Entrepreneurship Services & Shareholdings
The Entrepreneurship Services & Shareholdings (ESS) department at KIT specifically promotes technology-based startups and fosters early awareness of entrepreneurship among students, researchers, and staff – from the initial idea through coaching and funding programs to start-up investments and the establishment of a vibrant entrepreneurial culture. This is achieved through its two key initiatives: KIT-Gründerschmiede and maKeIT.
The KIT-Gründerschmiede is one of the largest university-based startup centers in Germany and the central contact point for technology-based startups. Since 2013, it has been supporting founders in all phases of setting up a company – from the initial idea to scaling up. With a comprehensive range of coaching, mentoring and event formats, innovative business ideas are supported, access to funding programmes and accelerators is facilitated, and startups are networked with industry, investors and strategic partners KIT also invests in spin-offs.
With the maKeIT initiative, KIT promotes an entrepreneurial mindset in research. The goal of this intrapreneurship program is to strengthen the understanding that scientific findings can and should be translated into impact for industry and society – whether through startups, industry collaborations, public dialogue, or other forms of knowledge transfer. Researchers with promising topics or concrete results who are unsure how to realize their potential receive hands-on support through maKeIT. Together with experts, opportunities are identified, resources mobilized, and individual transfer paths developed – true to the program’s name: maKeIT – make it happen!
