Entrepreneurship & Startups
Startups in Berlin’s Academic Ecosystem
As a postdoc, you’ve already proven you can generate knowledge, master complex methods, and carry a project through to publication. But what if those skills could also fuel something outside the lab, for example a product, a service, or even an entire company? For many researchers, entrepreneurship is becoming a third career path alongside academia and industry. It offers a way to apply deep expertise in practice, to work at a faster rhythm, and to see innovation reach society directly.
Few places make that easier than Berlin. The city’s startup scene isn’t some far-off world of unicorns: It is next door to your lab, your library or your maker space. Within the BUA institutions and across the city, researchers are already building ventures that tackle pressing challenges in AI, quantum technologies, green chemistry, health, and more.
Postdocs can explore entrepreneurship with guidance, community, funding opportunities, and infrastructure through startup centers at the BUA institutions, technology transfer offices, and citywide partners – such as Science & Startups, AI Nation, Humboldt Innovation, FU’s Digital Entrepreneurship Hub (DEH), TU’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Match-and-Connect at Charité, Innovate!, and the new UNITE platform.
“Come as you are, and let’s test your idea”: Ronja Kolls on Science & Startups
“Berlin’s startup ecosystem can feel huge from the outside,” says Ronja Kolls from Science & Startups. “Our job is to make the first step radically simple: book a low-threshold initial consultation, tell us what you’re curious about, and we’ll explore together whether founding is right for you.”
Science & Startups is the joint startup network of TU, FU, and HU Berlin, in close partnership with Charité. Because it’s publicly funded, the support is free and also equity-free. “We want your ideas to thrive,” Kolls says. Whether you’re validating a molecule, refining a diagnostic, or imagining a data product with deep domain insight: “You don’t need a perfect pitch. Just bring your research energy. We’ll stress-test the novelty, map the path to grants, and connect you with the right cluster and coaches.”
Because the network spans the BUA institutions, founders can access labs, workshops, co-working spaces, and specialized research facilities wherever they fit best. “The clusters – AI, Quantum, Communications and GreenChem – keep things close to the science,” Kolls says. “You’ll meet specialists who speak your language and know your space.”
Funding is often the next question, and here the network is unusually rich: Berliner Startup Stipendium, EXIST Startup Grant, EXIST Transfer of Research (phases 1 & 2), GO-Bio next, and tailored programs like EXIST Women. “Stipends are a big deal,” Kolls adds. “They buy you time to validate, build, and talk to users – without giving away equity.”
The Science & Startups Academy provides the practical knowledge: workshops on market strategy, GDPR and commercial law, pricing, deal-making, and investor readiness. “We want founders to understand both the science and the business levers,” Kolls says.
Community is the network’s true superpower. “Our founders learn from each other”, Kolls says. “They share failures, swap contacts, and even find co-founders.” A dedicated co-founder matchmaking platform helps teams take shape across disciplines and institutions. Science & Startups also helps with IP and patent guidance, legal workshops, and investor introductions when a team is ready. “Universities want spin-offs to succeed”, Kolls says. “Our role is to reach fair agreements so innovation can reach the market.”
Just as important, the doorway is wide open even if you’re unsure. “We also work with postdocs who simply want to explore entrepreneurship as a career path,” Kolls says. “For some, the answer is ‘not now’ and that’s a good outcome too. The point is to give you touchpoints: a conversation, a workshop, a cluster event or a stipend application.” The network also stretches beyond academia into Berlin’s economy and civic partners. “We’re super-connected in the region,” Kolls says. “If there’s a company, a clinic, or a city actor you should meet, we’ll make the connection.”
Her advice to a postdoc with “that itch” to try something: “Don’t wait for the perfect dataset. Come as you are. Book the first consult. In four weeks, you could have a sharper idea, a path to funding, and two potential co-founders. It’s low-risk, high-learning and can be the start of something remarkable.”
“Try it in a safe sandbox, then decide”: Jonathan Zebhäuser on AI Nation
In Berlin, startup support has become a vital part of the ecosystem. It gives postdocs a low-risk way to experiment with entrepreneurship through stipends, public funding, mentoring, and community, before making long-term career decisions. The payoff is not only the possibility of building a company, but also a stronger professional network, transferable skills, and new career options beyond the lab.
The mix of science and entrepreneurship is what excites Jonathan Zebhäuser, who works at the AI entrepreneurship initiative AI Nation. For him, the value proposition to postdocs is both scientific and cultural. “In startups you still experiment,” he says, “just on shorter cycles. You test, get feedback, and iterate.” For researchers who love building new things, that change of rhythm can be energizing. “You bring deep domain knowledge,” Zebhäuser says, “and pair it with technical talent – or the other way around. In AI as a cross-cutting technology, that combination is gold.”
The program ladder is designed to make the first step into entrepreneurship as safe as possible for researchers. Postdocs can start with early validation programs, such as the Bridge-to-Market track in the AI cluster. Teams there spend six months testing whether their idea is technically feasible and whether there’s a real market for it. “The goal is simple,” Zebhäuser says: “Validate fast. If it works, you can move on to EXIST; if not, you’ve still gained valuable experience and options for your career.”
From there, the funding path moves in stages: an initial stipend such as the Berliner Startup Stipendium; the EXIST Startup Grant, which provides about a year of funding to build and develop the venture full-time; and for more research-intensive projects, the EXIST Transfer of Research (phases 1 and 2), which allows a team to stay closely connected to the university while pushing toward market readiness. “Each university startup center has innovation managers and startup advisors who specialize in these programs,” Zebhäuser says. “They help sharpen your idea and guide you through the application process. You don’t have to navigate the bureaucracy alone.”
AI Nation offers specialized support for AI-driven ventures. It provides early-stage validation, incubation, and an accelerator program that has already guided dozens of AI startups through their first critical steps. Its mission is to empower AI entrepreneurs to scale quickly and sustainably. “Some founders come straight from postdoc roles; many pivot into AI from different disciplines,” Zebhäuser says. “The key is the match between team, problem, and users.”
To help teams take shape, AI Nation offers formats such as focused ideation workshops (“Deep Science Futures”) and larger networking sprints like The Pool, where researchers, industry experts, and potential founders collaborate intensively for a week. “We’ve seen teams meet there and move directly into funding,” Zebhäuser says.
Importantly, postdocs don’t have to quit academia overnight. “Most programs require at least one full-time founder,” Zebhäuser explains, “but transitional part-time arrangements are possible. Long term, you’ll choose your path, but the first year can be a low-risk trial phase.” And even if a venture doesn’t continue, the benefits remain. “You’ll have built a network across labs, clinics, and companies,” Zebhäuser says. “You’ll understand grants, validation, and regulatory basics. These skills transfer to industry, to translational roles, and even back into academia.”
His advice: “Start with curiosity. Test in a safe sandbox. And when you’re ready, we’ll help you hit go.”
“Don’t build alone”: Anja Kunack on UNITE
For many postdocs, the transition from research to the next career step is not straightforward. Years of expertise, promising results, and a strong network are in place, but how can all that be turned into something tangible beyond academia? A startup can be one answer, yet the road from scientific insight to a scalable company often feels fragmented: different programs, different institutions, and no clear map.
That is where UNITE comes in. “Berlin and Brandenburg already have everything you need for breakthrough companies,” says Anja Kunack, press spokesperson for UNITE. “But founders shouldn’t have to stitch the pieces together alone.” UNITE is the region’s emerging startup factory for science-based ventures, one of the federal lighthouse projects dedicated to strengthening deep-tech spin-offs from universities and research institutes.
Kunack describes UNITE as a transfer platform that connects world-class research with the structures, mentoring, and financing needed to grow a company. “Our basis is enormous – over 250,000 students and 30,000 researchers in the region – and a dense community of people already active in the startup ecosystem. UNITE’s role is to bundle, extend, and accelerate.”
The focus is clear: AI, health, and green technologies. Those are the fields where Berlin and Brandenburg can set international benchmarks. For postdocs, this translates into concrete opportunities: matching formats that pair researchers with complementary skills, for example a team with a strong problem but lacking programmers connected with engineers in search of a use case; and accelerator programs for deep-tech startups with international potential, designed to prevent promising projects from stalling after the incubator stage. “Especially in deep tech, the journey often breaks after the first mile,” Kunack notes. “Teams need more time, more capital, and dedicated mentoring to cross the valley to market. UNITE is designed to bridge that gap.”
At its core, UNITE is about broadening career horizons for researchers. “We want postdocs to see entrepreneurship as a serious, attractive option alongside academia or industry,” Kunack says. “Postdocs often have the combination we need: depth in a domain plus the drive to build,” she says. “Our job is to lower friction: clearer programs, better matches, faster routes to capital, and mentors who’ve shipped deep tech before.”
The platform itself is inter-institutional by design. Rather than isolated offers, UNITE works hand in hand with BUA partners, city institutions, transfer offices, Science & Startups, Charité, investors, and corporates, while adding shared infrastructure and coherent pathways. “We want a founder to see one map, not ten separate brochures,” Kunack explains.
Kunack’s advice mirrors the spirit of the platform: “Don’t build alone. Surface early, match widely, and use the region’s strength. The next generation of companies will be born at the intersections of disciplines, institutions, and people who decide to work as one.”
Technology Transfer: From Research to Real-World Impact
At its heart, technology transfer means turning research results into real-world applications, in particular through patents, collaborations, or even start-ups. “Technology transfer is present at all levels of the university,” says Christine Oesterhelt from the TU Berlin’s technology transfer team. For postdocs, it is more than just paperwork: It can open career doors and prevent valuable findings from vanishing into academic journals. “Many findings are sent straight to journals, even though they could have been patented. But once they are published, the opportunity to protect them is gone,” she says.
To prevent this, each BUA institution has specialized IP and technology transfer teams. Together with researchers, they determine whether a patent makes sense, who holds the rights, and what the next steps are. “Our principle is: priority for founders. Before we proceed, we first ask whether a patent is worthwhile and whether researchers want to use it themselves,” Oesterhelt says. Legal frameworks such as the German Employee Inventions Act ensure inventions are properly reported and can create value.
Training opportunities are another key element. “We run the Transfer School, which is open to all BUA members,” Oesterhelt says. Its core modules cover intellectual property, patents, and entrepreneurship. “These offers can broaden your career options far beyond the academic path.”
For postdocs, engaging in technology transfer can be a decisive career asset. “If you have already developed something in a third-party project, worked with industry partners, or gone through a transfer process, it makes you much more attractive to future employers,” Oesterhelt says. Such experience shows that you can bridge research and application, which is a skill that is highly valued both inside and outside academia.
Support also goes beyond patents: Transfer teams connect postdocs with industry partners, assist with third-party funding, and help navigate fields from AI and quantum computing to health and construction. “We see ourselves as facilitators,” says Oesterhelt. She encourages Postdocs to build networks early, look beyond their research bubble, and learn how transfer works. “Not everyone will become a professor, but even if you do, you will work with students and projects that involve technology transfer. Knowing the steps is essential.”