XPRENEURS Incubator Partners with Burda’s Growth Capital Arm Burda Principal Investments
BurdaPrincipal Investments (BPI) and UnternehmerTUM have entered into a partnership: The growth capital arm of media and technology company Hubert Burda Media and Europe’s leading Center for Innovation and Business Creation at Technical University of Munich (TUM) have started a cooperation to promote a strong network between start-ups, the incubator, and the business community. With the partnership, they want to jointly foster innovation and promote growth for exciting new start-ups.
Networking at an early stage
As a partner of UnternehmerTUM, BPI is part of the XPRENEURS incubation program that provides intensive support for selected high-tech early-stage start-ups from Germany and worldwide: In the three-month program, the participants receive intensive support on their way to market entry, including validation of the business model, securing financing, and acquisition of initial customers. The program, which has been in place for five years, has successfully supported 189 start-ups to date, including Air up, Isar Aerospace and Twaice. Two out of three start-ups receive venture capital funding and to date they have raised over 905 million euros.
BPI – Burda’s investment arm that is active internationally and focuses on consumer digital and technology companies – will, for example, offer workshops on the topic of "Environmental, Social & Governance". Start-ups will also learn about “investor readiness” first-hand. And in addition to benefiting from the knowledge of BPI experts, founders can also establish contacts with venture capital at an early stage.
"The partnership with UnternehmerTUM is a great opportunity for us to foster innovation within the local start-up ecosystem. Entrepreneurial spirit with the drive to create and develop innovation is one of our core values at Burda. That's why we want to work with one of Europe's leading business incubators to provide even better support for entrepreneurs giving them the opportunity to turn their visions into reality."
Martin Weiss, CEO of Hubert Burda Media
"As a growth capital arm, we work closely with our portfolio companies, and we are in regular contact with various stakeholders. Through the partnership with UnternehmerTUM, we get even closer to the local start-up market and can support founders at an early stage with our expertise and network. We are looking forward to exchanging ideas with the start-ups and connecting them with our portfolio companies. We are convinced that we will all benefit from the cooperation."
Christian Teichmann, CEO at Burda Principal Investments
"We are united by the idea of combining science and entrepreneurship to create innovation for a sustainable future. With their media business, investment activities and communication platforms, Burda and BPI already have a strong impact on the Munich start-up ecosystem. The new partnership enables us to even better bundle our strengths and foster the next generation of successful European entrepreneurs."
Helmut Schönenberger, Founder and CEO of UnternehmerTUM
UnternehmerTUM: "Entrepreneurial Thinking and Acting" at an early stage
UnternehmerTUM offers founders and start-ups a complete service from the initial idea to IPO. Part of their programs is to mobilize students, scientists and tech talents around the topic "entrepreneurial thinking and acting" at an early stage. The center enables them to take on entrepreneurial responsibility and put the theories learned during their studies into practice. In doing so, the innovation teams test their business concepts, by realising them in a model or prototype and testing them with potential customers.
