.
Carbon One
WHU alumnus Christian Vollmann
Serial founder and WHU alumnus Christian Vollmann launched Carbon One (C1) to bring green methanol—an efficient and climate-friendly alternative to diesel used in shipping—to market. C1 was founded with chemists Marek Checinski, Ralph Krähnert and Christoph Zehe.
Initial investments of around €13 million—including funding from Maersk Growth, Planet A Ventures, and Paua Ventures—have since been followed by a recent €20 million funding round. This round was supported by Maersk Growth, Planet A Ventures, denkapparat and other investors, complemented by €5 million in public research grants
Initial investments of around €13 million—including funding from Maersk Growth, Planet A Ventures, and Paua Ventures—have since been followed by a recent €20 million funding round. This round was supported by Maersk Growth, Planet A Ventures, denkapparat and other investors, complemented by €5 million in public research grants
eleQtron
WHU alumnus Jan Henrik Leisse
eleQtron was founded in 2020 as a spin-off of the University of Siegen and is Germany’s first manufacturer of quantum computer hardware. The founders are Prof. Dr. Christof Wunderlich (CSO), Dr. Michael Johanning (CTO), and WHU alumnus Jan Henrik Leisse (CEO).
With its MAGIC technology (microwaves instead of lasers to control ion qubits), eleQtron develops stable and scalable quantum processors, which have already been delivered to the DLR and the Jülich Research Center.
To date, the company has raised around €50 million from venture capital (including Earlybird and Siegerlandfonds), public funding, and contracts. In 2025, eleQtron was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer.
With its MAGIC technology (microwaves instead of lasers to control ion qubits), eleQtron develops stable and scalable quantum processors, which have already been delivered to the DLR and the Jülich Research Center.
To date, the company has raised around €50 million from venture capital (including Earlybird and Siegerlandfonds), public funding, and contracts. In 2025, eleQtron was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Technology Pioneer.
InCirT
WHU alumnus Sebastian Waters
WHU alumnus Sebastian Waters joined InCirt after a team of RWTH scientists reached out to us to find a business co-founder for their already successful EXIST Forschungstransfer (research transfer) grant.
After joining the team, Sebastian supported the spin-off in their fundraising process and was able to convince German VC High-Tech Gründerfonds of the potential InCirT’s microchips for the next generation of mobile wireless communication.
After joining the team, Sebastian supported the spin-off in their fundraising process and was able to convince German VC High-Tech Gründerfonds of the potential InCirT’s microchips for the next generation of mobile wireless communication.
INZIPIO
WHU alumnus Thomas Roth
The health tech startup, which develops AI-powered medical software for automated surgical planning, was founded by Dr. Stefan Raith, Tobias Pankert, and WHU alumnus Thomas Roth, who were connected via the Co-founding Newsletter connecting aspiring entrepreneurs from the WHU and RWTH Aachen community.
To date, the team has received over € 1 Million in grants from EXIST Forschungstransfer and won multiple awards from Digital Innovation 2019, Science4Life Venture Cup 2020, Medizinwirtschaft / proRuhr 2020, and Gründungswettbewerb AC² 2020/2021.
To date, the team has received over € 1 Million in grants from EXIST Forschungstransfer and won multiple awards from Digital Innovation 2019, Science4Life Venture Cup 2020, Medizinwirtschaft / proRuhr 2020, and Gründungswettbewerb AC² 2020/2021.
LIDROTEC
WHU alumnus Alexander Igelmann
WHU alumnus Alexander Igelmann successfully supported a research team at Ruhr University Bochum with their EXIST research transfer project.
Since then, the team has advanced its innovative LidroCUT® wafer dicing technology, joined the Intel Ignite Accelerator, and won the Rice Business Plan Competition 2022. In the same year, Lidrotec was named “Company of the Year” at the Luminate NY Accelerator, receiving USD 1 million in funding.
In April 2025, the start-up raised USD 13.5 million in a Series A-2 financing round, led by Lam Research Capital and Goose Capital, alongside ZEISS Ventures, NRW.BANK, and other investors.
Since then, the team has advanced its innovative LidroCUT® wafer dicing technology, joined the Intel Ignite Accelerator, and won the Rice Business Plan Competition 2022. In the same year, Lidrotec was named “Company of the Year” at the Luminate NY Accelerator, receiving USD 1 million in funding.
In April 2025, the start-up raised USD 13.5 million in a Series A-2 financing round, led by Lam Research Capital and Goose Capital, alongside ZEISS Ventures, NRW.BANK, and other investors.
ProteinDistillery
WHU alumnus Marco Ries
Christoph Pitter and his fellow student Michael Baunach developed the idea of rethinking the production of plant-based proteins. Their founding project was initially supported by Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tomas Kurz and WHU alumnus Marco Ries later joined the founding team. The start-up offers a method of converting brewer’s yeast – a byproduct of the brewing industry – into a natural protein powder. This can be used in a variety of ways as a substitute for animal proteins in egg, cheese, milk, or meat alternatives.
In 2022, ProteinDistillery was awarded the Sustainability Award at the pan-European start-up competition Stage Two and, in the same year, received the Next Economy Award as part of the German Sustainability Award 2023. In 2024, the company successfully closed its seed financing round and raised around 15 million euros. With these funds, the expansion of production capacities is being accelerated, including Europe’s first protein competence center in Heilbronn as a central production site.
In 2022, ProteinDistillery was awarded the Sustainability Award at the pan-European start-up competition Stage Two and, in the same year, received the Next Economy Award as part of the German Sustainability Award 2023. In 2024, the company successfully closed its seed financing round and raised around 15 million euros. With these funds, the expansion of production capacities is being accelerated, including Europe’s first protein competence center in Heilbronn as a central production site.
xemX
WHU alumnus Sebastian Johnston
Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Dr. Olga Krysiak, Dr. Lars Banko, and Sven Maihöfer, developed AI-based methods to identify noble metal-free catalysts for the cost-efficient and sustainable production of green hydrogen. With support from the WORLDFACTORY Start-up Center, the team found a co-founder in WHU alumnus Sebastian Johnston. Under the name xemX, the founding team received an EXIST research transfer grant of around 1.1 million euros.
At the end of 2023, xemX was officially incorporated as a GmbH. Since then, the start-up has launched its first pilot projects, generated revenue, and gained international recognition, including being named a finalist in the “Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year” competition in Berlin in 2024.
At the end of 2023, xemX was officially incorporated as a GmbH. Since then, the start-up has launched its first pilot projects, generated revenue, and gained international recognition, including being named a finalist in the “Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year” competition in Berlin in 2024.
Get in Touch
Prof. Dr. Dries Faems
Academic Co-Director
Prof. Dr. Christoph Hienerth
Academic Co-Director
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