Stay Ahead
Play Like a Founder,
Scale Like a Corporate

180+

Pilot Projects Facilitated

€750M+

Funding Raised by our Alumni

92%

Alumni Start-ups Still Active or Acquired

What we offer

Read our latest Guide!

Together with the UnternehmerTUM Business Creators, we have collected insights from our 10+ years of experience with Corporate-Start-up collaboration projects in "Future-Proofing SMEs: Strategic Start-up Partnerships for Industry Resilience".

Fill in the form to access:

✅ Contemporary data on Corporate-Start-up collaborations
✅ Common collaboration formats, their benefits, and challenges
✅ Real-world success stories
✅ Step-by-step guide to getting started and maximizing these partnerships.

Our Focus Innovation Fields

CEO Andreas Kunze
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Teampicture Foto Now
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Andreas Kunze - CEO & Co-Founder, KONUX [raised $130M+ since 2014]

Through the TechFounders program and the collaboration project, we gained valuable input to improve our product market fit and business model. The broad network of UnternehmerTUM and TechFounders were an incredible help to find first customers. Recently, we closed our Series C round with $80M to expand our product portfolio development and accelerate our international market expansion. It all starts with a dream - Join TechFounders to make your dream a reality!

Dr. André Schweizer, Co-Founder & CEO - qbound [acquired by Trusteq in 2022]

The collaboration project with a big corporate partner such as Knorr-Bremse was a great opportunity to challenge ourselves and further develop our solution. In addition, TechFounders' outstanding coaches and mentors gave us valuable guidance to improve our business model and get our company on the right track!

Maria Sievert - Founder & Managing Partner, inveox [estimated annual revenue $21.8M+ per year]

We are engaged in several UnternehmerTUM initiatives and have highly benefited from each. TechFounders greatly supported us in professionalizing our business, expanding our network, and finding investors. Since entering the program, we have closed two financing rounds, won numerous awards, and been voted Germany's 'Start-up of the Year 2017' and made it onto the Forbes list of the '100 most promising startups 2018'.

Deniz Ficicioglu, Co-Founder - BettaF!sh [products sold in 4000+ ALDI stores]

If you are looking for strong partners to grow and scale your impact, this is the place to be. The TechFounders program with its great team, experienced mentors, and inspiring founders has propelled our business tremendously. Together with our project partners at ALDI Nord & ALDI SÜD, we have the unique opportunity to make sustainability affordable and our innovative plant-based tuna available to everyone.

Florian Ziesche - Co-Founder & CEO, 36ZERO Vision [The winner of the Best Assembly Idea 2022 at the 32nd German Assembly Congress]

The TechFounders program helped our solution enter the market and win global leaders in manufacturing as customers. The Ultimate DemoDay was a powerful platform to launch our fundraising and brought a lot of attention towards 36ZERO Vision (previously: FotoNow), allowing us to obtain new leads and reach out to investors directly. In the course of the program, we have benefited a lot from the leadership of the TechFounders team and experienced advisors.

David Hahn - Co-Founder & CEO, remberg [raised 12M+ in Series A]

Having the opportunity to work with an Industry Partner such as Festo was very exciting for us – this is what makes TechFounders really special. Besides that, the individual coaching and exchange with other teams helped us a lot to further develop our business.

Some of Our Corporate Partners

Datev copy
Festo logo
HP Tech Ventures
Knorr bremse
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Logo Wacker WEB g C 10
Wieland logo
Datev copy
Festo logo
HP Tech Ventures
Knorr bremse
Lanxess logo copy
Miele Logo M Red s RGB 1
Logo Wacker WEB g C 10
Wieland logo

TechFounders is part of UnternehmerTUM, Europe's largest center for start-ups and innovation

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From ambition to acceleration - UnternehmerTUM supports start-ups and founders at all stages

100+

Innovation partnerships per year

50+

Scalable start-ups per year

5000+

Participants per year

What makes our program unique

Our Latest News & Success Stories

Read our latest articles, alumni news, innovation landscapes, and program updates

All News & Articles
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