SCE München 48.1538958 Heßstraße 89 +498912653200
Short facts
Female students (at least half of the coursework completed for Bachelor students), graduates, academics, doctoral students, women with vocational training
- Motivated women who want to promote their innovative start-up idea
- Have not yet founded a company
- No previous start-up funding from the federal government (e.g. exist funding lines) / state
- No parallel employment during the optional scholarship or only max. 20h/week
- Advantageous: Connection to Munich University of Applied Sciences and interest in the exist start-up grant and exist research transfer
- 2,000€ in kind per founder
- Participation in the SCE Incubation Programincl. SCE budget of up to €2,000 per team
- Access to SCE/HM as well as nationwide workshops, networking events & mentoring
- Workplace in the incubator
- Optional: max. 3-month scholarship (planned for June - August) with €1,000 to €3,000 per month (amount depending on qualifications, see FAQs), plus €150 child allowance per child & month
Apply annually in January - application round for 2025 completed (next application deadline: probably January 2026). Alternatively, apply for SCE Incubation without exist-Women: Program phase from April 2026 to September 2026.
Here is the online application with pitch deck for the idea (see template in the download area below); for exist-Women applications, please also include your CV and proof of studies/degree.
If you have any questions, please contact exist@sce.de!
About
exist-Women
With exist-Women, the BMWE supports women interested in setting up a business in the phase before they do so, particularly in the development of their entrepreneurial personality and the further development of their start-up idea.
Munich University of Applied Sciences and the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship have been selected as one of the exist-Women funded institutions. We look forward to receiving your applications!
The program
- Year-round, with the most intensive program phase from April to September
- Intensive support from experienced startup coaches and mentors
- Access to an international network of experts
- Regular workshops and events to improve skills
- Possibility of a free workspace in our incubator
FAQs
- How much is the optional scholarship?
Amount analogous to the exist start-up grant depending on graduation and enrollment status at the time of the grant:
- 1,000€/month for students
- 2,000/month for women who have completed vocational training
- 2,500/month for female graduates with a university degree (note: only applies if not enrolled; example: Master's students are considered students and not graduates)
- 3,000€/month for doctoral graduates
- Applying as a startup team or as an individual founder?
Several women from the same start-up project can apply. However, the number of places for funding is limited. In the case of funding for several female founders of the same startup project, the exist-Women material budget of €2,000 is also calculated for each female founder (the SCE budget is only paid out per startup).
- What do international female founders need to consider?
International female founders can be supported if they are resident in Germany and have a valid visa that allows them to stay at the university or research institution. The participants should also be available for exist-Women on site in order to take part in the qualification measures. In order to benefit from the program, the participants should either have sufficient German language skills or the local start-up qualification offers must be available in English or similar.
- EXIST-Women and other funding?
- Exclusion criterion: exist-Women funding is not possible with previous start-up funding such as exist-Gründungsstipendium, exist-Forschungstransfer and Land (grants for innovative start-ups). An application, approval and funding after the start of the program, i.e. in parallel during the exist-Women term, may be possible depending on the funding. This usually only results in the discontinuation of the scholarship (no double funding to secure living expenses), but the other benefits in exist-Women remain unaffected.
- Rejected exist applicants may apply for exist-Women and the same applies to applicants who are currently writing an application or are still waiting for the approval of an application that has already been submitted
- No receipt of the 3-month exist-Women scholarship in parallel with other funding programs/scholarships to secure living expenses (exception: Germany scholarship uncritical) or in the case of parallel employment of more than 20h/week
- exist-Women possible following a start-up grant from the Federal Employment Agency, but not at the same time
For further details, see the FAQ atwww.exist.de
- What is expected of the participants?
As part of the program, the founders are obliged to take part in surveys, events (organized by the project sponsor and HM/SCE) and coaching sessions as part of the qualification program as well as to prepare a "brief presentation of the start-up idea" at the end of the program. The event dates are communicated right at the start of the funding so that they can be kept free. By arrangement, some dates can also be attended virtually.
Downloads & Links
T: 089 1265 3221
Linkedin christian.klusmann@sce.deProf. Dr Christian Klusmann is Professor of Entrepreneurship & Digital Business Models at Munich University of Applied Sciences and has been at the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship since September 2024. He is currently Head of SCE Startup Support.
Prior to this, Christian Klusmann spent nearly five years at digitalHUB Aachen, where he was responsible for startup coaching and consulting. As part of the "Excellence Startup Center" project, he worked closely with colleagues from RWTH Aachen University and supported digital and deep tech startups throughout their entrepreneurial journey, offering guidance across a wide range of challenges, from the pre-seed phase to Series A.
Christian Klusmann's academic journey began as a research assistant at the Strascheg Institute of EBS Business School, where he worked on externally funded projects and taught entrepreneurship courses. Later, he followed his second supervisor to the Department of Technology, Innovation Management, and Entrepreneurship at the University of Kassel, where he took on teaching responsibilities and successfully completed his PhD in 2018. His dissertation focused on entrepreneurship and business models, adding to his expertise in the field.
With a strong foundation in Business Administration and Engineering from RWTH Aachen University and Delft University of Technology, Christian Klusmann also gained firsthand entrepreneurial experience. Alongside his brother and a programmer friend, he co-founded an e-learning company, and later built a second team in Delft, Netherlands— an exciting and invaluable chapter in his career, which still can be seen as the initial spark for this passion for entrepreneurship.
Driven by this passion, he is dedicated to sharing his knowledge with his students, having mentored successful entrepreneurs such as the founders of Emma Matratze, 2trde, and bobbie. He continues to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs through his teaching and personal commitment to innovation and business development.
T: 089 1265 3257
Linkedin camila.londono@sce.deDr. Camila Londoño moved to Germany in early 2023 to join the SCE.
Camila holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto. Since 2015, she has worked to support the commercialization of research and innovation at organizations including CCRM (formerly the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine) and the University of Toronto’s Hatchery. Starting in 2018, she led the Science Discovery Zone, one of ten incubators at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), which has the largest academic entrepreneurship program in the world . There, she supported over 150 startups to pursue evidence-based innovation and entrepreneurship, and developed two courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels to help science students explore entrepreneurial ventures. She is passionate about supporting early-stage and diverse entrepreneurs.
T: 089 1265 3258
Linkedin julia.zipf@sce.deJulia Zipf joined the SCE team in November 2022. As start-up consultant and incubator manager she accompanies students and startup teams from ideation till go-to-market strategy.
After her studies in Business Administration at EBS (European Business School) in Oestrich-Winkel and diverse stays abroad, she established marketing and sales department for several startups. Next to start up consulting in the marketing field she founded her own start up in the adventure park segment. In the SCE Startup Support she now supports students and start ups in starting their own business from ideation till going-to-market strategy. Besides she organizes ideation workshops as well as soft skill trainings and manages the incubator.
T: 089 1265 3229
Linkedin lars.schepp@sce.deMy mission in life is to enable people to shape the future in a sustainable way.
After graduating in Business Administration (Marketing, Sales Management, Organizational Development) at FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg with co-creation brand project as a personal highlight, I spent more than 20 years building and developing FMCG brands internationally in an American corporation.
With the change from a large company to a company founder in the food sector in 2015, I have gone through and experienced all facets of founding, building and liquidating.
Until joining SCE in early December 2022, I was consulting various start ups/SMEs on strategy, business model, product development and co-developing a concept for a sustainable e-commerce platform. In parallel, I have been working on sustainable topics such as circular economy, transformation to sustainable business models and stewardship ownership.
T: 089 1265 3242
Linkedin martin.laarmann@sce.deMartin Laarmann is project manager of the Precelerator Project, the "fitness studio" for innovation and entrepreneurship, prototyping and new technologies for all members of the Munich University of Applied Sciences.
The graduate engineer of architecture (TU Darmstadt) is an expert for innovation communities, innovation spaces and coworking and was, among other things, significantly responsible for the planning, development and operation of the startup center "Werk1 München". He also advised numerous state institutions, municipalities and companies such as Murnau a. Staffelsee (Murnau Innovation Quarter) and Audi AG (Audi X-LAB in Ingolstadt).
Martin is also managing director of Make Germany GmbH, a social enterprise for the promotion and networking of the Maker-Movement, which organizes Southern Germany's largest Maker Festival "MAKE MUNICH".
His focus is the promotion of the "Just-make-it" mindset, "bottom-up" entrepreneurship and creative communities.
T: 089 1265 3239
Linkedin saskia.schmidl@sce.deSaskia Schmidl joined the team at the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship in summer 2017. As part of the SCE Startup Support, she advises founders and supports our teams of the start-up-league in the incubator.
Saskia received her degree as a graduate in Social Sciences from the University of Göttingen (focus on business administration, economic and social psychology, civilian media law and sociology).
She has come to know the founding scene from various perspectives and gained valuable experience: as part of start-ups, on the investor‘s side of a venture capital company or in a supraregional third party project to promote and support start-ups of scientists from non-university research institutions (Max Planck Society and Helmholtz Association).