German university spin-offs spiralling

Brussels, 13 Feb 2003

Germany is experiencing a huge growth in the number of research and knowledge intensive spin-offs created by academics.

A recent study, commissioned by the German Ministry of Education and Research, and carried out by the European centre for economic research, has highlighted the high number of jobs created by the spin-offs - 13,000 every year - as well as the significant productivity growth of such companies - around 40 per cent higher than the growth of other businesses in this sector. The survey covered the years 1996 until 2000.

In 2000 alone, around 3,100 new companies were created by universities and research institutes. Most fall into one of three sectors: the knowledge intensive services, multimedia or telecommunications.

The ministry supports the setting up of spin-offs with its EXIST programme, which finances the creation of start-up networks in and around universities. The aim of the programme is to improve the start-up climate at German universities and to intensify the transfer of research results into economic added value. Fifteen such networks have already been created in five regions, stimulating the creation of over 550 innovative new companies.

For further information on the study, please visit:
http://www.bmbf.de/pub/spinoff-gruendung en_aus_der_oeffentlichen_forschung.pdf

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