ventUS

Project Description 

The University of Siegen is represented by the ventUS project as part of the EXIST Potentials funding initiative. ventUS, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), aims to further strengthen start-up activities at the university and in the region and to increase the number of spin-offs. In order to make Siegen a "startup hotspot" by 2030, a whole bundle of measures is planned as part of ventUS to complement the existing activities of the startup office at the University of Siegen and Startpunkt57 (https://www.startpunkt57.de). A particular focus of ventUS is on science and technology-based start-up projects at the University of Siegen.

In order to achieve these goals, the range of courses offered will first be expanded to include courses, seminars and lectures on the topic of business start-ups across all faculties. Subsequently, innovative ideas will be identified earlier and more systematically by the scouting team within the framework of lectures, at the chairs, in laboratories and institutes of the university. This allows even more students and employees the option of starting a business. Once potential start-up ideas have been identified, a team consisting of scouts, coaches and advisors is deployed. This team will work closely with the university's Start-up Office (https://www.gruenden.uni-siegen.de), the EnableUS project (https://www.enableus-siegen.de) and the regional Startpunkt initiative57 to support various start-up projects and give them the opportunity to develop their start-up further with additional professional support. In addition to professional advice, the potential founders are also introduced to the regional Startpunkt57 start-up network in order to establish contacts and generate synergy effects.

Of particular interest in this context are the One Small Step Incubator Program and the One Small Step Accelerator Program (https://www.one-small-step.io) provided by Startpunkt57 and ventUS. Under the incubator program, the most qualified applicants are selected to participate in the range of services free of charge. This includes various workshops on soft and hard skills, free space and infrastructure, and access to the start-up community. In the subsequent "accelerator program", the founders are brought together with investors and medium-sized companies in order to accelerate the market entry and growth of their company.

In addition, a so-called co-working space is currently being created in the House of Innovation (http://hausderinnovation.art-siegen.de), in which members of the university, the start-up scene and regional and national businesses work together to realize new ideas.