Start-up
Welcome to the start-up centre for high-tech start-ups!
Jena is not only a traditional technology centre, but also a hotspot for innovative start-ups. Excellent research, an active start-up culture and a strong network come together here.
20 high-tech start-ups
per year
per year
Around 20 technology-oriented start-ups are created every year.
8 top start-ups from Jena
Between 2017 and 2021, eight of the eleven best start-ups in Thuringia were founded in Jena. Source: Top 50 Start-ups
367 patents per 100,000 inhabitants
367 patents per 100,000 inhabitants per year (for comparison: Ø DE ≈ 47).
Our services for Jena founders
- Space service for start-ups: Support in the search for suitable premises – from subsidised start-up offices in the Technology and Innovation Park to flexible expansion areas.
- Networking with the start-up ecosystem: JenaWirtschaft provides access to relevant players – from universities and industry networks to start-up communities, established companies and funding institutions.
- Guidance on funding and financing: As a funding guide, we provide information on suitable programmes, for example in our monthly newsletter
- Events & workshops: We accompany and support regional start-up formats, events and networking events – for example in cooperation with the ThEx, start-up initiatives at universities and industry networks such as Jena Digital e.V.
First point of contact for founders in Thuringia: ThEx
As a central platform for start-ups and entrepreneurship in Thuringia, the Thuringian Centre for Start-ups and Entrepreneurship (ThEx) is an important partner of JenaWirtschaft. ThEx supports those interested in setting up a business with advice, coaching, events and funding information – tailored to every phase of your start-up. Thanks to the close cooperation, founders in Jena benefit from a state-wide network and strong regional roots.
Relevant contacts for your start-up
Start-up counselling & support
- BDS Thüringen e.V. / BDS.akademie / Jena branch
- Thuringian Trade Exchange
- Start-up service Ernst Abbe University Jena
- K1 – Start-up service of the Friedrich Schiller University
- nexxt change company succession exchange
- Thex women’s business
- Thuringian Centre for Business Start-ups and Entrepreneurship (ThEx)
Financing & Investors
- bm|t beteiligungsmanagement thüringen gmbh
- Bürgschaftsbank Thüringen GmbH
- Business Angels Club Jena e. V.
- Commerzbank
- Deutsche Bank AG
- HypoVereinsbank UniCredit Bank AG
- Merkur Bank KGaA
- Mittelständische Beteiligungsgeselllschaft Thüringen mbH (MBG Thüringen)
- Savings Bank Jena-Saale-Holzland
- Thuringian Reconstruction Bank
- Thuringian State Administration Office
- Volksbank eG Gera-Jena-Rudolstadt
Chambers of commerce & institutions
Coworking spaces & working environments
Contact us
