Start-up Centre.NRW

Gateway GSU Cologne

The State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the EU are supporting the expansion of start-up support at the German Sport University Cologne.

As part of the ‘Start-up Centre.NRW’ funding competition, the Transfer and Start-up Department has secured funding for the further expansion of our Gateway DSHS Cologne Start-up Centre. This will enable us to lay the foundations for the targeted further development of start-up support at the German Sport University Cologne until the end of 2028.

For us, this means one thing above all:

more scope for ideas
more opportunities for networking and
even better support for those interested in starting a business in the fields of sport, performance, exercise and health.

Ansicht von oben auf einige Studenten mit großen Schatten die an einer Linie auf der Laufbahn der Deutschen Sporthochschule bereit stehen

The “Start-up Centre GSU Cologne” at the German Sport University Cologne was selected in July 2025 as one of a total of 14 higher education institutions as part of the state initiative “Start-up Centre.NRW”. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union are providing around 18 million euros for the programme from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Each of the 14 universities will thus receive up to 1.5 million euros between 2025 and 2028.

The objectives of the Start-up Centre Gateway GSU Cologne:

Tapping into start-up potential across all levels of the university
To increase the number and quality of spin-offs
Expanding the infrastructure to support start-ups
Raising the profile of the start-up support service
Developing and embedding a start-up culture practised across the whole university

The German Sport University Cologne has already been developing start-up-friendly structures from 2019 to 2025 as part of the Cologne Gateway Universities consortium and with the support of the state initiative ‘Exzellenz Start-up Center.NRW’. With the help of the state initiative “Start-up Centre.NRW”, it will now further develop its services, particularly for science-based business models in the sport and health market.

The plan is to establish or expand the following components:

Professionalisation of processes
Co-working space
Start-up alumni network
Ideation boot camp
Innovation awards

Sustaining start-up support:

The measures and structures developed will be permanently embedded within the university’s organisation. These include a start-up-friendly infrastructure, additional staff posts and the integration of entrepreneurship education into the curriculum.