TUM establishes battery start-up incubator

Battery technology TUM establishes battery start-up incubator

2025-02-06 From | Translated by AI 2 min Reading Time

A battery start-up incubator is currently being established at the Technical University of Munich. It is set to function as an integral part of the TUM Venture Labs, providing support and advice for those looking to start a company in the field of battery technology. The aim is to accelerate the market entry of new battery technologies from research and thus reduce dependency on imports.

A successful battery start-up from the TUM ecosystem is, for example, Twaice. Founder Stephan Rohr brought battery technology from research to the market.(Image: Uli Benz | TUM) — A successful battery start-up from the TUM ecosystem is, for example, Twaice. Founder Stephan Rohr brought battery technology from research to the market.
(Image: Uli Benz | TUM)

"Batteries are a key to the energy transition and electromobility, but so far at least 70 percent of global production comes from China. This dependency poses risks that we want to overcome through targeted support of local initiatives," emphasizes TUM Venture Labs CEO Dr. Philipp Gerbert and explains: "Germany has an enormously strong research position in this field, but the transition into economically viable companies is lacking. With BaStI, we are creating for the first time a nationwide networked ecosystem in Germany that supports technology-oriented entrepreneurs in the crucial startup phase."

Putting theory into practice

The Battery Startup Incubator (BaStI) combines scientific expertise with practical support. Prof. Jennifer L.M. Rupp, head of the TUM Chair of Solid State Electrolytes and founder of the battery startup Qkera, explains: "With BaStI, we focus on holistic support that combines technological innovation with entrepreneurial thinking. The goal is to more efficiently transfer scientific findings into market-ready products, thereby strengthening Germany's competitiveness. For this, we need industrial production right here on site."

The entrepreneurship center UnternehmerTUM introduces training formats like XPRENEURS and XPLORE into the project and complements the offering with practical access to a broad network of industry and investors. Specifically, it involves providing mentors, companies as initial customers, and support in fundraising. BaStI is implemented with the support of TUMint.Energy Research and Jennifer Rupp as project coordinator. With the Munich Excellence Cluster e-conversion, the incubator has corresponding energy science expertise directly on site.

Subsidies

A particular challenge for hardware battery startups that produce material components or even entire batteries is the high initial investments required. The development phase and scientific validation of an idea, as well as the actual founding phase and the construction of prototypes, are supported beyond BaStI and TUMint.Energy Research with independent funding instruments from the BMBF under the umbrella concept of battery research. (se)

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Date: 08.12.2025

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