RWTH Incubation Program - Apply now!

Overview
Join our 3-month acceleration program for early-stage deep tech start-ups and participate in a uniquely structured program including coaching sessions, professional mentoring and inspiring workshops. We will give you access to our broad investor network, the vast research landscape of RWTH and other partner within our ecosystem. Apply now and become part of our Fall Batch '25!

The program's main offering includes:

  • 1:1 Coaching: Receive weekly feedback sessions with our great coaches (mostly experienced strategy consultants)
  • Workshop Curriculum: Build your knowledge base with expert workshops on Fundraising & Pitching, Legal Basics as well as Organization & Scalling
  • Investor relations: Use networking opportunities with VCs and Business Angels
  • Mentoring: Benefit from the experience of successful founders & experts tailored to your industry
  • Expert Hubs: Use resources and networks in our topic-specific RWTH Expert Hubs, validate your product and get practical feedback
  • Benefits & Services: Get customized benefits such as software offers, cloud services and legal office hours
  • Additional Benefits: Get access to our large co-founder network as well as our co-working spaces of the Collective Incubator & digitalHUB

Target Group
Mature founding teams that seek to make the next step to achieve product-market-fit and investor-readiness, preferably from NRW.

Requirements

  • Motivated start-up teams with a clear technology-focused business plan
  • Initial pre-seed investment (alternatively: EXIST, bootstrapped) at least for program duration
  • Commitment from founders: We expect at least one representative of the founding team to attend all program workshops and meetings (participation will take approximately 1-2 hours per week). Important: For all in-person events (Kick-Off, 2-Day Legal Sprint, Demo Day) we expect participation of the entire founding team.

Application Open: 27.05.25
Application Deadline: 14.07.25
Selection Day: 24.07.25

To find out more about the program, check out our website.
https://www.rwth-innovation.de/de/gruender/incubation-programm

Lead Contact (First & Last Name) *

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E-Mail *

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Phone number *

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What's your company’s name ? *

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Founding Team *
Please add your respective LinkedIn profiles. If not available, please briefly describe your profile for each founder (name, education, study subject, relevant (work) experience).

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In which city is your start-up currently located? *

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Industry focus (multiple answers possible) *
Agri- & FoodTech|BioTech|CleanTech|DeepTech|Digital|EdTech|Hardware|HealthTech|FinTech|Industry 4.0|InsurTech|MedTech|Mobility|Sustainability

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With One-Sentence-Answer each: Please state your (1) problem, (2) solution, (3) product and (4) USP: *

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Please share your pitch deck as a PDF. *
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Website

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Have you incorporated or formed any legal entity yet? *
Have you taken any investment yet? *
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What do you aim to achieve during your time in the Incubation Program? *

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How did you hear about us? *
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Is this the first time you apply to our program? *
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