Four universities in the Rhine-Main region are joining forces to boost the regional start-up scene. In terms of research specialisations, the spectrum between Gutenberg University Mainz, Frankfurt School, Goethe University Frankfurt and TU Darmstadt is sometimes very broad, ranging from medicine, business administration and finance to law and the humanities. This is to be welcomed, as it benefits the diversity of the start-up scene.

However, the question arises as to whether the initiative is coming a bit late. Although start-up support from universities in Germany has been intensified over the past two decades, it has been difficult to observe a sustainable effect on start-up activity. According to a survey by KfW Research, the annual number of start-ups has been hovering around the 600,000 mark since 2017. The trend is roughly the same for full-time and part-time start-ups.

This is a dramatic decline compared to 2002 and 2003, when more than twice as many start-ups were counted. In 2003, the number was at its highest level at 1.5 million. Start-up associations repeatedly point out the reasons for the decline: excessive bureaucratic hurdles, a venture capital scene that is too small in international comparison, and problems finding qualified employees or co-founders. The latter often prefer to stay in start-up centres abroad. This is because, in addition to higher investment sums, they often find more expertise there, especially in research-related fields.

A look at the USA in particular shows this. There, cooperation with research centres at elite Ivy League universities has proven to be the first, indispensable building block for a large number of commercially successful start-ups. This is particularly true for scientific fields and medical start-ups. The number of founders among graduates of leading business schools is also disproportionately high.

The best business schools in Europe recognised this years ago and have been trying to copy this approach ever since. The most prestigious addresses, including London Business School, HEC Paris and Insead in France or Milan's Bocconi University, already successfully maintain entrepreneurship centres. Many of the young companies that have emerged from these centres have now reached market maturity. The latest initiative from the Rhine-Main region is trying to emulate this model. One wonders why the universities did not join forces five or ten years ago to promote start-up activity.

It does not reflect well on the state of start-up promotion in this country that four universities have to join forces to get the necessary horsepower on the road. It proves once again that individual US universities are thinking on a completely different scale. There, the suggestion that Harvard and MIT, for example, should join forces to create successful start-ups would only be laughed at. With this in mind, the Rhine-Main Initiative should set itself higher goals. The four universities want to create 1,000 start-ups with their „Future Factory“ by 2030. Each university would therefore have an average of 50 start-ups per year.

With a survival rate of 50%, just 500 of these would remain by 2035. That is modest even by national standards. After all, TU Berlin alone produced almost as many start-ups between 2014 and 2022. As the frontrunner, TU Munich had already achieved over 800 by 2022. High time to fire up the turbo elsewhere too.