Which universities produce the most successful founders? How do the start-up ecosystems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland differ? A new study shows how many jobs start-ups have created over the past decade, how much funding they have raised, and within what timeframe graduates launched their companies. The majority of successes are concentrated among founding teams from just a few universities. TUM, WHU, the University of St. Gallen and ETH Zurich are most frequently at the top of the list.
Last year, the study "Entrepreneurial Impact of Academic Institutions" provided the first comprehensive overview of where start-up founders in Germany, Austria and Switzerland had studied and conducted research. Now, the research team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), ETH Zurich and the University of Innsbruck has further analyzed the data on the approximately 51,000 start-ups founded in the three countries between 2014 and 2024. The results presented today at TUM Entrepreneurship Day provide an important foundation for entrepreneurship support and higher education policy and reveal which universities are shaping the start-up landscape.
Number of employees
Most jobs in German-speaking countries were created by start-ups offering enterprise software. These are followed by the transportation, energy and fintech sectors. The distribution in Switzerland and Austria differs. In Switzerland, fintech and the health sector lead, while in Austria, the energy sector takes the lead.
In the ranking of universities and non-university research associations, there are four institutions whose students, researchers and alumni have created more than 20,000 jobs through their start-ups: TUM (around 25,500), WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management (25,000), the University of St. Gallen (21,500) and ETH Zurich (21,000). When measured by the number of start-ups employing more than 50 people, founding teams with at least one founder from TUM (90), the University of St. Gallen (85) and WHU (76) are the most successful.
The first part of the study had already shown that most start-ups were founded by students, staff and alumni of TUM (around 1,100), ETH Zurich (1,000) and the University of St. Gallen (850). When the number of start-ups is compared to the number of students at these universities, WHU leads the way (350 start-ups per 1,000 students).
Funding
The amount of funding raised by start-ups varies widely. While 10 % were able to raise more than 20 million euros, more than 40 % raised less than one million euros. The largest share of investment went to start-ups in the fintech, health and software sectors. The transportation sector attracted the highest amount of funding per company.
Founders from TUM raised the highest total amount (around 8.6 billion euros). They were followed by founders from the University of St. Gallen (6.6 billion) and WHU (6.1 billion). Teams from WHU achieved the highest median figure (4.4 million), while teams from LMU Munich achieved the highest average figure (33.2 million).
Post-graduation founding time and prior experience
Nearly 40 % of entrepreneurs start their business within the first two years after earning their (most recent) university degree. The average time is six years. On average, women start a business one year earlier than men. The time to founding a business in Germany is one year shorter than in Switzerland. If founders worked for other companies after earning their university degree, they predominantly worked for DAX-listed corporations - mostly in the industrial sector - and management consultancies. The proportion in the IT sector is significantly smaller.
Graduates of the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management start their own businesses the fastest after graduation (4.4 years), followed by alumni of TUM and WHU (4.7 years each).
Methodology
The research team collected data on start-ups founded between 2014 and 2024 including their founders, employees and funding using databases and platforms such as Startupdetector, Austrian Startup Monitor, Startupticker.ch, Startup.ch, Dealroom, Crunchbase and Pitchbook, as well as LinkedIn profiles. The start-ups were assigned to the various academic institutions if those institutions had contributed substantially to the educational and career backgrounds of the founding teams.
Tretow, I., Lemanczyk, P., Treffers, T., Welpe, I.M., Clarysse, B., Füller, J. (2026). Entrepreneurial Impact of Academic Institutions 2026 in DACH Region: Munich Impact Study - Deep Dive Analysis .
- Summary of the main study
- The study was funded as part of the Excellence Strategy of the federal and state governments.
- TUM Entrepreneurship Day
