Startup Your Life. With new impulses.
Ideas need courage, exchange with others, and entrepreneurial thinking. With the Founders@IUG network at IU International University, we connect students and alumni who want to found a startup and realize their ideas. In a strong network of experts and like-minded people, you can exchange ideas, further develop your startup ideas, and implement them.
Whether it's a tech startup, social startup, or eco startup – you are not alone.
That's what we want to achieve together:
Impulses for the development and founding of your startup
Self-employment with responsibility and implementation power
Strengthening your network
Together with us, you can build a network that will really get you ahead. With Founders@IUG, we offer you the right start-up platform for real entrepreneurship. Visit our networking events, read exciting interviews and connect with fellow students and other founders.
Entrepreneurial networking and programme
Mentoring programme on IU Connect!
You want to start a business but don't know how? Would you like to exchange ideas with other founders?
Have you already founded a company and want to pass on your experience?
Become part of our mentoring program! Find your mentor on IU Connect or offer your support as a mentor! How does it work? It's very simple!
EXIST START-UP GRANT
Would you like to start a business but lack the support and budget? Then the EXIST start-up grant could be for you!
With the initiative Start-ups from Science, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Union support university graduates and students in preparing to start their own businesses.
On the first Tuesday of every month, you can join us live at our information event on the EXIST start-up grant! To register, send an email to founders@iu.org and secure your place now.
More informationCurrent networking events
Do you have a start-up idea or are you generally interested in start-up projects? Founders@IUG offers you a startup platform to network with other successful founders and startups. You will also receive valuable information and insights at our networking events.
Startup Dates - your direct line to the start-up scene!
Are you studying and want more than just theory? Startup Dates puts you in direct contact with successful founders who share their personal stories, challenges and successes. Experience first-hand how passion and tenacity can push the boundaries of what is possible.
What can you expect?
Deep insights into the world of startups through conversations with founders.
Inspiration that will awaken the entrepreneurial spirit in you.
Find out how student ideas became successful ventures.
Practical insights: learn from the best of the best and broaden your horizons.
When & where?
Next Startup Date is on 18 November 2025 from 5 pm (online) with Daniel Krauss - founder of Flix Mobility
You can find more Startup Dates on the registration page. Participation is free of charge.
Register now!Interviews with founders
Look forward to interviews with founders who will present their start-up projects. All from the IU circle - i.e. employees, alumni, award winners, Venture Programme participants or female founders.
Would you like to get in touch with someone or present your startup idea yourself in an interview? Write to us!
Pierre Moeckel, co-founder of Beetroute
Beetroute simplifies your grocery shopping. Shopping lists are transformed into personalised shopping baskets in real time - precisely, reliably and based on real-time market data. Supported by the EXIST start-up grant. Find out more in this interview with Pierre.
To the interview
Kristina Schreiner, Co-founder Chewsome
Read in this interview how Kristina and her co-founder Victoria are revolutionising the market for baby food, what it was like to start up as a mother and what tips she has for future founders.
To the interview
Christoph Kohler, Founder of WingX
Read in this interview how our Alumni Award winner Christoph Kohler is revolutionising the aerospace industry with WINGX and how exciting aviation and data science can be!
To the interview
Lisa Eppel, Founder "Ad Girls Club"
With the "Ad Girls Club", our New Work Bachelor student Lisa Eppel fights against sexist behaviour towards female colleagues in the advertising industry!
Find out in this interview what exactly is behind this initiative and what Lisa wants to achieve with it!
To the interview
Prof. Dr. Stefan Remhof, Founder of Thesis2Go
In this interview, learn how our professor turned a mishap into an innovation and how it can also help you with your Bachelor Thesis.
To the interview
Gertrud-Luise Lakemann, Founder Balilwana e.V.
Read in this interview what great and valuable work Getrud-Luise and her association Balilwana e.V. are doing in Uganda and how her social management studies at IU are helping her!
To the interview
Raphael Ott, Co-Founder of Sodex Innovations GmbH
Study and gain a foothold in the construction industry as a young and innovative start-up? In his interview, Raphael, co-founder of Sodex Innovations GmbH, reports on how this is possible and who or what helps him.
Studying and successfully founding a company at the same time works!
To the interview
Jennifer Martens, Ōmaka Founder
This impressive Female-Founder interview is not only about the success story of ŌMAKA, but also about Jennifer's overall goals: to make the world more diverse and enlightened.
To the interview
Robin Renschler, Co-Founder & CEO of Hoscom
How does Robin Renschler and his team want to digitalise the luxury hotel industry with HOSCOM? Read how our IU Alumni wants to revolutionise the work in the hotel industry and even won the Founder's Prize+ of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK)!
To the interview
Luisa Schmid, "Studium im Gepäck" Co-Founder
It's a question that many students ask themselves: How can I discover the world and still study? Find out here what the idea behind "Studium im Gepäck" is...
To the interview
Caro Noack, "Junity Travel" Founder
Read here how Caro Noack dealt with the first lockdown shortly after founding "Junity", a travel platform for accessible travel, and why accessibility is a topic close to Caro's heart!
To the interview
Anita Wandinger, CEO of AWA Hotel
From her dream as an opera singer to the successful CEO of a family business! Anita graduated with a double degree in International Hospitality Management from IU, won the Alumni Award for Entrepreneurship in 2021 and now successfully runs the family-owned AWA Hotel in Munich! Learn more about Anita and her visions in this interview.
To the interviewInterviews with experts
Prof. Mirko Bendig, Head of the “B.A. Entrepreneurship Programme“
What can I expect from the Entrepreneurship programme? What can I expect during my studies and what practical experience does my professor have? Find out more here...
Read more
Prof. Dr. Nicolai Krüger, Professor for Business Informatics
How does ChatGpt help with the start-up process? How will the start-up process change in the near future?
Prof. Dr. Nicolai Krüger, Professor of Business Informatics, has been dealing with these and many more questions for years. In this interview, he gives us a little insight into the exciting topic of "start-up intelligence" and ideas about what the start-up of tomorrow might look like.
To the interviewStudies
Sabrina Micklich
Founders@IUG
Awards, accreditations and certifications
