Ideation Program By RWTH Innovation Entrepreneurship Center
From idea to pre-seed readiness: The ideation program is a 3-month program which enables you and your team to get your first idea off the ground! With a dedicated coach, you will sharpen your idea, develop a business plan, pitch deck and present your idea in several pitch sessions! If you have a cool idea that you want to take to the next level you came to the right place - read more below!
Apply now!
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What can you expect from the program?

Advantages of the ideation program

The ideation program provides a variety of advantages for you. Several success cases have taken part in the ideation program - will you be the next one?
1-on-1 support from our experienced ideation coaches during all 3 months of the program

Pitch practice sessions with other teams incl. opportunity to pitch in front of VCs at Ideation Days

Workshops on several topics incl. access to valuable working materials

Support with potential grant application (e.g., EXIST Förderprogramm)

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How is the program structured?

The ideation program in detail

The program is structured along three milestones: Kick-off, Half-time Pitch and Final Pitch. Within 3 months you will work out essential elements for your future company in continuous 1:1 coaching. During the program you will develop a pitch deck, a short idea paper and a business plan. You will be supported by a designated coach throughout the entire period, who will help challenge your ideas and outputs. If funding is needed, your team can also apply for grants (e.g., EXIST Förderprogramm). We are happy to help you prepare the relevant documents for the application. ----------------------------- 3-month schedule (incl. weekly touchpoints with coach) -----------------------------
Kick-Off (Week 1)
• Get to know the batch and your personal coach • Present a short elevator pitch of your idea • Familiarize yourself with the Aachen startup environment Location: Collective Incubator
Half-Time Pitch (Week 6)
• Present your idea in a dedicated practice pitch exercise to receive feedback from peers and further sharpen your idea • Continue developing your pitch deck, idea paper and business plan with input from your coach • Optional: Start gathering materials for grant application (e.g., EXIST Förderprogramm) Location: Zoom
Final Pitch (Week 12)
• Present your results in the final pitch and receive constructive, well-founded feedback • Hand in finalized documents: pitch deck, idea paper (2-pager) and business plan • Optional: Finalize grant application in coordination with the ideation team Location: Collective Incubator

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Who is the ideation program for?

Target Group

Everyone with an innovative idea can participate in the ideation program! Whether you have a very early-stage or a more refined idea, we want to help you validate your idea during the 3-month program. We choose teams for the ideation program that show strong performance on the following four dimensions. For solo founders, we offer support in finding co-founders. for idea generation, we recommend participation in the Founders' Bootcamp.

Strong Team

Show us that you have complementary skill profiles and may already have a mentoring circle. We want to see that you are motivated and have a great interest in the program.

Innovative idea

Do you have an innovative idea that fills a gap in the market? Show us that you are competitive thanks to your research-led edge and possibly already existing IP.

Solid business model

We want to see that your business model is well thought through. Ideally, you even have your first pilot customers.

Feasible implementation

Convince us that your idea can be transformed into a fully comprehensive business plan within the framework of our program and then quickly brought to market.
Once your team has been accepted to the ideation program, we need full commitment from you and your team - at least 10h per week for 3 months. The entire program is part of the Excellence Start-up Center.NRW funding project and does not include an IP or participation task.

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What are additional benefits?

Additional elements of the Ideation program

On top of 1-on-1 coaching, pitches and grant application support, the ideation program can connect your team with relevant experts and provides you with workshops on a variety of founder-related topics.

Expert Hubs

Connect with leading research experts, access RWTH infrastructure, co-working spaces and stay on top of trends through networking events.

Founder-related workshops

Deep dive into specific founder-related topics through the workshop offering from the ideation program.
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Expert Hubs - additional information

Founder-related workshops - additional information

Become a part of the ideation program and click below to apply!

Apply here!