Kick­Start@HNU

All members of the HNU can participate: students, (academic) staff and professors. Both individuals and teams are eligible for funding.

Good news: If there are people in your team who are not HNU members, there is no problem at all. External members can join if they attain the status of HNU university members.

Individuals who are not HNU members cannot be sponsored.

Good News: If there are individuals in your team who are not HNU members, it is not a problem at all. External members can join if they attain the status of HNU university members.

The funds are not paid out in cash, but are only used directly for the implementation of the idea. The procurement of special parts, material, licenses, etc. and special consulting services is carried out by the Founders Space of HNU.

The procured items as well as the created prototypes are property of the university. Further use after the funding is decided in consultation with HNU and the project sponsor.

Good news: The Founders Space team will closely accompany and support you for a total of six months. In addition, you will have access to the premises and technical resources at Founders Space and Innovation Space.

Funding is available to individuals and teams who want to test their particularly innovative research ideas that could lead to a start-up. This includes, for example, providing a proof-of-principle, building a demonstrator or a prototype. If successful, the idea test should lead to the further pursuit of the start-up idea.

If the product is already on the market, your company is already founded or you do not plan to found a company at all, participation in the KickStart program is unfortunately not possible.

If your idea is already funded by another grant, such as EXIST, you unfortunately cannot participate in KickStart either.

Funds may be used for necessary materials, rental or purchase of specialized equipment, fabrication of specialized parts, software licensing, and specialized consulting services.

Personnel expenses or funds to cover living expenses can not be funded.

The application process consists of three steps:

1. Apply via the online form.
If your application meets the KickStart requirements, you will receive an invitation to a coaching meeting.

2. Present your idea at a coaching meeting in the Founders Space.
In an exchange, we will find out together how mature your idea is for an application.  If necessary, you will have to take further steps before proceeding (e.g. further research).

3. After approval by the HNU, the funding of your idea must be approved by the project management organization VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research - BMBF. For this purpose, you fill out an application with the support of our team, in which information about your project is given. 

Now you can get started! You have a total of six months to test your idea. The necessary materials and services will be ordered on an ongoing basis by the Founders Space team based on your planning and current needs. During this period, you also have access to the premises, services, events and exchange opportunities in Founders Space and Innovation Space, as well as to our mentoring pool.

The awarding of the KickStart@FH funds is part of a funding project of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the StartUpLab@FH (opens in a new window) guideline.