Campus Foundery OWL
The Campus Foundery OWL
Do you have an idea and want to get started? Are you looking to start a business and searching for partners with the right idea? We, the startup team at the Campus Foundery OWL, are here to support you with advice and practical assistance. We’ll guide you every step of the way—from the initial idea through market analysis and developing your business plan all the way to launching your business. We already offer a wide range of services, which we plan to expand in the future. We provide infrastructure, knowledgeable advisors for coaching sessions, and a variety of networking events, expert lectures, workshops, and ideas competitions... there’s something for everyone.
What is Campus Foundery OWL?
The Campus Foundery OWL startup center is the first point of contact and an open meeting place for those interested in entrepreneurship at TH OWL, offering dedicated spaces for experimenting with, validating, and testing innovative ideas. We support students and staff by providing spaces, infrastructure, and expertise to help bring these ideas to fruition. The goal is to foster entrepreneurial thinking and establish a scientific startup culture at TH OWL. Campus Foundery OWL is the startup center of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences. It is operated by the Research and Transfer Center (FTZ) in cooperation with the Institute for Life Science Technologies and the Institute for Industrial Information Technology.
Funding
Project funding for the expansion of startup support at TH OWL:
Start-Up Center@TH OWL
Start-Up Center.NRW is a funding initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF/JTF Program NRW 2021–2027). The program supports universities in North Rhine-Westphalia in tapping into startup potential, preparing for business launches from academia and research, and establishing a sustainable startup culture. The goal is to increase the quality and number of startups originating from universities and to strengthen the role of universities in regional startup ecosystems in the long term.
What specifically is funded?
- Strengthening a startup-friendly and networked university, as well as expanding the cross-university and external visibility of startup activities.
- Further development of the three key focus areas—food, industrial IoT, and creative startups—at the respective locations, as well as strengthening the supraregional visibility of these profiles.
- Promotion of key cross-cutting themes such as sustainability, diversity, and internationalization as integral components of startup support.
- Regional coordination, networking, and close collaboration among the Campus OWL universities to pool expertise and resources within the OWL startup ecosystem.
Goal: Strengthening the university-internal startup ecosystem, promoting innovative startups, and fostering more entrepreneurs from academia and research.
exist Women
exist Women is a funding stream within the EXIST – Start-ups from Science funding program, which is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) in collaboration with the European Social Fund Plus (ESF Plus). It is specifically aimed at women at universities and research institutions who are interested in or have an affinity for starting a business—such as female students, graduates, researchers, and women with vocational training and a university background. The goal is to motivate more women to pursue entrepreneurial self-employment and to provide targeted support during their startup or pre-startup phase.
What does EXIST-Women offer?
- Financial support: Up to €9,500 in funding
- Workshops for your professional development as a founder
- Individual and group coaching sessions designed to support you
- Access to a strong network and opportunities for exchange
Goal: To encourage more women to take the leap into self-employment, develop their business ideas, and launch innovative startups—with a particular focus on increasing the proportion of women in the German startup ecosystem.
You can find more information about the application process here.
HardwareLab
StartUpLab@FH is a funding initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) under the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences program. It supports universities of applied sciences in systematically promoting entrepreneurial thinking, startup skills, and creative startup ideas by creating application-oriented research and startup spaces (“StartUpLabs”). The goal is to motivate students, researchers, and staff to test and validate innovative ideas and turn them into potential startups.
What is funded?
- The establishment and operation of laboratories as central meeting places for those interested in starting a business and as open creative and experimental environments at universities of applied sciences.
- Low-barrier experimentation and testing opportunities for creative, innovative ideas with a practical focus.
- Interdisciplinary support in key focus areas, consulting, and integration into teaching for students, staff, and lecturers to develop business ideas.
Goal: StartUpLab@FH creates open spaces for experimentation, networking, and knowledge transfer to sustainably strengthen startup culture at universities of applied sciences, increase innovative capacity, and realize startup potential.
The Kickstart@TH OWL scholarship is funded through the program. You can find more information on the application process here.
Start-up Center.NRW is a funding initiative of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection, and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of European regional funding (EFRE/JTF Program NRW 2021–2027). The program supports universities in North Rhine-Westphalia in tapping into start-up potential, preparing start-ups from science and research, and establishing a sustainable start-up culture. The aim is to increase the quality and number of start-ups from universities and to strengthen the role of universities in regional start-up ecosystems in the long term.
What specifically is being funded?
- Strengthening start-up-friendly and networked universities and expanding the cross-university and external visibility of start-up activities.
- Further development of the three specialist focus areas of food, industrial IoT, and creative start-ups at the respective campuses, as well as strengthening the supra-regional visibility of these profiles.
- Promoting key cross-cutting themes such as sustainability, diversity, and internationalization as integral parts of start-up support.
- Regional complementarity, networking, and close cooperation between OWL campus universities to pool expertise and resources in the OWL start-up ecosystem.
Goal: Strengthening the internal university start-up ecosystem, promoting innovative start-ups, and encouraging more entrepreneurs from science and research.
EXIST-Women is a funding line of the EXIST start-up program for science graduates, which is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) in cooperation with the European Social Fund Plus (ESF Plus). It is aimed specifically at women at universities and research institutions who are interested in starting a business or have an affinity for entrepreneurship – such as students, graduates, scientists, and women with vocational training and a university background. The aim is to motivate more women to become self-employed and to provide targeted support during the start-up or pre-start-up phase.
What does EXIST-Women offer?
- Financial support: Up to €9,500 in funding
- Workshops for your further development as a founder
- Individual and group coaching to provide you with targeted support
- Access to a strong network and opportunities for exchange
Goal: To encourage more women to take the step into self-employment, develop their start-up ideas, and realize innovative start-ups—in particular to increase the proportion of women in the German start-up ecosystem.
Further information on the application process can be found here.
StartUpLab@FH is a funding initiative of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the Research at Universities of Applied Sciences program. It supports universities of applied sciences in systematically promoting entrepreneurial thinking, start-up skills, and creative start-up ideas by creating application-oriented research and start-up spaces ("StartUpLabs"). The aim is to motivate students, scientists, and employees to test and validate innovative ideas and turn them into potential start-ups.
What is being funded?
- The establishment and operation of laboratories as central meeting places for those interested in starting a business and open creative and experimental environments at universities of applied sciences.
- Low-threshold experimentation and testing opportunities for creative, innovative ideas with a practical orientation.
- Interdisciplinary support in key areas, advice, and integration into teaching for students, staff, and faculty to develop business ideas.
Goal: StartUpLab@FH creates free spaces for experimentation, networking, and knowledge transfer in order to sustainably strengthen the start-up culture at universities of applied sciences, increase innovative strength, and exploit start-up potential.
The Kickstart@TH OWL scholarship is funded through the program. Further information on the application process can be found here.