WHU on Winning Team of National Startup Factory Competition

Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) has announced the winners of the EXIST lighthouse competition Startup Factories (in German: EXIST-Leuchtturmwettbewerb Startup Factories)—and WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management, as a member of the Southwest X consortium, is among them. The ministry’s goal with this initiative is to significantly increase both the quality and the quantity of science-focused projects spun off from universities and research institutions in order to advance Germany’s reputation as a place for entrepreneurship. Over the next ten years, roughly 1,500 start-ups are to be founded, potentially generating up to 20,000 new jobs.

Southwest X is a collaboration between renowned partners: htw saar, with its outplacement company FITT GmbH; the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI); Max Planck Innovation GmbH; RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau; Saarland University; the Environmental Campus Birkenfeld at the Trier University of Applied Sciences; the Collège des Ingénieurs (Munich/Paris); and WHU (Düsseldorf/Vallendar). The group sees itself as a bridge between science, the economy, and society; geographically, it covers the German Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, as well as parts of France and Luxembourg.

To date, the consortium has raised €12.5M through private partners, supporters, and other companies. Over the next five years, the BMWE will supplement these funds with a further €10M, with the aim of building a supra-regional ecosystem that promotes innovation, helps found start-ups, and connects these younger companies with those already established. Apart from close partnerships with regional and national research organizations, there are also plans to collaborate with SMEs, industrial partners, investors, and the greater financial sector. WHU’s students and alumni will provide their entrepreneurial expertise to the start-ups spun off from the consortium and, in return, will receive technical knowledge from a variety of industries that have a strong focus on the future.

“The recognition as a ‘start-up factory’ by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy is a well-deserved confirmation of the excellent work conducted by all of our partners at Southwest X, as well as of the tried-and-true entrepreneurial mindset we have at WHU,” says Professor Christian Andres, Dean of WHU. “With us very recently having claimed the top position in two independent studies as the most entrepreneurially efficient university in the German-speaking world, this recognition from the federal government is further proof of WHU’s decisive role when it comes to entrepreneurship and innovation—topics crucial to our economy and our society. Our heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to this shared success. All of us have much to be proud of.” As noted, both the Redstone University Startup Index 2025 from venture capital firm Redstone and the Entrepreneurial Impact of Academic Institutions 2025 from the Technical University of Munich confirm that WHU is one of Europe’s top schools for entrepreneurship.

“We also shouldn’t forget what good news this is for the regions involved,” notes Professor Andres. “This project could generate thousands of new jobs with good career prospects.” 

Michael Welz, WHU alum and co-founder of Southwest X, says, “With this project, we have the incredible opportunity to bring together our talented entrepreneurs with the tech-savvy minds at our partner organizations. Our systematic approach will allow students and alumni to found innovative deep-tech start-ups.”

Southwest X places particular focus on the responsible use of both artificial intelligence and green transformation. There are plans to develop innovative and ecologically and economically sustainable solutions: Start-ups will receive access to a deep-tech infrastructure, personal coaching, and proven pathways to market—from the conceptualization phase all the way to the scaling process. Southwest X places great importance on its international orientation, one of its most unique attributes. The cooperations reach across borders and create a dynamic ecosystem that facilitates an easy exchange of knowledge, technology, and capital. The project will be branded as “Southwest X – The Bridge to Innovation”—reflecting the supra-regional orientation of its transnational and dynamic entrepreneurial activities and the high-efficiency transfer of innovative ideas. 

Click here to read more about the EXIST lighthouse competition Startup Factories competition.