The following text has been machine translated from German.
The Startup Radar evaluates startup support at German universities based on various criteria, including the institutional anchoring of entrepreneurship, awareness-raising and qualification in entrepreneurship, startup support services, startup activities, monitoring and evaluation, and networking. Saarland University once again achieved outstanding results across these categories, ranking ahead of many other renowned universities. The overall ranking includes 48 large universities out of a total of 191 participating higher education institutions, which are classified into large, medium-sized, and small universities.
University President Prof. Dr. Ludger Santen stated:
“Our renewed top ranking in the 2025 Startup Radar highlights the excellent work being done at Saarland University at the interface between science and industry. We intend to continue living up to the pioneering role we assumed 30 years ago with Germany’s first university-based starter center. To this end, we are continuously developing as an entrepreneurial university with a wide range of offerings in entrepreneurship, innovation, and startup support.”
Ralf Zastrau, Managing Director of Triathlon, emphasized the importance of startup activities for the region:
“Our excellent position in the Startup Radar shows that we have succeeded in establishing a sustainable and dynamic startup culture at the university and across the region. The fact that we also reached the final round of the nationwide ‘Startup Factory’ competition last year is clear evidence that our initiatives are gaining recognition far beyond the region.”
Jürgen Barke, Minister for Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy, added:
“In recent years, Saarland has invested significantly in the development of its startup and innovation ecosystem. Being excellently positioned in this ranking as a ‘hidden champion’ compared to the supposedly ‘big players’ clearly demonstrates how important integrated, regional startup infrastructures have become—an area we have systematically built up and supported over many years. The state will continue to strongly support this development, because successful startups today are the jobs of tomorrow. In the context of structural transformation, the creation of innovative startups will make a key contribution to shaping the transition toward future-oriented industries and thereby securing Saarland’s long-term competitiveness.”
The Startup Radar of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft is the central indicator of startup activity in the environment of universities and higher education institutions in Germany. The Stifterverband has now published the latest ranking for 2024.
Detailed information on the current Startup Radar as well as the ranking of large universities can be found via the downloads provided.
