“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.”