Accelerators & Incubators

The first step on Campus Founders' AI ladder. Short, intro-level format for people with an AI idea but no team or validation yet. Designed to feed into the AI Incubator and later AI Founders.

Step two on the Campus Founders AI ladder: validation-stage incubator for teams with a problem identified and a first AI prototype. Sits between AI Start and the more selective AI Founders programme.

12-week intensive, full-time AI incubator. 10-15 teams per cohort. Physical attendance in Heilbronn required; the programme covers scalable ML pipelines, enterprise pilot deals, and AI-specific go-to-market. Application deadline March, programme runs April-July.

UnternehmerTUM's free, hybrid online idea-validation programme. Designed for ambitious future founders pre-team or with a fresh idea; the gateway to XPRENEURS and the rest of UnternehmerTUM's stack.

UnternehmerTUM's flagship 3-month incubator. Cohorts start in March and September. Hands-on venture consultants, traction focus, and a Demo Day at the end. Located in Europe's #1 startup hub by FT/Statista ranking.

Domain-specific TUM/UnternehmerTUM labs for deep-tech spin-offs. Each Venture Lab specialises in one field (Quantum, SynBio, Robotics, Additive Manufacturing, Aerospace, Battery, Software/AI, Sustainability, Healthcare, FoodTech). Access to TUM faculty, labs, and pilot infrastructure.

LMU's accelerator + Innovation Incubator track. Supports ~15 startups per 6-month cohort with regular expert sessions, individual coaching, and the LMU + Munich ecosystem network. Founded 2020 from the EXIST Potentials programme. Open to LMU students, researchers, alumni, and staff.

KIT's central startup support ecosystem since 2013. Programmes for every founding stage including the upCAT acceleration track and StartUpSecure KASTEL (the IT-security spin-off incubator open to researchers and young startups across Germany). Particularly strong in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, chemistry, and biotech.

Hochschule Fresenius Education Group's nationwide startup support, with three tracks: ALLROUND INCUBATOR (idea + validation), Accelerator (pre-market / go-to-market), and GROW Programme (post-accelerator funding via Pioneer Ventures). Also runs elevateHER, an incubator specifically for female founders.

Leipzig-based 6-month hybrid accelerator partnered with HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management. Focus on technology-based startups in eHealth, Smart City, Energy, and Construction. 100% free of charge, no equity taken, and a €6k cash award per team. Also runs a Summer School for diverse startups.

Berlin-based pre-seed accelerator co-founded by Axel Springer and Porsche. €50k pre-seed cheque + 3-month programme + access to APX's network of mentors, angels, and downstream VCs. Rolling applications.

Munich's flagship digital startup centre, located in the Werksviertel-Mitte. Co-working + tailored programmes (WERK1.builder accelerator, WERK1.startups membership) + access to BayStartUP investor network + Bavaria-wide ecosystem ties.

Nürnberg-based digital incubator partnered with FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and regional corporates (Siemens, Datev, adidas). Particularly strong for industrial-tech and health-tech founders looking for corporate pilot opportunities.

Telefónica's corporate accelerator, with its Tech Lab in Munich. Looks for startups with launched products and early revenue in 5G, IoT, AI, Cybersecurity, and Fintech. Four-month programme: one month pre-acceleration, three months venture development with Telefónica business units.

Deutsche Telekom's incubator, headquartered in Berlin with a Kraków campus. Specialises in emerging connectivity tech: 5G, AI, IoT. Runs themed Bootcamps and Prototyping programmes that give startups access to Telekom's network infrastructure for pilots.

Bielefeld-based, Bertelsmann-backed B2B-SaaS-focused founders programme. The Founders Academy is a 9-month part-time programme for first-time founders; the broader Foundation runs a B2B SaaS-focused accelerator pipeline + the annual Hinterland of Things conference. The de-facto hub for the Ostwestfalen-Lippe startup ecosystem.

ESA's Business Incubation Centre network. Germany operates four regional BICs (Bavaria - run by Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen; Hessen + Baden-Württemberg; NRW; Northern Germany). Targets companies using space data, technology, or methods for terrestrial applications.

Plug and Play's Stuttgart hub, focused on mobility, manufacturing, insurtech, and sustainability. Direct access to the Stuttgart automotive ecosystem (Daimler, Porsche, Bosch, ZF) and Plug and Play's global Silicon Valley network. Best suited for post-product-market-fit mobility startups looking for corporate pilots.

BMWE-funded national accelerator for German startups planning USA or Asia market entry. Founded 2012; runs on-site programmes in Silicon Valley, New York, Boston, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai. Application is rolling and demand-driven, with cohorts shaped around each company's specific market entry needs.

German Entrepreneurship's flagship Munich-based early-stage accelerator. Sector-open, 6 months, runs twice a year. No equity taken. The bridge offering to German Accelerator's international expansion programmes.

UnternehmerTUM's B2B / industrial tech accelerator. 20-week programme with Aldi Nord/Süd, Festo, Knorr-Bremse, Miele as corporate partners. €25k cash with no equity taken. Best-fit for hardware/IoT/industrial startups looking for corporate pilots.

Baden-Württemberg's state IT accelerator, run jointly with KIT. Specialises in IT, AI, IT security, and smart production. Three-month programme with KIT-grade mentoring, KIT-affiliated investor network access, and warm intros into the Baden-Württemberg corporate landscape.

Deutsche Bahn's corporate accelerator. 100-day intense format focused on solutions that move Deutsche Bahn forward operationally: mobility tech, maintenance AI, ticketing/UX, sustainability. Cash component varies per call; the real value is the DB pilot opportunity.

E.ON's corporate accelerator for energy and sustainability startups. €22k grant + 3-month programme + E.ON pilot opportunities. Particularly relevant for grid tech, distributed energy, EV charging, and energy-data plays.

Merck's corporate accelerator in Darmstadt, focused on healthcare, life sciences, electronics, liquid biopsy, and clean meat. Up to €50k cash with no equity taken. Highly selective; the real value is Merck's pharma-scale network and the Shanghai expansion option.

Joint accelerator from HPI, Filmuniversität Babelsberg, and University of Potsdam. Focused on tech-oriented media startups - audio, video, generative AI, creator tools. Six months, no equity taken, no fees.

Hamburg-based media accelerator backed by ~30 German + Austrian media houses. Three investment tiers offering startups flexibility on equity-vs-cash tradeoff. Strong for media-tech, marketing-tech, and journalism-related ventures.

ProSiebenSat.1's media-for-equity accelerator. The value is not cash but TV + online advertising volume worth seven figures, which is gold for B2C / e-commerce / brand-building plays. Strongest fit: post-product-market-fit consumer brands needing reach.

Berlin chapter of the global Startupbootcamp accelerator network, focused on digital solutions in the medical environment. Backed by Sanofi, Munich Re, Berlin Institute of Health, Apobank. Three months of intensive corporate-pilot work.

Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels' accelerator for content-industry startups - publishing tech, reader analytics, AI-assisted content, audiobook tooling, rights/IP management. €10k grant, no equity, with direct access to the German publishing trade.

Thuringia state foundation's accelerator for startups with a Thuringia connection (founder, location, or partner). Modest starting grant but up to €100k investment available for the strongest teams. Solid choice for founders willing to anchor in Thuringia for runway.

Tübingen-based medical-innovation accelerator for Medical Devices, Therapeutics, Diagnostics, and Digital Health teams. Curriculum centred on the '4C': Commercialisation, Certification, Clinical Studies, Copyright - the four hard rails every medical product needs to cross before market.

METRO Group's corporate accelerator for hospitality tech, retail tech, and food tech. Particularly relevant for B2B startups serving restaurants, hotels, and independent retailers - METRO's customer base is the pilot pool.

Commerzbank's incubator for FinTech, big data, AI, and IoT. One of the larger institutional incubators by ticket size. The downside is the equity stake and Commerzbank's strategic interest; the upside is real banking-grade pilot access.

Munich-based private incubator focused on digital business models. €100k early-stage cap, coaching + mentoring, and active support during the investor-search phase. Smaller and more selective than the Telekom/Springer-class incubators.

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's venture arm. Combines a normal cash investment ticket with a Media-for-Equity programme that gives portfolio companies access to Handelsblatt/Wirtschaftswoche/Zeit/etc. advertising volume.

Berlin-based operational VC and incubator. Beyond capital, portfolio companies get hands-on access to Project A's in-house specialists across marketing, dev, sales, comms, recruitment, and data science. Typically higher-touch than a normal VC.

AgriFood-Tech incubator jointly run by SpinLab and K+S. €10k-€50k cash, no equity taken, plus a pilot project with K+S - the kind of corporate validation that opens commercial-scale agritech doors quickly.

Berlin's most famous Company Builder, founded by the Samwer brothers in 2007. Has churned out Zalando, HelloFresh, Delivery Hero, Lazada, and others. Trade-off is hard: Rocket typically initiates the venture itself, so founders' decision freedom is significantly lower than at an external accelerator.

Berlin's largest FinTech-focused Company Builder. Investor consortium includes talanx, Hannover Rück, Deutsche Börse, Visa, and ING. Best fit for founders who want a corporate-grade FinTech infrastructure to build on but accept the strong cap-table tilt that comes with it.

Hamburg Company Builder that takes on ~3 new startups per year. 500+ employees across portfolio companies, 80+ funding rounds closed historically. The in-house functional teams (product, marketing, BI, HR) are the structural value.

Otto Group's holding for digital services. Operates as the parent for the Otto Group's e-commerce and retail-tech digital ventures, including incubator-style spin-offs. Highly corporate-aligned - best fit for founders comfortable in the Otto strategic envelope.

Lukasz Gadowski's Company Builder, the successor to Team Europe. Focused on mobility, clean aviation, and clean energy. Highly mission-driven; founders join Gadowski's existing thesis areas rather than bringing entirely independent ones.