Centre for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and SME Management (CENTIM)

Start-up Summer School 2026

Date

Monday, 10 August 2026

to Friday, 14 August 2026

Time

10 a.m. to 5 p.m

Location

Brühler Straße 7 (Bonn) and Digitalhub at Bonn Central Station

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Create your own start-up in 5 days: this is the Start-up Summer School organised by the Start-up-Manufaktur and the Transfer Center enaCom (University of Bonn). Here you will develop your own start-up ideas in a team. You will be supported by our experienced coaches and learn everything you need to know about founding a company. In addition, successful founders enrich our programme with authentic insights into the real start-up world.

Programme

The Summer School offers a varied mix: every day there is a technical impulse on the planned daily goal as well as methodological training with personal guidance. There is also plenty of time for research and individual or team work. In between, you will regularly present your results and progress and receive personal feedback from the trainers and the group.

Please indicate when you register whether you prefer German or English as the language of instruction.

Secure your place now!

No idea of your own? No problem! At the Start-up Summer School, the focus is on working together. In interdisciplinary teams, you will develop creative solutions or contribute your expertise to existing projects.

Day 1: Idea generation & business model development

You start with an introduction and get to know the other participants. After a creative brainstorming session, you will form teams and develop your first business models - supported by GenAI and Perplexity.

Day 2: Problem validation with user interviews

You formulate hypotheses about customer needs and test them directly in the field. You collect valuable feedback through interviews with potential users and refine your ideas iteratively.

Day 3: Market analysis & expert insights

After further surveys, you will analyse market size, competition and trends. An inspiring keynote speech and testimonials from successful founders will give you valuable insights.

Day 4: Prototyping & pitch preparation

You develop initial prototypes or mock-ups of your products/services. You then fine-tune your pitches to present your business idea convincingly.

Day 5: Communication training & final pitch

Professional communication training will prepare you for the stage. You will then present your ideas to a jury of experienced founders and coaches.

Done: Completion

After an informative, exciting and perhaps exhausting 5 days of work at the Start-up Summer School, you will not only have gained important business experience, but will of course also receive a certificate for participating in this professional training programme.

The Start-up Summer School is a joint programme of Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (represented by the Start-up-Manufaktur) and the University of Bonn (Transfer Center enaCom). All members of the two universities can register for the free programme (students, employees, alumni).

Please note that registration for the Start-up Summer School means participation in all five workshop days.