Start-up support

Young and successful companies – many of them are spin-offs out of the universities – define the core of the location for healthcare in Bochum.

As to promote their growth, medlands.RUHR offers professional consulting service for start-up companies.

Besides individual consulting services concerning all important aspects of the start-up and funding of companies, the local start-up competition Senkrechtstarter provides an excellent platform to improve and perfect business concepts, while also offering the chance to find the ideal cooperation partners and to receive coaching by experts at special theme events.

Additional support for spin-offs is provided by the universities of Bochum: The Gründercampus Ruhr – an initiative of the Ruhr-University Bochum, the University of Applied Sciences Bochum, and the IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) of Middle Ruhr – approaches graduates and employees of the universities who are interested in the transition of research findings into marketable products.

Start-up companies that are looking for funding opportunities can find support from the Innovationsfonds Ruhr. The regional investment fond which is, in this way offered for the first time backs up innovative business concepts with equity each amounting up to € 50,000. Moreover, the business starters can benefit from the expertise of former entrepreneurs and top managers who are now volunteering as IHK-Senior-Experts in order to share their precious experiences. The innovation fund Ruhr is a joint initiative by the Ruhr-University Bochum, rubitec GmbH, Chamber of Industry and Commerce, IHK-Senior-Experts and Sparkasse Bochum and is sponsored by the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia.

Another important partner as regards the funding of start-up companies in the health management sector has been found with the Startbahn MedEcon Ruhr GmbH. Startbahn MedEcon Ruhr GmbH acts as sponsor and organizer of the start-up competition Startbahn Gründerwettbewerbe.Med which take place throughout Germany. The purpose of these competitions is to support innovative start-up companies in the health management sector, as well as to facilitate the kick-off of concepts that bear potential for innovation in the market of medical economics, while, furthermore, promoting the continuous advancement of young companies acting in the medical economics sector.