Campus Foundery OWL
Campus Foundery OWL
Do you have an idea and want to turn it into reality? Are you looking to start a business and searching for partners with the right idea? The startup team at Campus Foundery OWL is here to support you with advice, guidance, and practical assistance. We’ll accompany you every step of the way—from developing your initial idea and conducting market analyses to creating your business plan and launching your venture.
We already offer a wide range of services, and we are continuously expanding our support. We provide the necessary infrastructure, experienced advisors for coaching sessions, as well as numerous networking opportunities, expert talks, workshops, and idea competitions. Whatever stage you’re at—there’s something for everyone.
What is Campus Foundery OWL?
Campus Foundery OWL is the central point of contact and an open meeting place for everyone interested in entrepreneurship at TH OWL. It provides dedicated spaces where innovative ideas can be explored, validated, and tested. We support students and staff by offering the necessary spaces, infrastructure, and expertise to help bring these ideas to fruition.
Our goal is to foster entrepreneurial thinking and establish a vibrant startup culture rooted in science and research at TH OWL. Campus Foundery OWL is the startup center of 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.NRW (ILT.NRW) and the Institute IT (inIT).
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.