News + Events

Our speaker Kai Hermsen, Venture Lead at DECAID Secure GmbH, gave us an exciting insight into the topic of AI governance with a focus on SMEs and young companies. Thank you very much! The short summary for you: AI governance: Why the topic is also urgent and relevant for start-ups and SMEs.

Want to get your startup off to a flying start? Then the SCE Incubation of the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship at Munich University of Applied Sciences is just right for you! Our funding program is aimed at innovative business ideas from all sectors in the pre-start-up or early start-up phase. What counts is your motivation, your commitment and your vision - whether alone or in a team, whether you are studying or working full-time.

The new annual report 2025 from Startupverband and startupdetector is here. The figures clearly show that Germany's startup ecosystem is regaining momentum.

• Record year 2025: 3,568 startups (+29% compared to 2024) mark new high.
• Strong regions: Bavaria (+46%), North Rhine-Westphalia (+33%) and Saxony (+56%) show particularly high momentum.
• Munich in first place: with 19.3 start-ups per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of Berlin (16.8) and Düsseldorf (15.4) for the first time.
• Software as a driver: 853 software start-ups, followed by medicine (428), food (295) and eCommerce (184).
• AI as a game changer: 27% of start-ups base their business model centrally on AI - twice as many as in 2023.

The classification of our Managing Director Klaus Sailer:

"Entrepreneurship and startups are key drivers of innovation in turbulent times. This makes strong entrepreneurship centers and functioning ecosystems that enable, scale and sustainably anchor this dynamic all the more important."

The entire report with further exciting data can be viewed free of charge here.

© Image: Startupverband & startupdetector

The Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship congratulates its alumni startup enna on winning the German Care Innovation Award 2025. The enna team was honored in Berlin for its groundbreaking solution that enables digital participation and social connectedness for older people under the motto "Facing loneliness - innovative ways to achieve connectedness and social participation".

As 2025 draws to a close, we would like to say one thing above all: thank you.
Thank you for your trust, your collaboration and all the bold ideas we have been able to explore and drive forward together this year.

We wish you a holiday season full of peace, joy and just the right mix of cookies, downtime and creative ideas. Hopefully 2026 will bring you new projects worth pursuing and opportunities just waiting to be unpacked!

We look forward to continuing to shape the future of entrepreneurship with you, one new insight and one step at a time.
 

Interested in AI? It's a good thing that we are offering an exciting webinar as part of the SCE Friends & Fellows program on 20 January on the topic of"AI: Regulation vs. innovation - myth or reality? A practical guide for SMEs". Register here

A great success for our alumni start-up Hebio: At the AI congress smartAI of the VDI Wissensforum | Künstliche Intelligenz in Heilbronn, CEO Julian Ernst was able to secure first place on the start-up stage with a convincing pitch and was awarded prize money of 5,000 euros sponsored by NEURA Robotics.

From March 2 to 7, 2026, the free APE International Bootcamp will once again take place at the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship (SCE) in Munich. The English-language innovation format brings students from all Munich universities together with international participants from Europe, North America and the Middle East, among others, to work on real-life challenges within a week. Go to registration

The focus is on learning by doing: in interdisciplinary teams, participants develop innovative solutions with social and entrepreneurial relevance using design thinking and lean startup methods. The program is complemented by pitch training, feedback from experienced entrepreneurs and experts and a wide range of networking opportunities.

With a fresh competition, the City of Munich and the start-up proband15 are inviting all data fans, creatives and tech-savvy Munich residents to reinterpret the city's open data in exciting new ways. Under the title "Munich data delicacies wanted", interested parties can submit their ideas from January 7 to February 11, 2026 and show the potential of open data.

What a great evening at the Midterm & Dynamic Innovation Booster Application Event in Batch #14 of SCE Incubation! The founders presented their ideas, previous successes and gave exciting insights into their development - an inspiring review of what has been created in recent months.

On December 11 and 12, the Red Cube at Munich University of Applied Sciences is the place to be: DRIVING BUT DIFFERENT! Our EXIST-funded startup AddPower, currently part of SCE Incubation, is bringing its latest prototypes directly to campus - and invites students, makers, inventors and technology fans to the AddPower driving event.

What an evening! Last Thursday (27.11.), we had the pleasure of experiencing a packed hall, lots of energy and even more inspiration at Munich University of Applied Sciences: Entrepreneur and visionary Christoph Schramm, founder of Gustavo Gusto, gave an in-depth insight into his entrepreneurial journey in an open, interactive talk - from the very first pizza baking days to building one of Germany's best-known frozen pizza brands.
With a packed hall and an open, motivating atmosphere, it was quickly noticeable how much energy and curiosity the community brought to the evening. We are delighted that so many of you came, thought along, asked questions and immediately accepted Christoph's invitation to interact. Thank you for your great spirit - and of course a big thank you to Christoph, who guided us through his story with honest words, humor and exciting insights.

Something special is happening at Munich University of Applied Sciences: TEDxHM will take place for the first time on January 23, 2026 - and the entire HM community, partners and interested parties are cordially invited to become part of this inspiring event.

The Munich-based medtech start-up and SCE alumni Puray has been awarded the prestigious Eugen Münch Prize 2025 by the Rhön Foundation. Every year, the prize recognizes pioneering innovations that sustainably improve the healthcare system - and this is exactly where Puray comes in with its self-disinfecting catheter technology.

The SCE is delighted to congratulate our alumni Alltagsheld on winning 2nd place in the 10th Munich Digital Innovation Award. The prize was awarded as part of DIGICON 2025 - the annual event of the Digital City of Munich e.V., which brings together experts, start-ups and companies under the motto "REINVENT your business and life: Shaping the future with intelligent technologies!".

SCE congratulates its alumni start-up Tangany on winning second place in the Growth/Later Stage category at this year's FinTech Germany Award 2025! At the award ceremony, CFO Heinrich Polke accepted the award on behalf of the entire team. Founded in 2019, Tangany manages blockchain-based digital assets and offers a white-label solution for the secure storage of cryptographic keys. This technology enables financial institutions and companies to securely integrate digital assets such as Ethereum or Bitcoin without having to build their own complex infrastructure.

An evening full of energy, ideas and real encounters: At the last edition of our SCE Friends & Fellows Community Event, everything revolved around the topic of "Best Practice Co-Creation - Do's & Don'ts in joint projects between start-ups and corporates". Together with numerous partners, start-ups and innovators, we experienced how collaboration at eye level brings innovation to life.

And... action! The aftermovie for our SCE Strascheg Award 2025 is here. It gives you a little insight into the thoughts of the winning teams and jury members as well as the entrepreneurial spirit and passion that characterized the evening.

On 20 October, nine winning teams in three categories were awarded prizes at Munich University of Applied Sciences. Thanks to the Falk & Renate Strascheg Foundation, they can look forward to prize money totaling €30,000! Stay tuned, because next week we will introduce you to some of the winners with their full interviews.